Islam's significance in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

has largely increased after the labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s. According to a representative survey, it is estimated that in 2019, there were 5.3–5.6 million Muslims with a migrant background in Germany (6.4–6.7% of the population), in addition to an unknown number of Muslims without a migrant background. A similar survey in 2016 estimated a number of 4.4–4.7 million Muslims with a migrant background (5.4–5.7% of the population) at that time. An older survey in 2009 estimated a total number of up to 4.3 Muslims in Germany at that time. There are also higher estimates: according to the German Islam Conference, Muslims represented 7% of the population in Germany in 2012. In a 2014 academic publication it was estimated that some 100,000 Germans converted to Islam, numbers which are comparable to that in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Demographics

Islam is the largest

minority religion A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative conn ...

in the country, with the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

confessions being the majority religions.REMID Data of "Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst"
retrieved 16 January 2015 Most Muslims in Germany have roots in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, followed by

Arab countries The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

(mostly of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

- Albanian or Bosnian origin),

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. There are also a significant minority originated from Sub-Saharan Africa (mostly

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

) and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

(mostly

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

). The large majority of Muslims live in former

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, including

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

. However, unlike in most other European countries, sizeable Muslim communities exist in some rural regions of Germany, especially

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

and parts of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

. Owing to the lack of labour immigration before 1989, there are only very few Muslims in the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. Among the German districts with the highest share of Muslim migrants are Groß-Gerau (district) and Offenbach (district) according to migrants data from the census 2011. The majority of Muslims in Germany are

Sunnis Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

, at 75%. There are

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

Muslims (7%) and mostly from

. The

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

organization comprise a minority of Germany's Muslims, numbering some 35,000 members or a little over 1% of the Muslim population,
"Mitgliederzahlen: Islam"
'', in: ''Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst, Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID)'', Retrieved 24 January 2016 and are found in 244 communities as of 2013. From the mid-2000s to 2016 there has been a surge migrants to Germany from outside Europe. Of the 680,000 regular migrants, 270,000 were Muslim. Additionally, of the 1,210,000 asylum seekers, 900,000 were Muslim (around 74%). Of the asylum seekers, 580,000 applicants were approved and 320,000 were denied or expected to be denied. According to the Pew Research Center, similar patterns of Muslim migration to Germany should be expected in the future and the Muslim population share is expected to grow.

Prison population

According to the Huffington Post in February 2018 which quired each of the 15

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

justice ministries, 12 300 Muslims are in prison and constitute about 20% of the total 65,000 prison population in Germany which constitutes an over-representation. The highest shares are in city states of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

(29%),

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

(28%) but the share is high also in large states such as

n (26%)

(26%). The share is lower in the former East Germany.

History

Early history

Muslims first moved to Germany as part of the diplomatic, military and economic relations between Germany and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in the eighteenth century. Twenty Muslim soldiers served under

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Ne ...

, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1745,

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

established a unit of Muslims in the Prussian army called the " Muslim Riders" and consisting mainly of

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

, Albanians and

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

. In 1760 a Bosnian Muslim corps was established with about 1,000 men. In 1798 a Muslim cemetery was established in Berlin. The cemetery, which moved in 1866, still exists today. A number of German philosophers expressed sympathy for Islam, including

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

(who particularly admired the Sufi poetry of

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shiraz, Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "H ...

) and later

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his c ...

(in '' The Antichrist'', he claimed that the Germanic spirit was closer to the Moors of

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mus ...

than that of Greece, Rome and Christianity). The German Empire had over two million Muslim subjects, mostly

, in overseas colonies. The Majority lived in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mo ...

. Several Muslim revolts against German colonial rule occurred, including the Adamawa Campaign, Maji Maji Rebellion and Abushiri revolt.

1920s to the 1940s

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1987-004-09A, Amin al Husseini und Adolf Hitler

The Islamic Institut Ma’ahad-ul-Islam was founded in 1927 and is now known under the name " Zentralinstitut Islam-Archiv-Deutschland" (Central Islamic Archive Institute) and is the oldest such institution in Germany. Shortly after its founding the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

came to power the archive was forced to suspend all further work, until after the wa

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini energetically recruited Muslims from occupied territories into several divisions of the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from t ...

(primarily the 13th ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Handschar'' (1st Croatian) and 21st ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Skanderbeg'') and some other units.

Post-war Germany

After the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Government invited foreign workers (" Gastarbeiter") in 1961, the figure sharply rose to currently 4.3 million (most of them Turkish from the rural region of Anatolia in southeast Turkey). They are sometimes called a

parallel society Parallel society refers to the self-organization of an ethnic or religious minority, often but not always immigrant groups, with the intent of a reduced or minimal spatial, social and cultural contact with the majority society into which they immi ...

within ethnic Germans. According to the German statistical office 9.1% of all newborns in Germany had Muslim parents in 2005.Frank Gesemann
"Die Integration junger Muslime in Deutschland"

Interkultureller Dialog - Islam und Gesellschaft
Nr. 5 (year of 2006).

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...

, on p. 8 - the document is written in German In 2017, Muslims and Islamic institutions were targeted by attacks 950 times, where houses are painted with Nazi symbols, hijab-wearing women are harassed, threatening letters are sent and 33 people were injured. In nearly all cases, the perpetrators were right-wing extremists. In May 2018 a court in Berlin upheld the right to the state's neutrality principle by barring a primary school teacher from wearing a headscarf during classes, where the court spokesman stated that children should be free of the influence that can be exerted by religious symbols. According to a study in 2018 by

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, 56% of Germans sometimes thought the many Muslims made them feel like strangers in their own country, up from 43% in 2014. In 2018, 44% thought immigration by Muslims should be banned, up from 37% in 2014. In December 2018, the government of Germany strengthened the control of

Saudi Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

i and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

i funding for radical mosque congregations. The measure was recommended by an anti-terrorist agency in Berlin (German: ''Terrorismus-Abwehrzentrum'') which since 2015 had started to monitor Safalist proselytizing funding in the wake of the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request ...

to prevent refugees from becoming radicalized. Henceforth Gulf authorities are required to report payments and funding to the German Federal Foreign Office (German: ''Auswärtigen Amt''). In December 2018, there were no official statistics on how much funding mosques in Germany received from abroad. In July 2020, federal state

banned face-covering veils for school pupils as an extension of the ban which was already in force for staff.

Denominations

DITIB-Zentralmoschee Köln - April 2015-7489

Khadija-Moschee, Berlin, Germany - 20110603

Muslims in Germany belong to several different branches of Islam (approximate data): *

2,640,000
"Mitgliederzahlen: Islam"
'', in: ''Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst, Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID)'', Retrieved 27 January 2016
"Anzahl der Muslime in Deutschland nach Glaubensrichtung im Jahr 2015* (in 1.000)"
'', in: '' Statista GmbH'', Retrieved 27 January 2016 * Alevis 500,000 * Twelvers Shi'as 225,500 *

Alawites The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isla ...

70,000 *

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

35,000-45,000 * Salafis 10,300 *

Sufis Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

10,000 *

Ismailis Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...

1,900 * Zaydis 800 *

Ibadi The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis. Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate s ...

s 270

Islamic organisations

Only a minority of the Muslims residing in Germany are members of religious associations.

Sunni

* Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği (DİTİB): German branch of the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. As of 2016, the Turkish government funds and provides staff for 900 of Germany's roughly 3000 mosques run by DİTİB. *Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş: close to the Islamist Saadet Partisi in Turkey, Kerpen near Cologne *Islamische Gemeinschaft Jamaat un-Nur ( de): German branch of the Risale-i Nur Society ( Said Nursi) * Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland organization of

Arab Muslims Arab Muslims ( ar, العرب المسلمون) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Arabs. Arab Muslims greatly outnumber other ethnoreligious groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Arab ...

close to the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassa ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

In addition there are numerous local associations without affiliation to any of these organisations. Two organisations have been banned in 2002 because their programme was judged as contrary to the constitution: The "

Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabicحزب التحرير (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Isl ...

" and the so-called "

Caliphate State Caliphate State (; ) is a Turkish Islamist group based in Cologne, Germany. It was banned by the German government in 2001. History The Caliphate State was founded in 1984 as the "Union of Islamic Community and Associations" in Cologne by Cem ...

" founded by Cemalettin Kaplan and later led by his son Metin Kaplan.

Shia

* Islamische Gemeinschaft der schiitischen Gemeinden Deutschlands (IGS): Head organization that unite all Shiite mosques and associations in Germany, with being the Islamic Centre Hamburg the most important Shia mosque in Germany. * Al-Mustafa Institut Berlin: A branch of the Al-Mustafa International University in Qum,

to Islamic theology to students in Germany and Europe.

Ahmadiyya

* Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Deutschland K.d.ö.R.: German branch of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Community. There is no ethnicity or race associated with this community although most of the members of the community residing in Germany are of Pakistani origin. The Ahmadiyya Community was established in Germany in 1923 in Berlin and is one of the largest in Europe. Communities exist in Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Bremen. * Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: German branch of the worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.

Liberal Islam

* Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque in Berlin was founded by

Seyran Ateş Seyran Ateş (born 20 April 1963) is a German lawyer and a Muslim feminist. She founded the Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque in 2017, as Germany's first liberal place of worship for Muslims. Ateş is best known for challenging conventional ideas in I ...

. The liberal mosque has been condemned by the Turkish religious authority and the Egyptian Fatwa Council at the

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

. * Ibn Rushd Prize for Freedom of Thought

Wahhabism

* King Fahd Academy, sponsored by

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. The school was closed at the end of the 2016/2017 school year, after long-running criticism that it was attracting

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern State (polity), states and Administrative division, regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, Economics, econom ...

to Germany. * According to the FFGI at Goethe University Frankfurt, wahhabist ideology is spread in Germany as in other European country mostly by an array of informal, personal and organisational networks, where organisations closely associated with the government of Saudi Arabia such as the

Muslim World League The Muslim World League (MWL; ar, رابطة العالم الاسلامي, Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, ) is an International Islamic NGO based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate ...

(WML) and the World Association of Muslim Youth are actively participating.

Others

* Verband der islamischen Kulturzentren: German branch of the conservative Süleymancı sect in Turkey, Cologne * Verband der Islamischen Gemeinden der Bosniaken:

Bosnian Muslims The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

, Kamp-Lintfort near

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

* Zentralinstitut Islam-Archiv-Deutschland e.V. : Documentary of Islamic Foundation-writings since 1739. The Islamic Institute was founded in 1942 (Sooner called Ma’ahad-ul-Islam Institut).

Umbrella organisations

Furthermore, there are the following umbrella organisations: * Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland) *

Islamic Council in Germany Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

(Islamrat in Deutschland)

Education

* The ''A-Nur-Kita'' preschool was closed in February 2019 due to its parent organisation, the mosque association Arab Nil Rhein in Mainz propagated material from the Muslim Brotherhood and

salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

ideology. Therefore, the parent association was incompatible with the constitution of Germany. This was the first time authorities closed any preschool in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

(German: ''Rheinland-Pfalz''). ''A-Nur-Kita'' was the first and only Muslim preschool in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Controversies

As elsewhere in Western Europe, the rapid growth of the Muslim community in Germany has led to social tensions and political controversy, partly connected to

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic un ...

, and more generally due to the perceived difficulties of

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

and fears of '' Überfremdung''.

Antisemitism

A 2012 poll showed that 18% of the Turks in Germany think of Jews as inferior human beings. A similar study found that most of Germany's native born Muslim youth and children of immigrants have antisemitic views. A 2017 study on Jewish perspectives on antisemitism in Germany by Bielefeld University found that individuals and groups belonging to the extreme right and extreme left were equally represented as perpetrators of antisemitic harassment and assault, while the largest part of the attacks were committed by Muslim assailants. The study also found that 70% of the participants feared a rise in antisemitism due to immigration citing the antisemitic views of the refugees. Many of this started in 2015 when a large quantity of islamic refugees entered Germany. According to the

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungs ...

, the majority of Islamist organizations in Germany cultivate antisemitic propaganda and distribute it in various ways.

In the education system

One such issue concerns the wearing of the head-scarf by teachers in schools and universities. The right to practice one's religion, stated by the teachers in question, contradicts in the view of many the neutral stance of the state towards religion. As of 2006, many of the German federal states have introduced legislation banning head-scarves for teachers. However, such a ban in North-Rhein Westphalia was declared as unconstitutional in 2015 by the Federal Constitutional Court. In the German federal states with the exception of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

, lessons of

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to te ...

overseen by the respective religious communities are taught as an elective subject in state schools. It is being discussed whether apart from the Catholic and Protestant (and in a few schools, Jewish) religious education that currently exists, a comparable subject of Islamic religious education should be introduced as a regular part of the curricula. In several states, trials for Islamic religious education are being conducted, while in the states of Hessen, Lower-Saxony and Northrhine-Westphalia, Islamic religious education already is integrated as a regular class. The problem that the cooperation with Islamic organisations is hampered by the fact that none of them can be considered as representative of the whole Muslim community. The discussion of religious (Islamic) education in German schools started in the 1970s, and also symmetrically with issues of Qur'anic classes as well as its deterrent effects on the integration of Turkish students into the country.

Construction of mosques and other projects

The construction of

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

s is occasionally resisted by anti Muslim reactions in the neighborhoods concerned. For example, in 2007 an attempt by Muslims to build a large mosque in Cologne sparked a

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

. See drop-down essay on "Religious Freedom in Germany" Similarly with the Sendlinger Mosque Controversy, and the proposed construction of a training academy in Munich, originally called the " Centre for Islam in Europe, Munich" (ZIE-M), and later the "Munich Forum for Islam". There are now 18 official mosques in the country that have been established as mosques since time immemorial. Muslim places of worship (such as mosques and other places of worship) are estimated at between 1,000 and 1,200. Most of these mosques are temporarily built and are mostly located in rented places, factories or warehouses. According to the archives of the Central Institute of Islam, the most important mosques in Germany are located in cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, Mannheim, Marl, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt, Wesling, Bonn, Zingen, Fortsheim, as well as mosques. The cities of Aachen and Munich are important mosques in Germany. These mosques are far from the city center and are often located in industrial areas.

Islamic Theological Studies

In 2010, the German Ministry of Education and Research established Islamic Theological Studies as an academic discipline at public universities in order to train teachers for Islamic religious education and Muslim theologians. Since then, Islamic theological departments have been established at several universities, conducting research and teaching on Islam from a theological perspective.

Islamic fundamentalism

Concerns of Islamic fundamentalism came to the fore after

11 September 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, especially with respect to Islamic fundamentalism among second- and third-generation Muslims in Germany - the Hamburg cell, which included Mohamed Atta, was prominent in the planning and execution of 11 September attacks. Also the various confrontations between Islamic religious law ( Sharia) and the norms of German '' Grundgesetz'' and culture are the subject of intense debate. German critics include both liberals and Christian groups. The former claim that Islamic fundamentalism violates basic fundamental rights whereas the latter maintain that Germany is a state and society grounded in the Christian tradition. According to a 2007 Federal Ministry of the Interior report almost half of all young Muslims in Germany support fundamentalist views. About 12% of Muslims in Germany identified with moral-religious criticism against Western societal values in combination with corporal punishment up to and including the death penalty. According to a 2012 poll, 72% of the Turks in Germany believe that Islam is the only true religion and 46% wish that one day more Muslims live in Germany than Christians.

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

''Türkische Migranten hoffen auf muslimische Mehrheit''
, 17 August 2012, retrieved 23 August 2012 According to a 10-year survey by the University of Bielefeld, which dealt with different aspects of attitudes to Islam, "distrust" of Islam is widespread in Germany with only 19 percent of Germans believing that Islam is compatible with German culture. According to 2013 study by Social Science Research Center Berlin, two thirds of the Muslims interviewed say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live, almost 60 percent of the Muslim respondents reject homosexuals as friends; 45 percent think that Jews cannot be trusted; and an equally large group believes that the West is out to destroy Islam (Christian respondents’ answers for comparison: As many as 9 percent are openly anti-Semitic; 13 percent do not want to have homosexuals as friends; and 23 percent think that Muslims aim to destroy Western culture). According to a 2012 poll, 25% of the Turks in Germany believe atheists are inferior human beings.

Salafism

Salafism is a part of the Sunni branch of Islam which is a revival of original Islamic ideals. Salafists strive to live exclusively according to the Quran. According to German authorities, Salafism is incompatible with the principles codified in the Constitution of Germany, in particular democracy, the rule of law and a political order based on human rights. According to the German security service, the Salafist movement attracts rising numbers. In 2011 there were an estimated 3800 Salafists in Germany, which rose to 10300 in September 2017. According to head of security office

Hans-Georg Maaßen Hans-Georg Maaßen (born 24 November 1962) is a German civil servant and lawyer. From 1 August 2012 to 8 November 2018, he served as the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic security agency ...

, the Salafist scene in Germany is not dominated by any one single individual, but instead a great many persons have to be monitored. According to German

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ...

, the Salafist movement in Germany is centered in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan area,

and Berlin. In these areas, mosques and charismatic imams are the driving factors behind recruitment to the Salafist movement. In 2016, the interior ministry of

reported that the number of mosques with a Salafist influence had risen from 30 to 55, which indicated both an actual increase and improved reporting. In February 2017, the German Salafist mosque organisation ''Berliner Fussilet-Moscheeverein'' was banned by authorities. Anis Amri, the perpetrator of the 2016 Berlin truck attack, was said to be among its visitors. In March 2017, the German Muslim community organisation ''Deutschsprachige Islamkreis Hildesheim'' was also banned after investigators found that its members were preparing to travel to the conflict zone in Syria to fight for the Islamic State. According to the

, these examples show that Salafist mosques not only concern themselves with religious matters, but also prepare serious crimes and terrorist activities.

Islamist scene in Germany

Turkish and Kurdish Islamist groups are also active in Germany, and Turkish and Kurdish Islamists have co-operated in Germany as in the case of the Sauerland terror cell.*German Jihad: On the Internationalisation of Islamist Terrorism by Guido Steinberg. Columbia University Press, 2013 Political scientist Guido Steinberg stated that many top leaders of Islamist organizations in Turkey fled to Germany in the 2000s, and that the Turkish (Kurdish) Hizbullah has also "left an imprint on Turkish Kurds in Germany." Also many Kurds from Iraq (there are about 50,000 to 80,000 Iraqi Kurds in Germany) financially supported Kurdish-Islamist groups like Ansar al Islam. Many Islamists in Germany are ethnic Kurds (Iraqi and Turkish Kurds) or Turks. Before 2006, the German Islamist scene was dominated by Iraqi Kurds and Palestinians, but since 2006 Kurds and Turks from Turkey are dominant. In 2016, the German security service estimated that about 24 000 Muslims were part of Islamists movements in Germany, of which 10 000 belonged to the Salafist scene. In 2016, 90 mosques were monitored by the

for their

islamist ideology Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what i ...

. These were mostly Arabic-language "backyard mosques" where self-appointed imams exhorted their followers to wage jihad. Since the start of 2017 until April 2018, 80 Islamist extremists without German citizenship were deported to their home countries. In March 2018, there were 760 islamists in Germany classified as dangerous by police authorities, of which more than half were on German territory and 153 of the latter were in prison. In recent years, Mosques in Germany have been receiving larger quantities of hate mail as well as threats.

Sharia police trial

A group of men were walking the streets of Wuppertal carrying vests labelled "Sharia Police". They wanted to talk to young Muslims and discourage them from visiting betting halls, brothels and stop them from drinking alcohol. They were charged with breaching the regulation against carrying political uniforms but were acquitted by the district court in Wuppertal. The prosecutor appealed the decision to the German

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

, which annulled the acquittal in January 2018. In the retrial, the men were convicted and sentenced to pay fines as their garments suggested militancy due to the violent nature of similarly named organisations in the Middle East.

Banning of IHH Germany

In July 2010, Germany outlawed the Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation e.V. (IHH Germany), saying it had used donations to support

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

, which is considered by the European Union and Germany to be a terrorist organization, while presenting their activities to donors as humanitarian help. German Interior Minister

Thomas de Maiziere Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

said, " Donations to so-called social welfare groups belonging to Hamas, such as the millions given by IHH, actually support the terror organization Hamas as a whole." IHH e.V. was believed by the German Authorities to have collected money in mosques and to have sent $8.3 million to organizations related to Hamas.

Religiosity of young Muslims

Studies show that while not all Muslims are religious, Muslim youths are markedly more religious than non-Muslim youths. A study comparing Turkish Muslim youths living in Germany and German youth found that the former were more likely to attend religious services regularly (35% versus 14%).Frank Gesemann. "Die Integration junger Muslime in Deutschland. Interkultureller Dialog - Islam und Gesellschaft Nr. 5 (year of 2006). Friedrich Ebert Stiftung", on p. 9 - the document is written in German 41% of young Turkish Muslim boys and 52% of the girls said they prayed "sometimes or regularly"; 64% of boys and 74% of girls said they wanted to teach their children religion.

Notable Germans immigrants

Rest

* Vaneeza Ahmad, Pakistani-German model * Laith Al-Deen, German singer * Mehmed Ali Pasha (marshal) was a German-born Ottoman soldier *

Nadiem Amiri Nadiem Amiri (born 27 October 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen and the Germany national team. Club career 1899 Hoffenheim Amiri joined 1899 Hoffenheim in 2012 from Waldhof M ...

, German professional footballer *

Azet Azet is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. Geography Azet is located some 55 km south by south-east of Tarbes and 20 km west of Bagnères-de-Luchon. Access to the commune i ...

, German rapper * Kristiane Backer, German television presenter, television journalist and author * Danny Blum, German Soccer player *

Bushido is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...

, German rapper * Denis Cuspert, German militant Islamist and former rapper *

Mahmoud Dahoud Mahmoud Dahoud (born 1 January 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Borussia Dortmund and the Germany national team. He made his professional debut for Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014, and, ...

, football player * Ibrahim El-Zayat, European Muslim activist in Germany and has been a functionary in many important Islamic organizations in Germany, Europe, and Saudi Arabia. *

Cemile Giousouf Cemile Giousouf ( gr, Τζεμιλέ Γιουσούφ; born 5 May 1978) is a German politician; she was the first ever Muslim member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), serving as Member of the Bundestag for one legislative term from ...

, German politician and a member of the German parliament

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

* Fritz Grobba was a German diplomat during the interwar period and World War II *

Karim Guédé Karim Abdul-Jabbar Guédé (born 7 January 1985) is a former professional footballer who works as a scout for SC Freiburg. He started his career at the amateur level with SC Concordia and Hamburger SV II. After impressing at Slovakian clubs Petr ...

, football player * Kollegah, German rapper * Murad Wilfried Hofmann, prominent German diplomat and author * Hadayatullah Hübsch German writer and journalist *

Lamya Kaddor Lamya Kaddor (born 11 June 1978 in Ahlen) is a German writer and scholar of Islamic studies of Syrian ancestry who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections. She is the founder and chairwoman of the Liberal-Is ...

German writer and known for introducing Islamic education in German in public schools in Germany *

Jawed Karim Jawed Karim (বাংলাঃ জাওয়াদ করিম) (born October 28, 1979) is an American software engineer and Internet entrepreneur of Bangladeshi and German descent. He is a co-founder of YouTube and the first person to u ...

, German-American Internet entrepreneur * Elsa Kazi was a German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and a poet *

Hasnain Kazim Hasnain Niels Kazim (born 1974) is a German journalist and writer of Pakistani origin. He is a winner of the CNN Journalist Award in 2009. Kazim was born in Oldenburg, West Germany, to Pakistani parents whose families had migrated to Karachi fr ...

, author and journalist, correspondent of the German news magazine Der Spiegel and

Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wi ...

Rani Khedira Rani Khedira (born 27 January 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Union Berlin. Club career VfB Stuttgart Khedira started his youth career at TV Oeffingen before moving to VfB Stuttgart in 200 ...

, football player * Sami Khedira, German Soccer player * Sead Kolašinac, Bosnian professional footballer *

Mojib Latif Mojib Latif (born 29 September 1954) is a German meteorologist and oceanographer of Pakistani descent. Latif graduated with a Diplom in meteorology in 1983. He took a position as scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in 198 ...

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while th ...

and oceanographer * Johann von Leers was a member of the Waffen SS in Nazi Germany, where he was also a professor known for his anti-Jewish polemics * Jamal Malik,

of Islamic Studies and chair of Religious Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany * Shkodran Mustafi, German professional footballer * Nash, German rapper *

Adam Neuser Adam Neuser (c. 153012 October 1576) was a Protestant pastor of Heidelberg who held Antitrinitarian views. Neuser was born in Gunzenhausen and was a popular pastor and theologian in Heidelberg in the 1560s, serving at the ''Peterskirche'' ...

was a popular pastor and theologian * Morsal Obeidi, murder victim, of Afghan origin * Nura Habib Omer, German rapper *

Susanne Osthoff Susanne Kristina Osthoff (born 7 March 1962 in Munich) is a German archaeologist who had worked in Iraq from 1991 until being taken hostage there on 25 November 2005. She was freed by her captors on 18 December 2005. Biography Osthoff grew up ...

, German archaeologist * Leroy Sané, German football player * Annemarie Schimmel * Adel Tawil, German singer *

Bassam Tibi Bassam Tibi ( ar, بسام طيبي), is a Syrian-born German political scientist and professor of international relations specializing in Islamic studies and Middle Eastern studies. He was born in 1944 in Damascus, Syria to an aristocratic famil ...

, political scientist and Professor of International Relations *

Pierre Vogel Pierre Vogel (born July 20, 1978), also known as Abu Hamza ( ar, أبو حمزة) is a German Islamist preacher and a former professional boxer. Early life and boxing career Vogel was born in Frechen. He turned professional at the age of 22, fi ...

(born 1978), also known as Abu Hamza ( ar, أبو حمزة), German Salafi Islamist preacher and former professional boxer * Linda Wenzel, German schoolgirl who went missing in 2016 after converting to Islam and joining Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Footnotes

References

External links

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community DeutschlandGermany: European Muslim Union with its offices in Granada, Spain, Bonn, Istanbul and SarajevoA German Initiative to Bridge the Gap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam In Germany