Views of Islam and Violence
A plurality of Americans say Islam does not encourage violence more than other religions.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
A plurality of Americans say Islam does not encourage violence more than other religions.
A majority of Americans say they do not know very much or know nothing at all about Islam.
Broad majorities in four Western European countries support a ban on women wearing an Islamic veil; however, most Americans would oppose such a ban.
Practiced by relatively few in 1900, Christianity and Islam are now dominant religions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Muslim publics are split on extremist groups, including Palestinians who oppose their own such group (Hamas) but support Hezbollah.
A substantial minority of Muslims in Nigeria say that violence against civilians in defense of Islam can sometimes or often be justified.
A plurality of Americans (45%) say Islam is no more likely than other faiths to encourage violence among its believers.
A slim majority of Americans (53%) know the Muslim name for God is Allah, and a similar number (52%) can correctly name the Koran as the Islamic sacred text.
Over the past year, there has been a 37-point increase in the number of Pakistanis who hold unfavorable opinions of the Taliban and a similarly large increase in negative views of al Qaeda.
Only a quarter of Americans say it is necessary to give up some civil liberties to curb terrorism, down from 55% shortly after the attacks of 9/11.
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