So what do we really think of them? - Q-News July 2006, Issue 367

When a survey of attitudes entitled How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other is prefaced The Great Divide the prognosis isn’t hopeful. Conducted by the Pew Centre - an organisation with a penchant for conducting the most lavish global opinion polls - the survey involved over 13,000 Muslims and non-Muslims in 13 countries. Alas, it makes for grim reading. In Great Britain, 61% of non-Muslims and 62% of Muslims considered relations between Muslims and Westerners to be generally bad. Other European Muslims reflected the feelings of those in Britain with 58% of French Muslims and 60% of German Muslims agreeing with their British counterparts. One positive note was the views of Spanish Muslims with only 23% feeling relations were poor, an interesting finding considering Spanish non-Muslims were by far the most hostile in their views towards Muslims - only 29% of non-Muslims expressed a favourable attitude towards Muslims.

The figure more than doubled in Britain and France with 63% of Britons (down from 72% in May 2005) and 65% of French respondents expressing favourable attitudes. However, Muslims in certain Muslim countries had far less favourable attitudes towards Christians with only 27% in Pakistan and 16% in Turkey giving positive replies. This compared with 64% in Indonesia, 61% in Jordan and 48% in Egypt. The attitude towards Jews was far worse. Uniformly hostile attitudes reached a peak in Jordan with 98% of respondents saying they did not have a favourable attitude towards Jewish people.

The survey revealed some interesting differences in opinion among non-Muslims across Europe. In response to the question “Is there a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society?” 70% of Germans felt there was as opposed to only 26% of French respondents, surprising considering the recent riots in Paris and general suspicious attitude of the French towards religion in general. In Britain, 47% of non-Muslims said there was a conflict, 32% associated violence with Muslims, but 56% also associate being honest with being Muslim. The definition of ‘modern society’ is a bit fuzzy. Can a majority Muslim society be modern? The Pew line of questioning seems to suggest otherwise.

The survey also revealed how Muslims in Europe were more positive and tolerant in their attitudes to non-Muslims, While British Muslims were by far the most negative in their attitudes. Intriguing since Britain is perceived by the rest of European Muslimdom as a multicultural eden.

The Pew Research Centre states, “Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent and as lacking tolerance.” It might be ‘the media’, but Muslims should be concerned that so many of those to whom we are supposed to convey the message of Islam think so poorly of us. Sometimes Islamophobia is a poor excuse for own behaviour.