The Muslim theologian and Islamic studies scholar Rana Alsoufi has been appointed to the German Ethics Council by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, effective April 1, 2026. Alsoufi is a professor of Islamic Norms and Ethics at the Institute for the Study of Culture and Religion of Islam at Goethe University Frankfurt. She studied Islamic law in Jordan and earned her doctorate in Islamic theology at the University of Edinburgh. Rana Alsoufi conducts research on Islamic law and ethics. In addition to her commitment to the German Ethics Council, she is a member of the German Society for Islamic-Theological Studies and serves on the advisory council of the European Society for Theological Research of Women. She is also actively involved in the Ethics Network Christianity and Islam.
The Ethics Council addresses ethical, societal, and political issues and provides recommendations to the federal government and the Bundestag. Its members are appointed by the President of the German Bundestag. The German Ethics Council has published extensive statements on topics such as anonymous child relinquishment, intersexuality, preimplantation diagnostics, genetic testing, patient welfare, and big data. The current chair is legal scholar Helmut Frister.
