The Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) has found that nearly half of young Muslims in Germany favor the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and over a third have an “understanding for violence against people who insult Allah or the Prophet Muhammad.”
Amongst these grade nine students, 45.8 percent affirmed a preference for Islamic theocracy as a form of governance, according to Bild newspaper. Furthermore, 67.8 percent expressed the belief that the principles of the Quran take precedence over German laws. Over a third — 35.3 percent — proclaimed an understanding of violence towards those who insult Allah or Muhammad.
Additionally, 21.2 percent of the young Muslims polled expressed justification of violence in defense against perceived threats to Islam from the Western world.
The findings come amidst escalating anti-Semitic attacks and heightened terror threats in Europe following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, resulting in Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s liberal coalition government acknowledging the necessity for immigration reforms. The German government is mulling increased measures to curb illegal immigration, intensify deportations, and reduce welfare benefits for purported asylum seekers.
These challenges notwithstanding, Berlin continues to favor liberalization of German citizenship procedures and lowering labor standards to attract more immigrants. This move is consistent with the open-border policies initiated by former Chancellor Angela Merkel and sustained under Chancellor Scholz, which have profoundly altered the country’s demographics over the past 20 years.
By 2021, individuals with “migration background” — those who immigrated or had foreign-born parents — constituted over a quarter of Germany’s population, numbering a record-high 22.3 million.
Other European countries with high numbers of Muslim citizens wrestle with similar levels of extremism. A recent study in the UK found that nearly half of British Muslims sympathize with Hamas.
