On the one hand, says Harry Harun Behr, Muslims “read him as a 'brother'”: the son of a Jew and a Catholic converted to Islam at the age of 17.

However, some association representatives did not always treat him with brotherly respect, as the educationalist explains.

"For years, I was attacked as a bad boy by DITIB." Conservative officials of the mosque association considered him a "left pawn", especially since he also maintains good relations with the Ahmadiyya community, which is often rejected by traditional Sunni Muslims.

Sasha Zoske

Sheet maker in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

  • Follow I follow

In the meantime, the relationship between Behr and DITIB should be significantly better again.

Also thanks to a cooperation that came about on the initiative of the organization's youth association: On behalf of DITIB, Behr and project manager Meltem Kulacatan asked young Muslims about their beliefs and life prospects.

Many of the participants are involved in the League of Muslim Youth (BDMJ);

these are young people for whom religion is important.

"What unites them is a feeling of being in a group of young people, as I know it from my Protestant daughters," says Behr.

The BDMJ does not keep its own list of members, it is a “project” of the DITIB, so to speak.

Influence of the client?

The Goethe University professor knows that working with this organization creates distrust.

She has long been accused of being an extension of Turkish President Erdogan and his AKP party.

In April 2020, the state of Hesse ended the cooperation with the religious community in Islamic confessional classes, but according to the Wiesbaden administrative court, made a formal error.

The Ministry of Education has appealed the verdict to the Hessian Administrative Court.

According to Behr, DITIB paid an expense allowance for the study, the exact amount of which he was not allowed to name.

However, it is a relatively small sum that covers travel expenses and software costs.

The Frankfurt researchers assert that the client's influence on the results had been ruled out in advance.

When asked, Behr says that DITIB was only bothered by the term "Islamic diaspora" in the study concept ("You say: We are at home here in Germany").

In addition, it was important to the clients that the headscarf issue was dealt with in the questionnaire.

Behr agreed.

But he adds, "I'm sure we could never have conducted this study if the exposé hadn't been reviewed by 'competent bodies'."

Not to be buried in Germany

The results, which are based on the evaluation of around 500 questionnaires, draw a differentiated picture of the attitudes of young Muslims - which, however, contains some facets that are particularly irritating for non-religious people.

In the survey, the 14 to 27-year-old participants were asked to indicate how strongly they agreed with certain statements about religion, lifestyle and German society;

Mean values ​​were then formed from the data.

Most young believers reject religious extremism and strongly traditional views, such as compulsory headscarves and forced marriages.

Many feel at home in Germany, plan their future here and get involved in social projects, for example in the fire brigade or refugee aid.