Islam's significance in Germany increased"Rauf Ceylan: Muslims in Germany: Religious and Political Challenges and Perspectives in the Diaspora" after the labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s. In 2025, there were 6.6– 7 million Muslims with a migrant background in Germany (8 to 8.5% of the population), in addition to Muslims who do not fit into that category.

According to a 2025 estimate by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, between 6.6 and 7.0 million Muslims with a migration background from Muslim-majority countries lived in Germany, corresponding to around 8.0 to 8.5% of the total population.

A similar survey in 2016 estimated a number of 4.4–4.7 million Muslims with a migrant background (5.4 – 5.7% of the population) at that time. A survey in 2009 estimated a total number of up to 4.3 million Muslims in Germany. There are also higher estimates: according to the German Islam Conference, Muslims represented 7% of the population in Germany in 2012.

In 2014, it was estimated that 20,000-100,000 Germans converted to Islam, numbers comparable to those in France and in the United Kingdom.

Methodological issues Germany does not register the religion of individuals in a centralized or mandatory system. Religious affiliation is only recorded if a person is a registered member of a recognized religious community, such as for purposes of church tax ("Kirchensteuer"). Many people of Muslim background in Germany are not affiliated with a mosque or Islamic organization, and may be secular, agnostic, atheist, or have converted to another religion.

Estimates of the Muslim population in Germany often rely on the assumption that individuals from Muslim-majority countries are Muslim. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) notes that between 5.3 and 5.6 million individuals with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries reside in Germany. However, this figure may not account for the diverse religious identities and beliefs of these individuals.

Some refugees in Germany fled their home countries due to persecution related to blasphemy or apostasy. In Afghanistan and Iraq, individuals who renounce Islam or are accused of blasphemy face severe penalties, including the death penalty.

The Central Council of Ex-Muslims has highlighted the plight of non-religious individuals and converts who face discrimination and danger in their countries of origin.

Demographics

Islam is the largest minority religion in the country, with the Protestant and Roman Catholic confessions being the majority religions.REMID Data of "Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst" retrieved 16 January 2015Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2009). "Muslimisches Leben in Deutschland 2008" , pp 11, 80 Most Muslims in Germany have roots in Turkey, followed by Arab countries, former Yugoslavia (mostly of Kosovo-Albanian or Bosnian origin), as well as Iranic countries (Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kurdistan & Iran). There is also a significant West African minority (mostly Gambia and Togo) and a noticeable East African community. The large majority of Muslims live in former West Germany, including West Berlin. However, unlike in most other European countries, sizeable Muslim communities exist in some rural regions of Germany, especially Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and parts of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Owing to the lack of labour immigration before 1989, there are only very few Muslims in the former East Germany. Among the German districts with the highest share of Muslim migrants are Groß-Gerau (district) and Offenbach (district) according to migrants data from the census 2011. The majority of Muslims in Germany are Sunnis, at 75%. There are Shia Muslims (7%) and mostly from Iran.

From the mid-2000s to 2016 there has been a surge migrants to Germany from outside Europe. Of the 680,000 regular migrants, 270,000 were Muslim. Additionally, of the 1,210,000 asylum seekers mainly from the Syrian civil war, 900,000 were Muslim (around 74%). Of the asylum seekers, 580,000 applicants were approved and 320,000 were denied or expected to be denied. According to the Pew Research Center, similar patterns of Muslim migration to Germany should be expected in the future and the Muslim population share is expected to grow.

In 2020 the , based on a study, estimated between 5.3 and 5.6 million Muslims lived in Germany.

When in June 2024 the results of the 2022 census were published by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, it became evident, that the German government does not know how many Muslims live in Germany and where they are located. While the number and localisation of citizens attributed to major Christian denominations could be pulled from Resident registration, no such data were available on unrecognized religious communities. Furthermore questions about religious beliefs had been dropped from the 2022 census questionnaire.

History Early history

Muslims first moved to Germany as part of the diplomatic, military and economic relations between Germany and the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century. Twenty Muslim soldiers served under Frederick William I of Prussia, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1745, Frederick II of Prussia established a unit of Muslims in the Prussian army called the "Muslim Riders" and consisting mainly of Bosniaks, Albanians and Tatars. In 1760 a Bosnian Muslim corps was established with about 1,000 men.Frederick the Great's Army Albert Seaton. Islam and Muslims in Germany. Osprey Publishing. In 1798 a Muslim cemetery was established in Berlin. The cemetery, which moved in 1866, still exists today. A number of German philosophers expressed sympathy for Islam, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (who particularly admired the Sufi poetry of Hafez) and later Friedrich Nietzsche (in The Antichrist, he claimed that the Germanic spirit was closer to the Moors of Al-Andalus than that of Greece, Rome and Christianity).

The German Empire had over two million Muslim subjects, mostly Sunnis, in overseas colonies. The majority lived in German East Africa."The Hitler Legacy: The Nazi Cult in Diaspora" p. 64 Several Muslim revolts against German colonial rule occurred, including the Adamawa Campaign, Maji Maji Rebellion and Abushiri revolt.

1920s to the 1940s

The Islamic Institut Ma'ahad-ul-Islam was founded in 1927 and is now known under the name "Zentralinstitut Islam-Archiv-Deutschland" (Central Islamic Archive Institute) and is the oldest such institution in Germany. Shortly after its founding the Nazi Party came to power the archive was forced to suspend all further work, until after the war. During World War II Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini for strategic reasons, recruited Muslims from occupied territories into several divisions of the Waffen SS (primarily the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) and 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg) and some other units.

In September 1943 Hitler specifically decreed that Muslim Germans could be members of the party as well as people of Christian denominations.Rundschreiben Nr. 124/43, Der Leiter der Partei-Kanzlei, 9/2/43 (“Zugehorigkeit

von Parteigenossen zum Islam”), NS6/342:64

Post-war Germany After the West German Government invited foreign workers ("Gastarbeiter") in 1961, the figure sharply rose to currently 4.3 million (most of them Turkish from the rural region of Anatolia in southeast Turkey). They are sometimes called a parallel society within ethnic Germans."Rauf Ceylan: Immigration and Socio-Spatial Segregation - Opportunities and Risks of Ethnic Self-Organisation" ,

According to the German statistical office 9.1% of all newborns in Germany had Muslim parents in 2005.Frank Gesemann. "Die Integration junger Muslime in Deutschland" . Interkultureller Dialog - Islam und Gesellschaft Nr. 5 (year of 2006). Friedrich Ebert Foundation, on p. 8 - the document is written in German

In 2017, Muslims and Islamic institutions were targeted by attacks 950 times, where houses are painted with Nazi symbols, hijab-wearing women are harassed, threatening letters are sent and 33 people were injured. In nearly all cases, the perpetrators were right-wing extremists.

In May 2018 a court in Berlin upheld the right to the state's neutrality principle by barring a primary school teacher from wearing a headscarf during classes, where the court spokesman stated that children should be free of the influence that can be exerted by religious symbols.

According to a study in 2018 by Leipzig University, 56% of Germans sometimes thought the many Muslims made them feel like strangers in their own country, up from 43% in 2014. In 2018, 44% thought immigration by Muslims should be banned, up from 37% in 2014.

In December 2018, the government of Germany strengthened the control of Saudi, Kuwaiti and Qatari funding for radical mosque congregations. The measure was recommended by an anti-terrorist agency in Berlin (German: Terrorismus-Abwehrzentrum) which since 2015 had started to monitor Salafist proselytizing funding in the wake of the European migrant crisis to prevent refugees from becoming radicalized. Henceforth, Gulf authorities are required to report payments and funding to the German Federal Foreign Office (German: Auswärtiges Amt).

Between 2010 and 2016, the number of Muslims living in Germany increased from 3.3 million (4.1% of the population) to nearly 5 million (6.1%). The most important factor in the growth of Germany's Muslim population is immigration.

In December 2018, there were no official statistics on how much funding mosques in Germany received from abroad.

In July 2020, federal state Baden-Württemberg banned face-covering veils for school pupils as an extension of the ban which was already in force for staff.

Denominations

Muslims in Germany belong to several different branches of Islam (approximate data): Sunnis 2,640,000"Mitgliederzahlen: Islam" , in: Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst|Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID), Retrieved 27 January 2016"Anzahl der Muslime in Deutschland nach Glaubensrichtung im Jahr 2015* (in 1.000)" , in: Statista GmbH, Retrieved 27 January 2016 Alevis 500,000 Twelvers Shi'as 225,500 Alawites 70,000 Ahmadiyya 35,000-45,000"Was ist "Ahmadiyyat"?" , in: Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Germany Website, Retrieved 27 January 2016"Mosque construction continues with community support: Ahmadi Muslim leader , Retrieved 22 July 2016 Salafis 10,300"Zahl der Salafisten steigt unaufhörlich" , Retrieved 16 September 2017 Sufis 10,000 Ismailis 1,900 Zaydis 800 Ibadis 270

Islamic organisations Only a minority of the Muslims residing in Germany are members of religious associations.

Sunni Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği (DİTİB): German branch of the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs, Cologne. As of 2016, the Turkish government funds and provides staff for 900 of Germany's roughly 3000 mosques run by DİTİB. Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş: close to the Islamist Saadet Partisi in Turkey, Kerpen near Cologne Islamische Gemeinschaft Jamaat un-Nur (de): German branch of the Risale-i Nur Society (Said Nursi) Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland organization of Arab Muslims close to the Muslim Brotherhood, Frankfurt

In addition there are numerous local associations without affiliation to any of these organisations. Two organisations have been banned in 2002 because their programme was judged as contrary to the constitution: The "Hizb ut-Tahrir" and the so-called "Caliphate State" founded by Cemalettin Kaplan and later led by his son Metin Kaplan.

Shia