Majorities in Germany (71%), Britain (62%) and Spain (59%) would also support a similar ban in their own countries. In contrast, most Americans would oppose such a measure; 65% say they would disapprove of a ban on Muslim women wearing full veils in public places compared with 28% who say they would approve.

In the four Western European countries surveyed as well as in the U.S., support for a ban on Muslim women wearing a full veil is more pronounced among those who are age 55 and older, although majorities across all age groups in France, Germany and Britain favor a ban. For example, 91% of French respondents age 55 and older approve of restrictions on Muslim women covering their face, compared with 81% of those ages 35 to 54 and 72% of those younger than 35.

In Spain, where 70% in the older group and a narrower majority (55%) of those ages 35 to 54 favor a ban on full veils, younger respondents are closely divided; 49% of those ages 18 to 34 approve of such measures and 47% disapprove. In the U.S., about one-third (35%) of those in the oldest age group say they would welcome a ban on veils that cover the whole face except the eyes, while 28% of those ages 35 to 54 and just 22% of those younger than 35 say the same.

Opinions about banning Muslim women from wearing a full veil do not vary along gender lines in any of the five countries where the question was asked. In France, Britain and the U.S., views on this matter are also similar across education and income groups. However, in Spain and Germany, those in higher income groups are more likely than the less affluent to approve of such a ban; for example, a slim majority (51%) of low-income respondents in Spain favor a ban on full veils, compared with 62% of those in the middle-income range and 68% of those with high incomes.

Ideologically, those on the right in France, Britain and Germany are more likely than those on the left to approve of a ban on women wearing the full Islamic veil in public places, but majorities across the political spectrum in these countries endorse such a ban. In France, 87% of those on the right support prohibiting women from wearing full veils in public, and 75% of those on the political left agree. Spain is the only Western European country surveyed where those on both ends of the ideology scale express nearly identical views; 59% of those on the right and 57% of those on the left approve of a ban on Muslim women wearing veils that cover the whole face. Ideological differences are also insignificant in the U.S.

The Netherlands announced plans on Friday for legislation that would ban veils and other clothing that covers the face, instantly moving to the forefront of a debate raging throughout Europe over how far to go to limit displays of Muslim religious identity.

The announcement came as the Dutch prepare for national elections this week in which concerns over immigration and the country’s swelling Muslim population are playing a key role. The government already allows individual schools to ban head scarves, a move that came after France banned the wearing of religious symbols in public schools.

Throughout Europe governments are wrestling with how far to go to respond to calls to lift the veil and ban the head scarf. While the issue in the Netherlands involves full-face veils or burqas, head scarves also have divided publics across the continent. A 2005 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey in the Netherlands found that 51% of the Dutch public favored banning head scarves in public.¹ In Germany, 54% also supported a ban while in France an even larger majority — 78% — did so. But in Great Britain, a solid majority (62%) thought the banning of scarves was a bad idea.

Opinion was more evenly divided in Spain, where 43% said the ban is a good idea and 48% opposed it.

However, these views may have changed in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe since the Pew survey was conducted in the Spring of 2005. In August 2006, British authorities foiled a terrorist plot by British Muslims to blow up airliners bound for the United States. And in France, young Muslims were believed to make up the majority of those who participated in the rioting that swept through several cities beginning in late October of last year.

In the Pew survey, views on the scarf ban were closely tied to overall attitudes toward Muslims, with those with negative views of Muslims far more inclined to embrace the ban than those with more positive views. For example, in Great Britain, 55% of those with an unfavorable view of Muslims favored a scarf ban compared with 23% of those who expressed a positive view of Muslims. A similar pattern emerged in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain while in France, support for a ban was high both among favorable (74%) and unfavorable (86%) views of Muslims.

Another Pew Global Attitudes Project survey conducted earlier this year in France, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain finds that a majority of Muslim women in Great Britain and Spain and just under half of Muslim women in Germany cover their heads every day or almost every day.²

In Great Britain, where the debate over head scarves and veils has become particularly heated following former foreign secretary Jack Straw’s recent comments that the full-face veil is “a visible statement of separation and of difference,” more than half of Muslim women report wearing the head scarf every day. Slightly more than four-in-ten Muslim women in Spain and Germany cover their heads daily, while an additional two-in-ten in Spain and nearly one-in-six in Germany do so at least occasionally. About a third of Muslim women in Spain and 41% in Germany never cover their heads.

Only in France do a large majority of Muslim women (73%) say they “never” wear the religiously prescribed head covering. This reflects other survey results that show French Muslims generally are less likely to identify primarily as Muslims than are their counterparts in other European countries.³ Still, one-in-eight say they follow the dictates of their faith and cover their heads every day.

While the recent British controversy involved the full-face veil, the less extreme and more common practice of wearing head scarves has also drawn official fire in Europe. In addition to France, where head scarves and other religious symbols were banned in public schools in 2004, at least four German states have banned teachers from wearing head scarves and in the state of Hesse the ban applies to all civil servants. In Denmark, the High Court ruled last year that a Danish supermarket chain had the right to ban employees from wearing religious head scarves.

When Muslim youth rioted in the suburbs of France late last year, commentators were quick to fault the French “color-blind” assimilation model. “The unrest in France’s cities shows that social and policing policy has failed, as well as integration,” read the headline on an article in the Economist magazine on November 12, 2005.

But findings from the latest Pew Global Attitudes Survey, which included over-samples of Muslims in four European countries,² suggest that the French model can claim some success, however mixed. Some aspects of that relative success are especially striking when compared with the attitudes and experiences of Muslims in Great Britain, where police last week foiled a home-grown plot by Islamic terrorists to blow up U.S.-bound airliners.

France is home to the largest Muslim population in Europe, an estimated 5 million persons primarily of Algerian and Moroccan extraction (since religion is not tabulated in France’s census, no official estimate is available). Similarly, Muslims in Spain are largely of Moroccan extraction. By contrast, Pakistanis predominate among Britain’s Muslims along with other ethnicities, while Germany’s Muslims are primarily Turkish in origin.

Where European Muslims Mostly Agree

French Muslims do share many opinions with their co-religionists in neighboring countries. Primary among them is concern about joblessness. More than half of French Muslims (52%) say they are very worried about unemployment among Muslims — the primary complaint of last fall’s rioters — and an additional 32% say they are somewhat concerned. These levels are comparable to those expressed by Spanish, German and, to a slightly lesser degree, by British Muslims. (Curiously, among French Muslims, only 48% of those under age 35 say they are very worried about unemployment compared with 59% of their elders.)

Like Muslims elsewhere in Europe, the French also worry more generally about the future of Muslims in their country — though, in this case, Muslims in France are significantly less worried than those in Great Britain. A majority (57%) is also at least somewhat concerned about the declining importance of religion among their co-religionists in France, though again, British Muslims are more troubled on this score with 73% sharing the worry. (In this, as in other questions in the survey, no significant difference is seen among the responses of French Muslims of Algerian, Moroccan or other ethnicity.)

Not surprisingly, a majority of French Muslims (63%) sympathize with their youthful rioters — but not much more so than do Muslims in Spain and Germany. Interestingly, British Muslims are significantly more tolerant of the French car-burners, with fully 75% offering their sympathy.

Common Attitudes toward Non-Muslims

French Muslims share the view that relations between Muslims and Westerners are bad, a view prevalent elsewhere in Europe — and in predominantly Muslim countries — with the exception of Spain, where nearly half of the Muslim population rates relations as good compared with fewer than a quarter who call them bad. But while 58% of French Muslims view relations with Westerners as bad, far more (41%) view these relations as good than do British or German Muslims.

Additional points of similarity between French and other European Muslims include generally unfavorable opinions of the United States, of its war on terrorism and, to a lesser degree, of its citizens

Also, like the great majority of Muslims in Great Britain and Spain (though less so in Germany) French Muslim sympathies in the Middle East lie with the Palestinians rather than with Israel. However, nearly two-in-three French Muslims (65%) worry about extremism among Muslims — as do even more (70%) of British Muslims. And, like Muslims elsewhere in Europe only a tiny minority of French Muslims (16%) say that suicide bombings and other violence against civilian targets in defense of Islam can often or sometimes be justified.

Voici La Différence

However, even on the hot button issues of the Middle East, French Muslims depart company with others of their faith both in Europe and in the Muslim world. For example, French Muslims are evenly split on the question of the effect of the victory by the radical group Hamas in this year’s Palestinian election, with 44% saying it was good for Palestinians and 46% judging it bad. By comparison, British Muslims weighed in lopsidedly on the positive side (56% ‘good’ vs. 18% ‘bad’) as did Spanish Muslims (57% vs. 22%).

Moreover, joined only by German Muslims in Europe, the French are heavily opposed (71%) to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran. British Muslims, in contrast, are evenly split on the subject.

And while the majority of Muslims in all four European countries surveyed say they have little or no confidence in Osama bin Laden, French Muslims are virtually unanimous (93%) in their disdain. (By comparison, 68% of British Muslims submit a vote of no confidence in the Al Qaeda leader.)

Most striking, however, is the difference between the views that French Muslims hold about people of other faiths and the views held by Muslims elsewhere in Europe and in predominantly Muslim countries. French Muslims even top the general publics in the United States and France in favorable ratings of Christians (91% of French Muslims vs. 88% of Americans and 87% of the French take that view).

But what most distinguishes French Muslims from their co-religionists not only in the Muslim world but in Europe, is their attitude toward Jews. Fully 71% of French Muslims express a positive view of people of the Jewish faith, compared with only 38% of German Muslims, 32% of British Muslims, 28% of Spanish Muslims and still lower numbers in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed. In this, Muslims reflect the view of the larger French public among whom fully 86% express a favorable opinion of Jews, a higher proportion than even than among the American public.

At Home in France?

Most Muslims in France feel very French — but they feel that the French don’t see them that way, because they may look Arab or black…. Surveys suggest that Muslims are generally more conservative for example on issues such as sexuality and marriage… [But] the fraction of Muslims actively practicing their religion in France is only 10 percent, which is very similar to that of practicing Catholics.
- Catherine Wihtol de Wenden, immigration specialist and research director, Center for International Studies and Research, Paris

By and large, Muslims in France do not seem to see themselves as surrounded by hostile natives. Just 39% say they think many or most Europeans are hostile toward Muslims — considerably lower percentage than the 56% among the general French population who take that view. In Germany, where most Muslims are of Turkish descent, roughly half (51%) see Europeans as unwelcoming — a view shared by 63% of the larger German public. This perception of welcome persists despite the fact that French Muslims are somewhat more likely than those in other European countries to report that they have had a bad experience attributable to their race, ethnicity or religion. Nearly four-in-ten Muslims (37%) in France report such incidents, compared with 28% in Britain, 25% in Spain and 19% in Germany. Younger French Muslims are more likely to report a bad experience — 40% of those under age 35 compared with 31% of those age 35 or older.

But what most distinguishes French Muslims among others in Europe are their self-perceptions. Few Muslims living in France see a natural conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society. Seven-in-ten French Muslims (72%) perceive no such conflict, a view shared by a virtually identical 74%-share of the French general public. In Great Britain, however, Muslims split evenly (47% see a conflict, 49% do not) while only 35% of the British general public see no inherent conflict between devotion to Islam and adaptation to a modern society.

Moreover, when asked whether they consider themselves as a national citizen first or as a Muslim first, French Muslims split relatively evenly (42% vs. 46%) on the issue. Not only is this remarkably different from Muslims elsewhere in Europe (fully 81% of British Muslims self-identify with their religion rather than their nationality, for example) but it is remarkably close to the responses given by Americans when asked whether they identify first as national citizens or as Christians (48% vs. 42%). Perhaps in this, as in other things, Muslims living in France are indeed absorbing the secular ways of their countrymen, among whom fully 83% self-identify with their nationality, rather than their religion.

On this one question, however, some evidence of a growing Islamic identity among younger French Muslims appears. Among those under age 35, many of them French by birth, only 40% self-identify primarily as French while 51% self-identify first as Muslim, while 7% say both equally. Among those 35 and older, 45% self-identify with their nationality, 36% as Muslims and 16% as both equally.

However, no such age differential appears on the question of whether Muslims in France want either to be distinct from the larger culture or to adopt its customs. Nearly eight-in-ten French Muslims (78%) say they want to adopt French customs. Those under age 35 are equally as likely to say this as are their elders. This high preference for assimilation compares with that expressed by 53% of Muslims in Spain, 41% in Britain and 30% in Germany.

All in all, one might conclude that, despite their problems — prime among them joblessness among youth generally, not just Muslim youth — the French need take no integrationist lessons from their European neighbors.

Muslims in Europe worry about their future, but their concern is more economic than religious or cultural. And while there are some signs of tension between Europe’s majority populations and its Muslim minorities, Muslims there do not generally believe that most Europeans are hostile toward people of their faith. Still, over a third of Muslims in France and one-in-four in Spain say they have had a bad experience as a result of their religion or ethnicity.

However, there is little evidence of a widespread backlash against Muslim immigrants among the general publics in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. Majorities continue to express concerns about rising Islamic identity and extremism, but those worries have not intensified in most of the countries surveyed over the past 12 months; a turbulent period that included the London subway bombings, the French riots, and the Danish cartoon controversy.

Opinions held by Muslims in Europe – as well as opinions about Muslims among Europe’s majority populations – vary significantly by country. No clear European point of view emerges with regard to the Muslim experience, either among Muslims or in the majority populations on many issues.

Most notably, France shows no signs of a backlash in response to last year’s riots. In fact, a counter trend seems to have emerged with slightly more French people saying that immigration from the Middle East and North Africa is a good thing than did so a year ago. The French public is also more inclined this year to say that Muslims living in France want to adopt French customs – a view held by an overwhelming majority of Muslims in France. Nor do German and British publics express any increase in negative views of immigrants – although, unlike the French, they are not more positive toward immigrants this year. Meanwhile, the Spanish public’s view toward immigrants has grown slightly more negative over the last year.

But in Britain worries about Islamic extremism are intense among both the general public and the Muslim minority population as well. Concerns about the problem rose markedly this year among the general public. And worries about extremism within the British Muslim community are greater than in France, Germany, and Spain.

The survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project was conducted in 13 countries, including the United States, from March 31-May 14, 2006.¹ It includes special oversamples of Muslim minorities living in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain.

The poll finds that Muslims themselves are generally positive about conditions in their host nation. In fact, they are more positive than the general publics in all four European countries about the way things are going in their countries. However, many Muslims, especially in Britain, worry about the future of Muslims in their country.

The greatest concern among Muslim minorities in all four countries is unemployment. Islamic extremism emerges as the number-two worry generally, a concern shared by Western publics as well as Muslims in Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan.

The decline in the importance of religion, adoption of modern roles by women, and influences of popular culture upon youth are generally lower-ranked concerns. Overall, British Muslims express the greatest level of concern about the issues tested.

The majority of European Muslims do not see many or most Europeans as hostile towards Muslims. But substantial numbers of Muslims do perceive such hostility. This belief is most widespread in Germany, where more than half of both Muslims and the general public see many or most Germans as hostile toward Muslims. At the same time, however, German Muslims are the least likely to report personal experiences with discrimination.

German Muslims are also far more inclined than those elsewhere in Europe to see new immigrants as wanting to be distinct – 52% take this view – and German nationals overwhelmingly (76%) share this view. In contrast, in France, 78% of Muslims say that Muslims there want to adopt French customs, though 53% of the general public feels that French Muslims want to remain distinct.

European Muslims show signs of favoring a moderate version of Islam. With the exception of Spanish Muslims, they tend to see a struggle being waged between moderates and Islamic fundamentalists. Among those who see an ongoing conflict, substantial majorities in all four countries say they generally side with the moderates.

Most French and British Muslims think women are better off in their countries than in most Muslim countries. About half of German and Spanish Muslims agree, and very few think women actually have it better in most Muslim countries. Moreover, most are not concerned about Muslim women in Europe taking on modern roles in society (although substantial minorities worry about this).

Religion is central to the identity of European Muslims. With the exception of Muslims in France, they tend to identify themselves primarily as Muslim rather than as British, Spanish, or German. In France, Muslims are split almost evenly on this question. The level of Muslim identification in Britain, Spain, and Germany is similar to that in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Jordan, and even higher than levels in Egypt, Turkey, and Indonesia. By contrast the general populations in Western Europe are far more secular in outlook. Roughly six-in-ten in Spain, Germany, and Britain identify primarily with their country rather than their religion, as do more than eight-in-ten in France.

Americans, however, split about evenly on this question: 42% say they first think of themselves as Christians versus 48% who think of themselves primarily as Americans – a divide close to that found among French Muslims.

Muslims in Europe are most sharply distinguished from the majority populations on opinions about external issues – America, the war on terrorism, Iran, the Middle East.² European Muslims give the United States lower favorability ratings than do general publics in Europe, and in particular, they give the American people lower ratings. The war on terror is extremely unpopular among minority Muslim populations – German Muslims register the highest level of support, at 31%.

While Iran is viewed unfavorably in Western Europe and the United States, it receives very positive marks from British and Spanish Muslims, while French and German Muslims are divided. European Muslims take a much more positive view of the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections in January than do the majority populations, and perhaps not surprisingly, they are also much more likely to side with Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In general, European Muslim opinions on external issues are quite similar to those expressed in predominantly Muslim countries.

About This Report

The report’s detailed findings are presented below. A description of the Pew Global Attitudes Project can be found at the end of the report, along with a summary of the survey’s methodology and complete topline results.

Little Anti-Muslim Backlash

Despite concerns about an anti-Muslim backlash in the wake of a string of highly publicized events involving Muslims living in Europe – subway bombings in London, controversy over Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad, rioting by Muslim youth in France – most Muslims living in Europe do not feel that most or even many Europeans are hostile toward people of their faith. Indeed, European Muslims are, in general, more satisfied with national conditions than are the general publics of these countries.

Substantial majorities of Muslims living in the European countries surveyed say that in the last two years they have not had any personally bad experience attributable to their race, ethnicity or religion. In France, however, where riots last fall pitted Muslim youth against French police, 37% of Muslims report a bad encounter, while in Britain 28% report being the target of discrimination.

Muslims in Spain are the least concerned about European anti-Muslim sentiment – fewer than a third (31%) say most or many Europeans have hostile attitudes compared with 64% who see only some or very few as hostile. In Great Britain, 42% of Muslims judge that many or most of their European hosts are unfriendly, while in France, 39% of resident Muslims share that view. Only in Germany does a narrow 51%-majority of resident Muslims view most (22%) or many (29%) Europeans as hostile.

In some of the European host countries surveyed, the general public agrees precisely with these assessments. In Great Britain, 40% of the public sees most or many of their fellow countrymen as hostile to Muslims compared with 42% of British Muslims taking that view; in Germany, 63% of the larger public agrees with the 51% of Muslims who see most or many of their hosts as hostile. But in France a considerably larger number among the public (56%) see substantial hostility toward Muslims than do Muslims themselves (39%). And in Spain, nearly twice as many in the overall population (60%) see most or many Europeans as hostile to Muslims as do Spanish Muslim, only 31% of whom share that view.

One of the biggest perception gaps exists in Nigeria. There 28% of Christians say most or many Europeans are hostile toward Muslims, compared with 50% of Nigerian Muslims who believe this. Muslims in the Mideast and Asia judge European hostility to be considerably more widespread than do European Muslims. As many as 63% in Egypt, 61% in Pakistan, 57% in Turkey and 50% in Jordan say that most or many Europeans are hostile to Muslims.

Immigrants Mostly Still Welcome

The poll finds little evidence of a general rise in anti-immigration sentiment. With the continuing exception of Germany, majorities in the European countries surveyed say it is a “good thing” that people from the Middle East and North Africa came to work in their countries.

These levels of acceptance are essentially unchanged from those recorded a year earlier. However, in France a somewhat greater percentage now call such immigration a good thing, while in Spain a somewhat smaller percentage say it is good.

Germany is the outlier in this regard with only 34% of Germans calling immigration from the Middle East and North Africa a good thing compared with 59% who deem it a bad thing. However, Germans are no more welcoming to those migrating from Eastern Europe; only 36% call such immigration a good thing.

Across the board, immigrants from Eastern Europe are no more and no less welcome than those from predominantly Muslim countries. In Great Britain, Spain, and France, as in Germany, the numbers among the general public calling immigration from Eastern Europe a good thing are virtually identical to those expressing approval of immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

More European Muslims approve of immigration from the Middle East and North Africa into the country where they now reside than do the general populations of those countries. Among Muslims in Great Britain, fully 75% call such immigration a good thing; in France, 83% and in Spain, 85%. Germany again is the exception, with Muslims there splitting 42%-46% on the good-bad question, although the 42% of Muslim approvers is still significantly higher than the 34% of the general public that agrees with that judgment.

Concerns About the Future

Although most European Muslims are satisfied with the general direction of the countries they live in, large majorities are still concerned about the future of Muslims in their country. British Muslims are the most concerned – eight-in-ten (80%) are at least somewhat concerned including about half (49%) who are very concerned. French Muslims follow closely behind in their anxiety, with 72% saying they are either very (38%) or somewhat (34%) concerned. The numbers of Muslims very concerned about the future are somewhat lower in Germany (28%) and Spain (30%) although substantial majorities in both countries say they are at least somewhat worried as they look ahead.

Of the issues tested in the survey, unemployment is the biggest concern of European Muslims, with majorities in the mid-50% range in France, Germany and Spain and a 46%-plurality in Britain saying they are very worried about joblessness. In addition, between a quarter and a third of the remaining Muslim samples express at least some concern on this issue.

Muslims in Britain emerge as the most worried on every other issue tested, with 45% very worried about the decline of the importance of religion among their co-religionists, 44% very concerned about the influence of the secular culture (movies, music and television) on their youth, and, to a lesser but still leading degree, the adoption of modern roles in society by Muslim women (22% very concerned). Elsewhere in Europe these issues – especially the emergence of women – engender intense concern among relatively few Muslims.

In fact, not only is the entry of women into modern roles of little or no concern to most European Muslims, it is apparently welcomed by many. About six-in-ten British and French Muslims, and about half of German and Spanish Muslims, believe the quality of life is better for women in their countries than in most Muslim countries. In all four countries, the share of Muslims saying women in their countries are worse off is less than 20%. Muslim women in Europe are slightly more likely than men to see the quality of life as better for women in their country than in most Muslim countries. However, in Spain Muslim women were considerably more likely than men to believe this.

Extremism among European Muslims is a common source of worry among Muslim minorities in Europe. In particular, Muslims in Great Britain are very concerned. As many express concerns about this (44%) as are very worried about unemployment. Extremism is of somewhat less concern in France (30% very worried), Germany (23%) and Spain (22%), although in all these countries more than four-in-ten Muslims say they are at least somewhat concerned.

Blending In

Most Europeans doubt that Muslims coming into their countries want to adopt their national customs and way of life. Substantial majorities in Germany (76%), Great Britain (64%), Spain (67%) and Russia (69%) say that Muslims in their country want to remain distinct from the larger society.

Fewer French, but still a 53%-majority, agree. However, the percentage of the general public in France that believes newly arrived Muslims want to blend into the French way of life has increased significantly since last year. In the 2005 survey only 36% of the French public said that Muslims want to adopt the French way of life while 59% said they want to remain distinct; now 46% say adopt, 53% say remain distinct.

For their part, Muslims in France, Great Britain, and Spain are substantially more likely than their general publics to say that Muslims want to adopt the customs and way of life of the country into which they immigrate. Indeed, nearly eight-in-ten French Muslims (78%) believe this.

Again, Germany is different: Only 30% of German Muslims think Muslims coming into that country today want to assimilate – most say they want to be separate and most Germans agree.

Islamic Identification

Perceptions of the strength of Islamic identity among Muslims have changed little over the year. Substantial majorities in both Western Europe and the United States continue to believe Muslims in their country have a very or fairly strong sense of Islamic identity.

European Muslims’ perceptions largely match those of the general public, with the exception of Germany. While 84% of the German public sees Muslims having a strong Islamic identity, only 46% of Muslims living in Germany agree.

As to whether that sense of Islamic identity is increasing, strong majorities among the general publics in Great Britain (69%), France (68%), and Germany (72% – up from 66% in 2005) say that it is (as do 69% in India and 56% in Russia). In Spain, however, only a 46%-plurality sees an intensifying Islamic identity – a view shared by Muslims in that country.

Muslims in Great Britain, however, are the most likely of all groups sampled to see a strengthening of Islamic identity with fully 77% agreeing.

In France and Germany, by contrast, the proportion of Muslims who see Islamic identity intensifying (58% and 54%, respectively) is smaller than among the general public.

European Muslims who think Islamic identity is growing tend to consider it a good thing. This is especially so in Great Britain, where 86% say the perceived intensifying trend is a good thing, and Spain where 75% agree.

Most Westerners (as well as Indians) strongly disagree. Among those in the French general public who see Islamic identity on the rise, 87% call it a bad thing; in Germany, 83% say so; in Spain (82%); in India, 78%.

For those in the United States, Western Europe, Russia and India who see growing Islamic identity as a bad thing, the primary concern cited is that it may lead to violence. However, many are also worried that it may keep Muslims from integrating into the larger society. For Muslims in Germany who see growing Islamic identity as worrisome, concern about retarding integration is paramount for 58%, while fewer than one-in-five worry about violence. Among French Muslims, concerns are spilt between violence (40%) and integration (45%). In most countries, an attendant loss of freedom tended to be of lesser concern.

For guidance on religious matters, Muslims in Europe, as well as in most of the larger Islamic world, turn to their local Imam, as well as to national and international religious leaders. Local religious leaders are especially consulted in Nigeria, where 64% of Muslims see them as the most trustworthy source of guidance; in Indonesia, where 60% do so; and in Pakistan and Great Britain where more than four-in-ten Muslims do so. The only countries in which large numbers – about one-in-four – turn first to religious leaders on television are the two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan.

Self-Perceptions

Large percentages of Muslims in Europe say they think of themselves first as a Muslim rather than as a citizen of their country. The tendency is strongest in Great Britain where 81% in the Muslim oversample self-identify as Muslim rather than British, while in Spain 69% do so and in Germany 66%. In sharp contrast, Muslims living in France are far less likely to identify first with their faith rather their nationality. While a 46%-plurality identifies first as a Muslim, a nearly equal 42% see themselves as primarily French, while an additional 10% say both equally.

The levels seen in Britain, Spain, and Germany are comparable to those seen in most of the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed. In Pakistan, 87% primarily identify as Muslims; in Jordan, 67% do so. In Nigeria, 71% of Muslims see themselves as Muslims first, whereas a smaller 53%-majority of Christians primarily identify with their faith.

In Turkey a slight 51%-majority now self-identifies as Muslim rather than Turkish, although this is a substantial rise from the 43% who did so in 2005. Among Muslim countries in the survey, only in Indonesia does the public split 39%-36% between primary national and religious identity, with 25% selecting both equally.

By contrast, Christians in European countries overwhelmingly self-identify with their respective nationalities rather than with their faith. And in India, fully 90% of the public self-identifies as Indian rather than Hindu.

Indeed, among non-Muslim nations, the United States is the outlier in terms of religious self-identification with the public closely split on the question of primary identification. Fully 42% of U.S. Christians say they think of themselves as Christians first rather than as Americans, compared with 48% who self-identify primarily as Americans; an additional 7% say both equally.

Concern About Islamic Extremism

The poll found no overall rise in concern about extremism among the general publics of nations with Muslim minorities. The percentage of the general public very worried about Islamic extremism was greater this year in the U.S., Britain, and Germany; however, it was unchanged in France and considerably lower in Spain and Russia.

Germans are the most concerned about rising Islamic extremism in their country with 82% of the general public saying they are very (40%) or somewhat (42%) concerned. However, concern was nearly as high a year ago when 78% of Germans expressed such concern including 35% who then said they were very concerned.

Great Britain, however, has seen an increase in worries about Islamic extremism over the last year, with 77% of the public now saying they are very (42%) or somewhat (35%) concerned. Strikingly, these concerns are largely shared by Muslims living in Britain, among whom 43% say they are very concerned and 26% say they are somewhat concerned.

In France, despite that country’s recent experience with riots, worry about Islamic extremism has remained essentially stable over the last year (76% of the public is at least somewhat concerned including 30% very concerned). And in Spain and Russia, such concerns have declined considerably.

As in Great Britain, most Muslims in France and Germany are also worried about extremism. However, Muslims in Spain are divided on this issue, with 46% expressing at least some concern and 49% expressing little or no concern.

By contrast, in the predominantly Muslim countries of Egypt, Pakistan, and Jordan large majorities (68%, 74%, and 69%, respectively) are very or somewhat concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in those countries. And in India, with its substantial Muslim minority, 85% of the predominately Hindu public expresses such concern, essentially the same number as did so last year.

In Nigeria the level of concern is somewhat lower – a small majority (54%) of the public worries about Islamic extremism there. Muslims in Nigeria are significantly more likely than Christians to be concerned about Islamic extremism.

Consistent with these concerns, majorities or pluralities of Muslims in Britain (58%), France (56%), and Germany (49%) believe there is a struggle in their country between moderates and Islamic fundamentalists. Again, Spanish Muslims differ from their European counterparts, with a majority (65%) saying they do not see such a struggle, a view they share with 60% of Nigerian Muslims.

In all four European countries – and especially in France – those who do see a struggle heavily side with the moderates. In Nigeria, however, Muslims split evenly on this question.

Riots & Protests

Awareness of last year’s riots in France is relatively high among both the general publics and Muslim minorities in Western Europe, ranging among the general population from 91% in Germany to 78% in Spain and among Muslims from 86% in Germany to 63% in Britain. In Japan, 89% had heard the news.

Those who had heard about the riots were less numerous in the United States (55%) and in the Muslim world. In Turkey, 61% had heard about the riots, in Jordan 47%. But awareness levels in other Muslim countries ranged downward from 35% in Egypt, to 23% in Nigeria, 18% in Indonesia and 11% in Pakistan.

By and large, European Muslims – irrespective of their views about the riots per se – say they are sympathetic to the youths from immigrant and working class suburbs in France who felt frustrated by their place in French society. Muslims in Great Britain are most sympathetic (75% so indicate) followed by those in France and Spain (63% of Muslims in both countries).

In Germany, however, more among the general public (64%) express sympathy than among the predominantly Turkish Muslims in that country, 53% of whom say they sympathize with the frustrations of French youth.

In general, Western publics are divided on this issue – only 37% of the Spanish public sympathizes with the French youth.

And despite more positive French views on many related issues this year, only 46% of the French general public takes the side of the country’s alienated young.

Regarding publication of cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, the most common way in which people heard about the controversy that ensued was through television, although in Nigeria people were more likely to hear of it via radio or through family and friends.

Few in any country mentioned a church or mosque or the internet as the source of their awareness.