Muslim Life in Germany

The aim of this study is to determine the number of Muslims in Germany and their religious composition as precisely as possible. And also contribute to gaining insights into the everyday religious life, beliefs, social and structural integration of Muslims with a migration background.

Key subjects of the study are

1. Sociodemographic characteristics and migration biography: sex; year of birth; country of origin; citizenship(s); former citizenship(s); parent’s country of origin; denomination; former denomination; marital status; year of immigration and reason; received German citizenship; kind(s) of household’s income.

2.a) Household structure and sociodemographic characteristics of respondent’s partner: sex; year of birth; country of origin; citizenship(s); former citizenship(s); denomination.

2.b) Sociodemographic characteristics of other household members: degree of kinship with respondent; year of birth; sex; citizenship(s); denomination.

3. Integration: daily contact with Germans within the family, at the workplace, in the neighbourhood and as friends; wish for contact with Germans; proportion of foreigners in neighbourhood; preferred neighbourhood characteristics; ties to country of origin, to Germany and to one’s neighbourhood; membership in associations connected to Germany or country of origin; country where respondent attended (or is attending) school; graduation in Germany and abroad; professional qualification in Germany and abroad; occupational status; working hours; professional occupation; self-assessment of German language skills in regard to Understanding, Speaking, Reading and Writing; attendance of an integration course; taking the final exam of that course.

4. Religiousness and religious practice: religious beliefs; adhere to religious dietary laws; adhere to the rules on fasting; attendance of religious events; frequency of praying; frequency of attending religious events; membership in religious organization; frequency of involvement in religious organization.

5. Acknowledgement of Islamic associations (only Muslims and Alevis): knowledge of selected Muslim organizations (ZMD, IR, DiTiB, VIKZ, KRM, AABF).

6. Wearing headscarf: Practice and reasons (only female Muslims and Alevis): frequency of wearing a headscarf; reason(s) for wearing the headscarf; about Muslim/Alevi members of the household: wearing the headscarf or not.

7. Attendance of selected classes at school (only respondents that attend school or referring to the school attending members of the household): attending the common sports class, the gender mixed swimming class, the sexual education class, the religion/ethics class and it’s kind and attending school trips that take longer than one day.

8. Attitudes towards interreligious marriages and Islamic school education: Imagination of an interreligious marriage for oneself, one’s son and daughter; agree on Islamic/Alevi education as ordinary school subject.

Additionally coded was: group of origin according to sampling; group of origin according to screening; county; type of municipal (BIK); interviewer id; duration of interview in seconds; date of interview; number of contact attempts; language of interview; interviewer’s assessment of respondent’s German skills; person and household weights; main migration background of the household; respondent’s migration; respondent’s migration generation.