Pakistanis are scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new parliament and governing party or coalition on May 11. But a Pew Research Center survey of Muslims around the world finds that Pakistani Muslims are among the least likely to express support for democracy.
A new survey report looks at attitudes among Muslims in 39 countries on a wide range of topics, from science to sharia, polygamy to popular culture. The survey finds that overwhelming percentages of Muslims in many countries want Islamic law to be the official law of their land, but there is also widespread support for democracy and religious freedom.
A new Pew Research Center survey finds high levels of concern about religious extremism among Muslims living in the North Caucasus area of Russia and the neighboring Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It also finds that most Muslims in the region reject violence against civilians.
The U.S. drone campaign against suspected terrorists is drawing new attention on Capitol Hill with the nomination of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to be Director of Central Intelligence. But outside of the United States, opinion on the use of drones for targeted killings is already clear: there is considerable opposition to the drone campaign in a majority of nations surveyed.
A year after the death of Osama bin Laden, a new survey of Muslim publics shows al Qaeda is widely unpopular, with majorities expressing negative views of the terrorist group in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Lebanon. Furthermore, before his death in 2011, support for bin Laden himself had waned considerably among Muslims around the world.
America’s image among Pakistanis remains poor, and most disapprove of the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden. Extremist groups also remain unpopular, although support for using the Pakistani military against extremists has waned. Most name India as the top threat to Pakistan. Overall, the public mood in Pakistan is grim – 92% are dissatisfied with the country’s direction.
In the months leading up to Osama bin Laden’s death, a survey of Muslim publics around the world found little support for the al Qaeda leader. Al Qaeda itself also received largely negative ratings among Muslim publics in the 2011 survey.
Extremist groups Hamas and Hezbollah continue to receive mixed ratings from Muslim publics. However, opinions of al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, are consistently negative; only in Nigeria do Muslims offer views that are, on balance, positive toward al Qaeda and bin Laden.
The public continues to express conflicted views of Islam. Favorable opinions of Islam have declined since 2005, but there has been virtually no change over the past year in the proportion of Americans saying that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. As was the case a year ago, slightly more people […]
Recent events have raised questions about the threat of homegrown terrorism in the U.S., but survey results show that Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject extremism.
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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
