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Monday, May 6, 2013

What some of the Muslim world thinks - Pew research

About....

What the Muslim world believes, on everything from alcohol to honor killings, in 8 maps, 5 charts.


Oddly enough the Pew research does not cover countries such as Iran or the gulf states?  why- because of

"political sensitivities or security concerns prevented opinion research among Muslims." Excluded countries were Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and Iran which are Islamic states already governed by the Shari'ah. 
I'm still left without an answer on the exclusion of all of the other Gulf states.  Surely it can't be Sharia, ah they got brushed under the "political sensitivies/security (Bahrain) concerns" carpet. No freedom of opinion, let alone speech.

Who ever coloured in the maps should be firmly corrected on their apparent lack of geographical knowledge, as the area known as Israel is refered to in the text as the Palestinian Territories.

The [Pew] data was pooled from surveys conducted between 2008 and 2012, representing a total of 39 countries and territories on three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. Collectively, the surveys included "more than 38,000 face-to-face interviews in 80-plus languages and dialects, covering every country that has more than 10 million Muslims.


The newspaper discusses the Pew research on Muslims and their faith.   There are glaring " factual omissions" in the report, such as the section discussing religious conflicts. To quote from the WP article:
Each of these cases is obviously quite different, and keep in mind that calling conflict a "very big problem” is relative and subjective.
and this
 "Religious violence, sometimes involving attacks with dozens killed, is indeed a big problem in Nigeria and Pakistan.."

Dozens killed... in Nigeria.   This is the Washington Post, folks, airbrushing out of print, the hundreds of (Christian) victims in Nigeria. This a newspaper that is trivalising a VERY SERIOUS Jihad.

According to Pew, 68 percent in Lebanon saying it [religious conflict] was a big problem, 65 percent in Tunisia, 60 percent in Nigeria and 57 percent in Pakistan." 

68 % Lebanon
Lebanon is experiencing a spill over from the Syrian war.  It's population consists of Shias, Sunnis, Druze and Christians, (to name but a few), so who are the Muslims worried about?).  There are periodic spasms of Muslim against Muslim violence. 


60 percent in Nigeria    An oblique reference to the ongoing "sectarian" (to quote the BBC), violent conflict between the Muslims and Christians? Muslims mobs and terrorists have managed to kill hundreds of Christians in a few months.
 
57 percent in Pakistan. Reference to the ongoing "sectarian" (to quote the BBC), violent conflict between the Muslims and Christians (+Hindus), as well as the bloody violence between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.  The Christians, Hindus and Shias being on the receiving end of bombings and murderous Muslim mobs.

The article does not mention is the case of:

Kenya -  There are ongoing "tensions" between Muslims and Christians.

Egypt, where the Muslims who attack Coptic Christians, burn their churches, kidnap children for ransom and rape their women. According to Pew, just under 28% consider religious conflict as a problem.  Now compare this with this: 50% say that Christians are hostile to Muslims, 35% say that Muslims are hostile to Christians. 86% Muslims say all or most of their close friends share their faith.

Indonesia:  On going spasms of violence inflicted by Sunni Muslims on Christians and Muslims.   

Although the Pew report mentioned Christian -Muslim relations, the WP on the other hand did not even mention.  Here is an extract from the report:
 
The survey asked in particular about relations between Muslims and Christians. In nearly all countries, fewer than half of Muslims say that many or most members of either religious group are hostile toward the other group. In five countries, however, more than three-in-ten Muslims describe many or most Christians as antagonistic toward Muslims: Egypt (50%), Guinea Bissau (41%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (37%), Chad (34%) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (31%). And in three countries similar percentages say many or most Muslims are hostile toward Christians: Guinea Bissau (49%), Chad (38%) and Egypt (35%).

Here is a revelation:


 "In only three of the 37 countries where the question was asked do at least half of Muslims say they know a great deal or some about Christian beliefs and practices" (and the 3 are: drumroll.... BOSNIA, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau). 

In addition, the actual Pew Report states that:

The survey finds that even in countries with substantial non-Muslim populations, a large majority of Muslims say most, if not all, of their close friends share their faith. For example, in Lebanon, where non-Muslims make up nearly 40% of the population, 94% of Muslims describe their circle of close friends as exclusively or mostly Muslim.

According to the Pew research, very few Muslims in Egypt (17% for a son, 0% for a daughter) would be comfortable they would be with the idea of their son or daughter marrying a Christian. Likewise it is extremely low in Indonesia, (6% & 2%),  9% & 3% in Pakistan.



The odd one out of all of this is TUNISIA, yeah, Tunisia with 65%.  Apparently there are no conflicts in Tunisia.  It had its fair share of conflict in the past, namely with the Jews, who had very little choice but to flee the country.

"By contrast, in Lebanon (38%), Pakistan (34%) and Iraq (23%) – three countries that have experienced sectarian violence – about a quarter or more view Sunni-Shia tensions as a very big problem."


Consider the information above on the conflicts & relationships with the data below:


72% of Indonesian Muslims, 84% of Pakistani Muslims, 82% of Bangladeshi Muslims, 74% of Egyptian Muslims, and 71% of Nigerian Muslims supported making the Shari'ah the official state law of their respective societies.

A large proportion of Muslims want Sharia and at the same there is also a "big" problem with other religions. At the same time, there is limited interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims.  This does not bode well if this data is extrapolated for Muslim communities  in the West.

To sum up:

It is Islamic doctrine that has and is continuing to create each and every of those conflicts!


More informative analysis of the latest Pew research on Muslims and their faith  HERE

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