Germany's Muslims are pious and yet more tolerant than most assume, a new study has found. Its authors are urging authorities to draw the country's Muslim children away from Koran schools by offering public religious instruction.
Dr. Martin Rieger of the Bertelman Stiftung thinks Muslim children should have their own religion classes. Rieger was the director of the study "Muslim Religiosity in Germany," which was provided to SPIEGEL ONLINE ahead of its scheduled publication on Friday.
The study reveals that 90 percent of Muslims define themselves as religous. In contrast a separate survey by the nonprofit German think tank found that only 70 percent of the entire population admitted to being religous. "We need to get the younger Muslims out of the Koran schools," Rieger urges, "and offer them professionally taught classes on Islam."
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According to the report, Sunni Muslims living in Germany are religious to an above-average degree; 92 percent identify themselves as being religious. Among Shiites in Germany, that number lies at 90 percent, and it is 77 percent for members of the Alevite community. "Islam in Germany is not a unified block," Rieger says. "It's very multifaceted."
Rieger also finds it "surprising" that religion only has a major influence on the political stance of a small group of Muslims. The study found that only 16 percent of the Muslims surveyed said that their faith had an effect on their political attitudes and that two-thirds of them would say no to having their own Islamic political party.
Rieger also makes a point of stressing the high degree of tolerance shown by Muslims in Germany. Sixty-seven percent said that they agreed that every religion has a "core of truth," and 86 percent said that people should have "an open mind to all religions." "This value is equally high for all of the groups studied," Rieger says, "regardless of gender, age, denomination or ancestry."
The Bertelsmann study also speaks about German Muslims having a "rather pragmatic approach" to Islam. Over half of those surveyed were against the wearing of headscarves, while only 33 percent are for it. "However, these results do not mean that the headscarf will really be worn," says Ulusoy. From what he has learned, it's really more of an issue of "reconciling religiosity with everyday life." For Ulusoy, it's also a sign that Muslims are not sealing themselves off from society.
3 comments:
Selfdeclarations are worthless.
Dr. Martin Rieger also stresses (in a text in WELT) that nigerian muslims are tolerant, as most of them say they are tolerant. Yeah, sure.
The study is useless.
EVERYONE believes themselves to be tolerant. Ask convicted murderers. They will tell you that they would not harm a fly. (Most will)
I could reel off a long list of everything and everyone I find intolerable right now. We're not all deluded. Some us divide the world into those who actually deserve the life they were given - because they contribute to the world, harm nobody, and are self-sufficient - and the rest of the world. I don't tolerate murderers, for starters. And I hate people who wear black and brown in the same outfit.
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