Muslim Life in Germany - Deutsche Islam Konferenz

Introduction 27
A survey of the resident population showed that the
whole group of Muslims in Germany shows a high degree of
religious commitment. 85 per cent of those interviewed regard
themselves as devout to very devout. In all the authors were able
to distinguish four clear patterns of religious orientation. 20 per
cent of interviewees were only loosely attached to Islam, 20 per
cent were characterised by religious orthodoxy and 20 per cent
had a traditional conservative orientation. At 40 per cent, the
fundamental religious Muslims comprised the largest group.
Among other things they are characterised by a literal interpretation
of the Koran and regarding Islam as superior to other
religions. Around a sixth of this group, which is to be further
differentiated (or 6 per cent of the total sample), proved to be
fundamentalist in the sense of extreme views.
A further important result of the study is that fundamentalist
attitudes, which are primarily characterised by religious
attitude patterns, are not to be equated with Islamism. This is
characterised by the political manifestation of religious convictions,
such as the primacy of religion over democracy and the
disassociation from democratic interpretations of law.
In view of the absence of an adequate register, the drawing
of a representative sample from the Muslim population in
Germany entails considerable difficulties. The authors of the
Brettfeld and Wetzels study draw attention to this shortcoming
themselves. At the same time the decision to carry out
the surveys in four cities in different regions of Germany also
means that the representativeness of the study by Brettfeld and
Wetzels (2007) is limited. At approximately 80 and 70 per cent
respectively, persons of Turkish origin are more strongly represented
in the surveys of the resident population and school