The Perception of Islam in Berlin - A Qualitative Study of Young Germans’ Attitudes

This thesis examines how young non-Muslim Germans living in Berlin perceive Muslims and Islam and what their explanations for these views are. To do this, 13 qualitative face-to-face interviews were conducted. Islam is mostly considered by German non-Muslim people as backwards and Muslims are confronted with several prejudices. Moreover, being Muslim is often equated with not being German. The patterns found consisted of Othering, stereotypical gender roles and drawing connections to extremism. However, the participants are aware that they are socialised with prejudices. Additionally, there is a lack of contact to Muslim people which also results in less knowledge about them and Islam. During the investigation of these topics many generalisations, biases and stereotypes were found.