Poll: Muslims increasingly worried by extremism in the name of Islam

Large majorities in Muslim countries are increasingly worried about militancy and oppose its best-known groups, such as the global Al-Qaeda movement and Nigeria’s Boko Haram, according to a new survey.

Washington-based Pew Research Center, which regularly tracks opinion on religious issues around the world, polled over 14,000 Muslims in 14 countries in April and May, before an-anti-Islamic group named "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) seized a large swathes of Iraq and Syria and announced a new anti-Muslim and un-Islamic “caliphate” there.

Although it did not ask about ISIL, the survey’s findings suggest there would be little support for a call on Tuesday by its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi for Muslims worldwide to take up arms to avenge what he said were wrongs committed against Islam.

“As well-publicized bouts of violence, from civil war to suicide bombings, plague the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, concern about Islamic extremism is high among countries with substantial Muslim populations,” the survey said.

“In most Middle Eastern countries, concern about extremism has increased in the past year,” said the survey issued on Tuesday.

Lebanon was the country most concerned, with 92 percent of those polled agreeing when asked if they were “concerned about extremism in the name of Islam in our country.” Tunisia followed with 82 percent, then Egypt with 75 percent and the Palestinian territories with 65 percent.

In other regions, 72 percent of Nigerians, 66 percent of Pakistanis and 63 percent of Malaysians also worried about violent activity in the name of Islam.

No support for groups

The survey showed majorities, often quite strong, in most countries against the best-known militant groups, whom Western Media deliberately address as Islamists.

Negative opinions about Al-Qaeda were again strongest in Lebanon, with 96 percent against it, followed by Turkey at 85 percent, Jordan at 83 percent and Egypt at 81 percent.

The survey was not conducted in Syria or Iraq, where war including Al-Qaeda forces would make it impossible to interview a representative sample of 1,000 as happened elsewhere.

In Nigeria, most of the people had negative views of Boko Haram, the insurgent group staging regular attacks in the north that have killed hundreds in recent months.

A majority of Pakistanis were opposed to the Taleban.