Washington, USA - Muslims in America are better assimilated and more concerned about religious extremism than their counterparts in Western Europe and elsewhere in the world, according to a new poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
The survey, covering the views of 1,050 Muslims out of an initial sample of more than 55,000 people interviewed in English, Arabic, Urdu, and Farsi, is the most comprehensive of its kind. It showed a mostly immigrant adult Muslim population that is hardworking, educated, relatively affluent, and despite shared concerns about post-9/11 discrimination, generally content with life in the United States.
But that contentment does not resonate as strongly among American Muslim youths.
The poll found that those under 30, despite having deeper American roots, were comparatively accepting of religious fundamentalism, and far more likely to think of themselves as "Muslims" before "Americans." Twenty-something Muslims were also found to attend mosque more than older adults, and be more sympathetic to extremist organizations. About one in four young Muslims thinks suicide bombing in the name of Islam can be justified at least in rare circumstances, compared to only 9 percent of Muslim adults 30 and over sharing the same opinion.
While pollsters admitted such trends are somewhat troubling, they said the figures were not cause for alarm.
"In general, the youth are the ones who regardless of what their religion is, regardless of what race they are, tend to support more violence," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University and an adviser to the poll. "Call it hormones, call it maturity, whatever, they tend to see things in this black-and-white, us-versus-them mentality."
But on the question of exhibited religiosity, Jamal said, the issue was not so clear-cut.
"The youth population is more likely to attend mosque, but they pray less, they read the Quran less," she said. "Mosque serves other purposes. In many ways the mosque is a safe haven for people to feel comfortable with their Muslim identity."
A majority of Muslims feel that their identity is under siege, at least in part, the survey showed. Fifty-three percent of those polled said that it has been more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. since 9/11 because of anti-Muslim discriminatory attitudes, though 73 percent of those surveyed said they had never experienced such discrimination themselves.
Those most affected by discrimination—and most conservative-minded about to what degree Muslims should integrate into American society—are African-American Muslims, who comprise the majority of the native-born American Muslim population.
"We found an unexpectedly low number of African-Americans completely condemning Al Qaeda," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "This may just reflect the disillusionment of this group of people. They are the least affluent, the least satisfied with their lives, and the most skeptical."
The link between economic disillusionment and comparative acceptance of extremism is made more obvious by comparison to Europe, where a majority of Muslims both earn less than their European counterparts and express less satisfaction with their life situation.
"I think that economic optimism very much is reflected here. There's a lot of disaffection among Muslims in Europe," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. "Compared to European Muslims, American Muslims look very moderate and mainstream."
Foreign-born Muslims—who comprise two-thirds of Muslims in the U.S. and hail from 68 countries, according to the survey—appear to be the most moderate of all, with three-quarters speaking favorably about their community and opportunities in the U.S., and two-thirds expressing vehemently unfavorable views of Al Qaeda.
Yet Muslim attitudes about U.S. foreign policy are unique in some contexts. Only one out of every four Muslims in America believes the war on terror is a sincere effort, and only 40 percent believe that the 9/11 attacks in 2001 were carried out by Arabs.
And despite holding social values more closely aligned with conservatives, as a voting bloc, Muslims are also largely Democratic, with more than 70 percent voting for John Kerry in the 2004 election and nearly the same figure disapproving of George W. Bush's presidency and the war in Iraq.
The survey results have been well-received by Muslim organizations, although several disputed the poll's estimate of the Muslim population in the U.S. as about 2.35 million. They said the figure is closer to 6 million to 7 million.
"I think the survey results show that the American Muslim community is very well-assimilated in our society and that the vast majority of American Muslims reject terrorism and religious extremism," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations. "The bulk of the survey showed a well-integrated community that's highly educated and productive and contributing to our society."