In online Facebook groups, away from the public eye, a quiet but powerful conversation is unfolding among Muslim women in Germany. They share stories of being spat at, called terrorists, and told to “go back to where you came from.” They speak of doctors’ assistants who harass only the veiled patients, and of daughters who come home from school in tears.
But they also share dreams. Dreams of a place where a headscarf does not invite a stare, where a Muslim name does not close a door, and where the call to prayer might feel less foreign. For many, this dream takes the shape of a physical move—to a Muslim-majority country abroad, or closer to home: to the super-diverse, bustling cities of North Rhine-Westphalia, like Cologne, Essen, or Dortmund.
A new ethnographic study, “The Dream of Hijra: Muslim Women’s Longing for Muslim Friendlier Environments in Germany” by Nina Dominique Nowar (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), published in the Journal of Muslims in Europe, provides an intimate look into this phenomenon. Based on an analysis of 1,550 files from three German-speaking Muslim women’s Facebook groups over 12 months, the study reveals how discrimination breeds a profound sense of “stuckedness”—and how the religious concept of Hijra (migration) is being reimagined as a coping strategy and an act of self-empowerment.
The Weight of Daily Mistrust
The study’s backdrop is a Germany where anti-Muslim incidents have reached record highs. The CLAIM network recorded 1,926 such incidents in 2023 alone—more than double the previous year. Muslim women, especially those who wear visible religious symbols like the headscarf or niqab, are the primary targets.
The women in the Facebook groups described a relentless pattern of “othering.” One woman, Maryam, a mother of three with Palestinian roots, recounted: “My daughter was spat at and called a terrorist [in school] because she was wearing a headscarf.” Another, Arnesa, confessed that after confrontations, “my heart beats like crazy, and I cannot calm down for days.”
Perhaps most painfully, German converts to Islam faced rejection from their own families. Anna, a 37-year-old convert from Westphalia, shared: “My family practically banished me from their circle… from one day to the next, I had no family left.” And Maryam, a convert from Thuringia, recalled being told, “Go back to where you came from.” Her reply: “Back to Thuringia, where I was born?”
The study argues that this “mistrust” is not merely an absence of trust, but an active, corrosive force—a “social acid,” in the words of one scholar—that sunders human bonds and isolates its targets.
Existential Stuckedness and the Dream of Movement
Faced with this environment, the women began to dream of leaving. The study uses anthropologist Ghassan Hage’s concept of “existential mobility” to explain this. Hage describes a feeling of “stuckedness”—a situation where a person suffers from a lack of choices and an inability to grab alternatives, even when they appear.
For the women, relocation was not merely economic. It was about going somewhere “with one’s life.” It was a search for new identities, for dignity, and for a space where Islam could be an integral, unremarkable part of daily life.
Some women framed this aspiration in explicitly religious terms: Hijra. In Islamic tradition, Hijra refers to the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina—a journey to a place where he could practice his faith freely. By calling their own dreamed moves “Hijra,” the women were not only seeking a practical solution but also connecting their personal struggles to a sacred, legitimising story.
Two Destinies: Abroad or At Home
The women discussed two distinct paths.
Path One: Muslim-Majority Countries. Some dreamed of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, or Morocco. They hoped for a pure Islamic environment, better access to Islamic childcare, and workplaces where a headscarf or niqab would not be a barrier. Raihana, who had emigrated to Malaysia, advised: “If you have doubts then you are afraid. Trust in Allah and do it with the right Niyya [intention]… then Allah will help you.”
However, these dreams were often met with sobering realities. Women reported exploitation in Gulf states, poor healthcare, and culture shock. Betül, who returned from Saudi Arabia, concluded: “Islam is in your heart. If you endeavour to be good, Allah will reward you here [in Germany].” This statement opened the door to the second, more hopeful path.
Path Two: Muslim Friendlier Enclaves within Germany. Rather than leaving Europe, many women decided to relocate internally—to German cities with large, established Muslim communities. The Ruhr area (Cologne, Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Dortmund) was repeatedly named as an ideal destination. Why?
- Anonymity and Safety: In super-diverse urban neighbourhoods, wearing a headscarf does not stand out. One woman noted that in such areas, “Islam belongs to the picture.”
- Islamic Infrastructure: The women desired not just halal shops, but Islamic banks, women-only gyms, Muslim paediatricians, Islamic funeral services, and meeting venues for weddings and community events. They argued that these services are more available in urban centres.
- The Welfare State: Crucially, the women valued Germany’s social security and healthcare system. Sumayya stated emphatically: “I am pleased to live in Germany, with our welfare state where everyone has a right to basic social security and public health care. This corresponds most closely to my understanding of Islam.”
- Islamic Education for Women: Counterintuitively, the women felt that Germany offered better access to Islamic education for women than many Muslim-majority countries. Mosques in Germany, they noted, have evolved into social support networks with extensive programmes for women and children.
Why Stay in Germany? Muslim Women’s Reasons for Choosing Urban German Destinations Over Muslim-Majority Countries
| Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Welfare State & Social Security | Perceived as aligning with Islamic ethics of justice and care for the vulnerable. |
| Access to Islamic Education for Women | Mosques in Germany offer extensive women-only classes, less common in some Muslim countries. |
| Healthcare Quality | Reliable, high-standard public healthcare, contrasted with reported poor care abroad. |
| Freedom from Exploitation | Avoidance of labour exploitation and unfair treatment reported in Gulf states. |
| Super-Diverse Urban Neighbourhoods | Anonymity and acceptance; a headscarf becomes unremarkable. |
| Existing Islamic Infrastructure | Halal food, Islamic banks, women’s gyms, and Muslim professionals are available. |
Signs of Resilience and Belonging
| Finding | Why It’s Encouraging |
|---|---|
| Women identify as German. | Despite discrimination, many see Germany as home. One woman defiantly said her homeland is Thuringia. |
| Trust in the welfare state remains high. | Muslim women value Germany’s social contract, seeing it as compatible with Islamic values. |
| Relocation is a search for community, not isolation. | The women want to live among Muslims, not separate from society. They seek belonging, not a parallel world. |
| ‘Hijra’ is redefined as an internal, positive move. | The sacred concept is used to legitimise staying in Germany and building a better life here, not fleeing abroad. |
| Online groups provide a safety net. | Facebook groups become a space for mutual support, advice, and shared coping strategies, turning pain into collective resilience. |
The Facebook Groups as a Home Before Home
The study highlights that the Facebook groups themselves are a form of “homemaking.” Before any physical move, the women create an imagined community online—a safety net where they are not othered, where they can ask for advice on finding a Muslim-friendly doctor or dealing with a racist incident.
“Melting together offline and online realities,” Nowar writes, the groups “are a vehicle to come together as an imagined community that offers a safety net in which members support each other.” For women who feel stuck, these digital spaces provide agency, information, and the emotional strength to plan a new beginning.
Conclusion: A Dream of Dignity, Not Division
This study offers a crucial corrective to simplistic narratives. The Muslim women’s longing for “Muslim friendlier environments” is not a rejection of Germany or a sign of failed integration. On the contrary, most of the women identified as German, valued the democratic and welfare state principles, and sought to remain within the country. Their dream was to find a neighbourhood where they could belong—not to escape to a foreign land.
Their use of the term Hijra is particularly telling. By framing their internal relocation as a sacred migration, they are asserting that staying in Germany, finding community, and practising Islam openly can itself be an act of faith and courage. They are, in Hage’s words, snatching “agency in the middle of its lack.”
As Germany faces rising anti-Muslim incidents, this study shows that the solution is not to push Muslim women away, but to ensure that every neighbourhood—not just the Ruhr area—can offer the safety, respect, and sense of belonging that turns a place from a hostile environment into a home.
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