One in five Muslims with a “migrant background” in Germany, or over a million people, are currently susceptible to becoming radical Islamists, a study has found.
Research from the Islam and Politics Research Centre at the University of Münster, conducted under theologian Mouhanad Khorchide, has warned that more than a million Muslims may have an emotional state ripe to become Islamic extremists, Die Welt reports.
Between July of 2023 and April of 2024, the study surveyed a representative group of 1,887 Muslims with a migrant background, those who have either immigrated to Germany themselves, or who have at least one foreign-born parent. The poll found that 19.9 per cent of respondents were in a mental state of “resentment” that could lead towards radicalisation.
With up to 5.6 million Muslims living in Germany, the number of potential radicals would be over a million if the survey were to be replicated throughout the population, they claimed.
The researchers determined whether respondents fell into the “resentment” category if they demonstrated strong anti-Western or antisemitic sentiments, while refusing to reckon with critiques of their own worldview.
A majority of those classed as having a “resentment” mind frame agreed with the statement that Islam “is the only and ultimate political authority” and that Islamic laws of Sharia “are much better than the German laws”.
One third of the group, equating to an estimated 300,000 people, would support violent means in response to supposed injustices faced by Muslims. One in ten, equating around 100,000 people, also said that violence would be justified merely to promote “the interests of Muslims.”
University of Münster religious psychologist Sarah Demmrich said of the study: “With the affective state of resentment, we were able to uncover a new and even strong radicalisation factor,” adding that “the ability to criticise within Islam must be strengthened in order to promote reflexive discussions of religious and social issues.”
The study comes in the wake of a major report from the French government, which found that the radical Muslim Brotherhood network has waged a decades-long infiltration campaign, by entering into EU and member state government institutions, Islamic associations and local organisations as a part of an Islamic “Western conquest strategy” to impose Sharia in Europe.
The Paris intelligence found that countries like Austria and Germany were main centres of operation for the Muslim Brotherhood, given their status as “historically the first lands of establishment of the movement”.
The report noted that in addition to infiltrating influential institutions, the subversive campaign also focused heavily on ensuring that Muslim migrant communities resist liberalisation in the West.
According to the paper, trained Brotherhood operatives are intentionally placed in leadership positions in community spaces, such as in sports groups, private education services, employment assistance firms, to even dating sites. The report claimed that this was done to ensure the “supervision of the life of the Muslim” and maintain adherence to hardline Islamic practices such as veiling women and observing Ramadan fasting.
Radical Islam has become increasingly prevalent in Germany following the past decade of mass migration, primarily from the Muslim world. Over the past year, there have been multiple terror attacks throughout the country at the suspected hands of Islamist migrants.
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