Muslim Life in Germany - Deutsche Islam Konferenz

How many Muslims live in Germany? 93
are primarily of the Shiite faith. Alevis make up 13 per cent of the
total number of Muslims, making them the second largest faith
group.
This is due primarily to the fact that they account for 17
per cent of the large group of Turkish origin. There are very few
Alevis to be found in other groups of origin. 38 Members of smaller
faiths such as the Ahmadi, Sufis/Mystics and Ibadis are also
a minority with regard to Muslims living in Germany, as taken
together they amount to fewer than 3 per cent of the total. The
Ahmadi account for a striking 28 per cent of the Muslims from
South/Southeast Asia, however. In all, 4 per cent of Muslims belong
to another Muslim faith, the precise identity of which was
not defined (figure 12).
38 The Alevi religious community ultimately originates from Anatolia in Turkey.
Other groups in other regions use the same or a similar term, however, such as
the community of the Alawites in Syria. As a result of transliteration of the term
from Arabic to Latin script and unclear pronunciation of the name of the faith
in a telephone interview, misunderstandings may arise. As a result, among the
groups of origin outside of Turkey Alawites may be mistakenly identified as
Alevis (see also Sökefeld 2008a: 32 ff). This has no bearing on the statistics due to
the small number of potential cases concerned.