The leader of the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) has slammed those sympathetic to migrants saying that their “refugees welcome” attitude has become the new German religion.

AfD leader Frauke Petry said that many Germans are so blinded by this over willingness to help everyone in the world that they cannot see that many of those they endeavour to help, Muslims in particular, do not share German values in regard to minorities, religious freedom, or the rights of women, Die Welt reports.

“The achievements of the Reformation and Enlightenment are endangered,” Ms. Petry told the German press and noted that the freedom of all citizens was under a severe risk due to the mass migration of peoples from Muslim countries who may not share those same enlightenment values.

“In the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, there is no religious freedom,” Ms. Petry stated, adding that “this thinking is now supported by Germany”.

According to several polls, Muslims in Germany, notably the large Turkish diaspora, support religious Islamic law over German law, with one poll showing that up to half of all Turks in Germany see Sharia law as supreme to German law.

Citing these polls Ms. Petry argued of the dangers to German society and highlighted the prevalence of foreign imams and money flowing into German mosques from countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The foreign funding is also largely blamed for the increase in the number of radical Salafist believers in the country which has almost doubled in the past three years.

The AfD, like more than half Germany citizens according to polls, have said that Islam does not belong to German culture. Ms. Petry was also quick to point out that she and her party had no problem with Muslims who integrated into society and practise their religion in private, but the party takes issue with overtly public displays such calls to prayer, minarets, and the full-face Islamic veil.

When asked if she thought that her statements and her party were populist, Ms. Petry replied that populism meant the will of the people. She asserted that populism is not a dirty word and said “we make policy for the people”. During the campaign for the election in Berlin, Ms. Petry said that she wants the AfD to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as the real “people’s party”.