One in four young US Muslims favours suicide bombings: survey
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, May 22: One in four younger American Muslims believe that suicide-bombings are justified in some circumstances, says a new opinion survey which is likely to further increase Muslim phobia in America.
Most Muslim Americans, however, overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and Al Qaeda, says the survey released in Washington on Tuesday.
But the media highlighted the finding that many Muslims in America favour suicide-bombings, particularly if it is committed to defend their religion.
While nearly 80 per cent of US Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 per cent say they can be, at least rarely.
Most media reports, however, led with the finding that one in four younger American Muslims favour suicide bombings.
They pointed that this sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two per cent of them say it can often be justified, 13 per cent say sometimes and 11 per cent say rarely.
The original report also highlights the fact that US Muslims are far less accepting of suicide attacks than Muslims in many other nations. In surveys Pew conducted last year, support in some Muslim countries exceeded 50 per cent, while it was considered justifiable by about one in four Muslims in Britain and Spain, and one in three in France.
The media coverage caused an alarm among many Muslims who felt that the finding will be used “as yet another tool to discriminate against us”, as a young Muslim worshipper at Darul Huda mosque in Springfield, Virginia said.
The survey shows that 54 per cent Muslims already believe the US government singles out Muslims for extra surveillance.
A majority of Muslim Americans (53 per cent) say it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the US since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. Most also believe that the government “singles out” Muslims for increased surveillance and monitoring.
Based on data from this survey, along with available Census Bureau data on immigrants’ nativity and nationality, the Pew Research Centre estimates the total population of Muslims in the United States at 2.35 million.
Relatively few Muslim Americans believe the US-led war on terror is a sincere effort to reduce terrorism, and many doubt that Arabs were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Just 40 per cent of Muslim Americans say groups of Arabs carried out those attacks.
The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.
The Pew Research Centre conducted more than 55,000 interviews to obtain a national sample of 1,050 Muslims living in the United States. Interviews were conducted in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. The resulting study, which draws on Pew’s survey research among Muslims around the world, finds that Muslim Americans are a highly diverse population, one largely composed of immigrants. Nonetheless, they are decidedly American in their outlook, values and attitudes. This belief is reflected in Muslim American income and education levels, which generally mirror those of the public.
The survey confirms that Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in Western European countries. However, there is somewhat more acceptance of Islamic extremism in some segments of the US Muslim public than others. Fewer native-born African American Muslims than others completely condemn Al Qaeda.
In other findings:
Only five per cent of US Muslims expressed favourable views of the terrorist group Al Qaeda, though about a fourth did not express an opinion.
Six in 10 said they are concerned about a rise in Islamic extremism in the US, while three in four expressed similar worries about extremism around the world.
Yet only one in four consider the US war on terrorism a sincere attempt to curtail international terror. Only 40 per cent said they believe Arab men carried out the attacks of Sept 11, 2001.
By six to one, they say the US was wrong to invade Iraq, while a third say the same about Afghanistan — far deeper than the opposition expressed by the general US public.
Just over half said it has been harder being a US Muslim since the 9/11 attacks, especially the better educated, higher income, more religious and young. Nearly a third of those who flew in the past year say they underwent extra screening because they are Muslim.
