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April 24, 2007

Islam: Muslim Poll Suggests Extremist Sympathies

News from Reuters, Hindustan Times and Gulf Daily News:

A survey has been conducted among Muslims in Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan and Indonesia. The poll was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org and the University of Maryland. The interviews were conducted face to face. The original pollster's findings can be found here.

The questions were asked between December 9, 2006 and February 15, 2007. In Morocco, 1,000 interviews were made, with 1,141 respondents questioned in Indonesia, 1,243 in Pakistan and 1,000 from Egypt.

The poll found that three out of four people agreed with seeking to "require Islamic countries to impose a strict application of sharia" and to "keep Western values out of Islamic countries." Two thirds of respondents wanted to "unify all Islamic counties into a single Islamic state or caliphate."

Less than one in four people beiieve al Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks, with Pakistani respondents being the most sceptical (3% thought al Qaeda committed the 9/11 terror attacks). Most people were not sure who did carry out the attacks.

The goals of Al Qaeda (but not the methodology) were supported by most respondents. In all four countries, more than 70% of those polled supported the following goals: to "stand up to Americans and affirm the dignity of the Islamic people,", to "push the US to remove its bases and its military forces from all Islamic countries," and to "pressure the United States to not favor Israel."

Support for attacks against civilians was strongest in Morocco (19% weakly justified this, 6% justified this and 2% strongly justified it and only 57% disagreed), followed by Egypt (6% had weak support, 8% had support, and 7% had strong support and 77% disagreed). In Pakistan, 8% weakly justified civilian attacks, 4% justified this, and 1% strongly supported attacks against civilians, with 81% opposed. In Indonesia, there was least support for civilian attacks, with 84% opposed. Only 7% of respondents weakly supported civilian attacks, and 13% justified such attacks, but no individuals expressed strong support for attacks against civilians.

Majorities thought that the US was seeking to "weaken and divide the Islamic world". On average, 79% felt this. In Pakistan and Indonesia, 73% thought this, with 92% of Egyptians believing this. An average of 64% thought the US was trying to "spread Christianity in the region".

Many supported insurgent attacks against US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, with an average of around half of the respondents in the four countries agreeing with this, and three in ten disagreeing with this.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 24, 2007 9:08 PM

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