As a result of immigration over the past few decades, the ethnic and religious diversity in German society has increased significantly.

Around every fourth inhabitant of Germany today has a migration background, i.e. either was not born with German citizenship himself or has at least one parent who was born as a non-German.

Many of these foreign citizens are of Muslim faith. Since at the same time the importance of the Christian churches has been declining continuously for decades, the question arises as to how this shift in the denominational structure of the population is reflected in the relationship between the citizens and the state and, if necessary, could also influence elections in the future.

However, the number of Muslim citizens in Germany is often overestimated: According to the study "Muslim Life in Germany 2020", which the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees published on behalf of the German Islam Conference, around 5.5 million people of Muslim faith currently live in Germany. That corresponds to 6.6 percent of the total population. 47 percent of these Muslims, 2.6 million, have German citizenship and thus make up 3.5 percent of the 72 million German citizens - too little to have any significant influence on the overall social climate or even election results.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to take a closer look at this population group, because one can assume that their attitudes and behaviors indicate the direction in which society could develop in the future if immigration continues.

That is why the Institute for Demoskopie Allensbach asked not only a representative cross-section of the entire population in its current survey for the FAZ, but also 222 people with German citizenship and Muslim faith.

Your answers provide an insightful insight into the world of thought of this section of the population, their political participation and their attitudes towards democracy.

In doing so, they refute many common clichés.

Experience of social advancement

In terms of their socio-demographic composition, the group of Muslim Germans differs considerably from the total population: around half are between 18 and 29 years old, while less than five percent are 60 years or older. More than 95 percent live in West Germany or in West Berlin. Among the countries of origin, Turkey, with six out of ten respondents, predominates by far. Southeastern Europe as well as the Near and Middle East follow far behind.

There is a widespread opinion among the population that Muslims are often particularly religious, but that is only partially true, at least for those of them who have German citizenship.

When asked "Apart from whether you attend a church service or a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a staunch atheist?" religious.

Among the German Muslims there were significantly more at 64 percent.

But the comparison with the general population, of which a considerable part is now without a denomination, is a little misleading.

At least 46 percent of Protestants described themselves as religious, Catholics even 63 percent and thus to the same extent as German Muslims.