U.S. Muslims more assimilated than British

[Al-khiyal]

May 23, 2007 -- Muslims in the United States are much more assimilated into society than Muslims in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, according to a poll published yesterday.

The detailed survey, conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre, found that American Muslims tended to have a better standard of living than their counterparts in Europe and were more comfortable with a society in which a majority believed in God compared with secular Europe.

Farid Senzai, an adviser on the survey and director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said: "The news overall is overwhelmingly positive. The Muslim community here is less ghettoised than in Europe."

Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Centre, told a press conference that the estimated 2.4 million Muslims living in the US were "decidedly American in outlook", believing that hard work could lead to advancement.

But the survey, called Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream, did disclose pockets within the community who are disaffected and sympathetic to violence and extremism.

The poll found that 8% of American Muslims regard suicide bombings against civilian targets as justified. Twice as many Muslims in Britain, Spain and France see such tactics as justified. But the poll showed that among American Muslims under 30, sympathy for suicide bombings jumped to 30%. In Britain it jumped to 35%, Spain 29% and France 42%.

Mr Kohut described it as "one of the few troublespots" in the survey. Support for violence was high too among African-American Muslims, who also tend to be among the most disaffected with their economic and social position.

US intelligence since 9/11, and the war in Iraq, has focused on the radicalisation of parts of the Muslim community. Only 40% of respondents to the Pew poll, which interviewed 1,050 Muslims between January and April, said they believed a group of Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks.

U.S. Muslims more assimilated than British

[Al-khiyal]

May 22, 2007 -- 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 Center 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.

Key findings include:

* Overall, Muslim Americans have a generally positive view of the larger society. Most say their communities are excellent or good places to live.

* A large majority of Muslim Americans believe that hard work pays off in this society. Fully 71% agree that most people who want to get ahead in the United States can make it if they are willing to work hard.

* The survey shows that although many Muslims are relative newcomers to the U.S., they are highly assimilated into American society. On balance, they believe that Muslims coming to the U.S. should try and adopt American customs, rather than trying to remain distinct from the larger society. And by nearly two-to-one (63%-32%) Muslim Americans do not see a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society.

* Roughly two-thirds (65%) of adult Muslims in the U.S. were born elsewhere. A relatively large proportion of Muslim immigrants are from Arab countries, but many also come from Pakistan and other South Asian countries. Among native-born Muslims, roughly half are African American (20% of U.S. Muslims overall), many of whom are converts to Islam.

* Based on data from this survey, along with available Census Bureau data on immigrants' nativity and nationality, the Pew Research Center estimates the total population of Muslims in the United States at 2.35 million.

* 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 U.S. Muslim public than others. Fewer native-born African American Muslims than others completely condemn al Qaeda. In addition, younger Muslims in the U.S. are much more likely than older Muslim Americans to say that suicide bombing in the defense of Islam can be at least sometimes justified. Nonetheless, absolute levels of support for Islamic extremism among Muslim Americans are quite low, especially when compared with Muslims around the world.

* A majority of Muslim Americans (53%) say it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most also believe that the government "singles out" Muslims for increased surveillance and monitoring.

* Relatively few Muslim Americans believe the U.S.-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% of Muslim Americans say groups of Arabs carried out those attacks.

Full report:

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream

(.pdf file)

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

WASHINGTON – Two-thirds (67 percent) of all converts to Islam in the United States came from a Protestant background, according to the first nationwide survey to measure the demographics, attitudes, and experiences of Muslim Americans.

Not much was formerly known about the Muslim American population in terms of their attitudes and opinions, but the new survey by the Pew Research Center found that Muslim Americans, in comparison to the rest of the world, have the unique feature of consisting of a relatively large number of converts to the religion – nearly a quarter. Almost all conversions are native-born (91 percent) and almost three-fifths (59 percent) of converts to Islam are African American.

Most converts to Islam gave as reasons for their conversions: the appeal of Islam’s teachings, the belief that Islam is superior to Christianity, or that religion “made sense” to them.

Only 18 percent of converts said family reasons, such as marrying a Muslim, was reason for conversion.

The new landmark study seeks to understand the growing segment of American society when little quantitative research about the attitudes and opinions of Muslim Americans has been conducted. It compares the attitudes of the Muslim population with those of the general U.S. population and Muslims worldwide and understanding the similarities and differences of this American population.

The study found that not only are Muslim Americans largely similar to the rest of the country in terms of income, education level, and economic satisfaction, they also share common values and attitudes and, in general, subscribe to a “decidedly” American worldview.

The majority of Muslim Americans have a generally positive view of society and believe in the American dream. A full 71 percent said they believe that if a person works hard they can be successful in the United States.

Moreover, despite the fact 65 percent of Muslims in the country are first-generation Americans they believe that Muslims living in the United States should try and adopt American customs instead of trying to remain distinct from society.

U.S. Muslims were also more likely than most European Muslims to describe themselves by nationality before religion. Only forty-seven percent of Muslim Americans think of themselves first as a Muslim before an American compared to Britain where 81 percent said they are first Muslim and then British.

Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of Muslim Americans – nearly two-to-one (63 percent – 32 percent) – do not see a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society.

Yet most U.S. Muslims still say that religion is very important to them, similar to other Americans. Most pray every day and four-in-ten attend a mosque at least once a week. The majority of Muslims also accept the Koran as the word of their god, but only half says that it should be taken literally, according to the study. Instead, most Muslims say there are multiple ways to interpret the teachings of Islam.

Furthermore, U.S. Muslims, for the most part, reject Islamic extremism. However, there are sectors of the population where acceptance of the ideology is more popular.

For instance, younger U.S. Muslims are more likely than older Muslim Americans to say suicide bombing in defense of Islam can at least be sometimes justifiable.

Meanwhile, U.S.-born African American Muslims were less likely than other Muslim Americans to condemn al Qaeda.

The Pew Research Center conducted over 55,000 screening interviews in order to find a national sample of 1,050 Muslims living in the United States for the study.

There are an estimated 2.35 million Muslims out of a population of 301 million in the United States according to Pew Research Center.

By Ethan Cole