Muslim Life in Germany - Deutsche Islam Konferenz

Religiousness and religious practice 189
4.7.2 Differences between Muslim women with and
without a headscarf
Differences between women with and without a headscarf
are examined in detail below on the basis of the information
provided by the total of 1,094 interviewed Muslim women.
The analyses are thus based on substantially smaller numbers of
cases than in the preceding chapter and relate only to women
aged 16 and over. On the other hand, additional information is
available, which only the individuals concerned are able to answer
realistically, such as how often the headscarf is worn and
what motives prompt the women to wear a headscarf. Due to
the small number of cases, it was necessary in some instances to
group categories together for analysis purposes.
The question as to whether a headscarf is worn appears to
be a polarising topic among Muslim women. The overwhelming
majority of the interviewed women (70 per cent) stated that
they never wear a headscarf (figure 51). Almost 23 per cent state
that they always wear a headscarf. A minority of 8 per cent of
women have yet to reach a firm decision on whether to wear a
headscarf and wear one either sometimes or usually. The proportion
of women who wear a headscarf sometimes, frequently
or always is slightly higher than in the analyses in the previous
chapter covering all the Muslim women living in the surveyed
households. This is presumably attributable to the fact that girls
under 16 years of age, who only wear a headscarf in exceptional
cases, are not included here.