Muslim life in Germany 2008 , Date: 2011.04.21, format: project (finished), area: Authority , Research project to estimate the size of the Muslim population living in Germany and to analyse its structure, as well as on the significance of religion in everyday life, including the religious practice of migrants from countries with a large share of Muslims among their population.

There is repeated criticism in research that knowledge of the number of Muslims living in Germany, their faith and the structure of this population group, is imprecise. Previous information on the number of Muslims comes largely from estimates based on the numbers of foreigners living in Germany from countries with a Muslim population related to the respective proportion of Muslims in these countries of origin. This does not take into consideration the fact that when countries have a heterogeneous population, it is frequently the minorities who emigrate in large numbers.

The same shortcomings apply to questions of everyday religious practice, as well as of conduct and ideas on politics and society. Previous studies have focussed largely on Turkish immigrants, so that Turkish and Muslim is frequently regarded as being identical. Various forms of religiosity, depending on different countries of origin and faiths, as well as their respective influence on conduct that is relevant to everyday life, and socio-political attitudes, cannot be determined by these means.

The project entitled Muslim Life in Germany explores these shortcomings in the research and pursues the following goals:

1. Estimation of the size of the Muslim population in Germany and analysis of its structure in terms of faith.
2. Analysis of the composition of the Muslim population in Germany by socio-demographic and socio-structural characteristics.
3. Analysis of the significance of religion in everyday life and of aspects of religious practice.
4. Analysis of the influence of specific religious affiliation, as well as of regional origins, controlling for socio-structural characteristics, on social integration in the receiving society.

In the study, Muslims from various geographical regions of origin living throughout Germany were surveyed, as were believers of other religions from the corresponding regions. With a broadly designed study, results that were considerably more representative than previous surveys were obtained. Within the context of the project, in an interview based on a standardised questionnaire, 6,000 people were questioned about their religious affiliation, their migrant background, socio-demographic issues and issues concerning structural and social integration.

The project results are relevant for politics and administration as a basis for more precise planning – for example statements about the possible need for Islamic religious studies lessons in schools. Moreover, they result in an improved estimate of the social relevance of religious issues and the similarities and differences between Muslims and other religious communities and also within the different branches of Islam.