diff --git a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
index 89e792715..e95c76208 100644
--- a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
+++ b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
@@ -519,6 +519,11 @@ char*           dc_get_blobdir               (const dc_context_t* context);
  *                    1=After the key changed, `dc_chat_can_send()` returns false and `dc_chat_is_protection_broken()` returns true
  *                    until `dc_accept_chat()` is called.
  * - `is_chatmail` = 1 if the the server is a chatmail server, 0 otherwise.
+ * - `is_muted`     = Whether a context is muted by the user.
+ *                    Muted contexts should not sound, vibrate or show notifications.
+ *                    In contrast to `dc_set_chat_mute_duration()`,
+ *                    fresh message and badge counters are not changed by this setting,
+ *                    but should be tuned down where appropriate.
  * - `ui.*`         = All keys prefixed by `ui.` can be used by the user-interfaces for system-specific purposes.
  *                    The prefix should be followed by the system and maybe subsystem,
  *                    e.g. `ui.desktop.foo`, `ui.desktop.linux.bar`, `ui.android.foo`, `ui.dc40.bar`, `ui.bot.simplebot.baz`.
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index ee993df49..7c1773375 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -257,6 +257,9 @@ pub enum Config {
     /// True if account is a chatmail account.
     IsChatmail,
 
+    /// True if account is muted.
+    IsMuted,
+
     /// All secondary self addresses separated by spaces
     /// (`addr1@example.org addr2@example.org addr3@example.org`)
     SecondaryAddrs,
diff --git a/src/context.rs b/src/context.rs
index d97d1684e..a50abcc83 100644
--- a/src/context.rs
+++ b/src/context.rs
@@ -814,6 +814,10 @@ impl Context {
         }
 
         res.insert("is_chatmail", self.is_chatmail().await?.to_string());
+        res.insert(
+            "is_muted",
+            self.get_config_bool(Config::IsMuted).await?.to_string(),
+        );
 
         if let Some(metadata) = &*self.metadata.read().await {
             if let Some(comment) = &metadata.comment {
@@ -1550,6 +1554,22 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(t.get_fresh_msgs().await.unwrap().len(), 1);
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
+    async fn test_muted_context() -> Result<()> {
+        let t = TestContext::new_alice().await;
+        assert_eq!(t.get_fresh_msgs().await.unwrap().len(), 0);
+        t.set_config(Config::IsMuted, Some("1")).await?;
+        let chat = t.create_chat_with_contact("", "bob@g.it").await;
+        receive_msg(&t, &chat).await;
+
+        // muted contexts should still show dimmed badge counters eg. in the sidebars,
+        // (same as muted chats show dimmed badge counters in the chatlist)
+        // therefore the fresh messages count should not be affected.
+        assert_eq!(t.get_fresh_msgs().await.unwrap().len(), 1);
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 2)]
     async fn test_blobdir_exists() {
         let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();