Pew polls American Muslims
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans
Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream 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.
Download the complete report