Muslim Statistics (Conspiracy Theories)

Muslim World

These findings are from surveys in Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Indonesia conducted from December 2006 to February, 2007 by WorldPublicOpinion.org with support from the START Consortium at the University of Maryland.

Large majorities across all four countries believe the United States seeks to "weaken and divide the Islamic world." On average 79 percent say they perceive this as a US goal, ranging from 73 percent in Indonesia and Pakistan to 92 percent in Egypt. Equally large numbers perceive that the United States is trying to maintain "control over the oil resources of the Middle East" (average 79%). Strong majorities (average 64%) even believe it is a US goal to "spread Christianity in the region."

While US leaders may frame the conflict as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the US as being at war with Islam," said Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Nearly a decade after Sept. 11, 2001, skepticism about the events of that day persists among Muslim publics.

When asked whether they think groups of Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., most Muslims in the nations surveyed say they do not believe this.

There is no Muslim public in which even 30% accept that Arabs conducted the attacks. Indeed, Muslims in Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey are less likely to accept this today than in 2006.

July 2011

Europe

...a 2006 study of the Pew research institute showed, about half of the Muslims living in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom believe in the conspiracy theory that the attacks of 9/11 were not carried out by Muslims, but were orchestrated by the West and/or Jews.

December 2013

Belgium

Conducted in recent months by three universities for the Flemish government, the survey was published last month based on questionnaires filled out by 3,867 high school students in Antwerp and Ghent, including 1,068 Muslims.

Among Muslims, 50.9 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “Jews foment war and blame others for it” compared to only 7.1 percent among non-Muslims. Among Muslims, 24.5 percent said they partially agreed with the statement, as did 20.6 percent of non-Muslims.

The statement “Jews seek to control everything” received a 45.1 approval rating among Muslims compared to 10.8 approval among non-Muslims. Of Muslims, 27.9 percent said they partially agreed, as did 29.2 percent of non-Muslims.

March 2013

Pakistan

a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that Al Qaida was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the US, notwithstanding Osama Bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.

May 2007

Palestine

Slightly more than one in four - 26 percent - of Palestinians believe Israelis planned the 9-11 attacks.

October 2003

United Arab Emirates

[From a 2004 poll conducted by Zogby International] Only 5% of UAE citizens felt that "democracy" was an "extremely important" reason for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction was cited by 16%. "Oil" and "domination of the Muslim world" were the main reasons offered by UAE citizens for our invasion of Iraq.

February 2006

United Kingdom

A large majority of Muslims living in the UK consider the war on terror to be a war on Islam, according to a BBC survey.

And more than half of those questioned for BBC Radio 4's Today programme believed Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network should not have been blamed for the 11 September attacks.
. . .
Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, head of the London-based radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, was unsurprised by the poll's findings.

"We always believed that this is a war against Islam, there is a hidden agenda against Islam, and that is really manifested on many occasions." he told Today.
. . .
[Shahid Malik, a member of Labour's national executive committee] agreed the majority of British Muslims do believe the war on terror is a war against Islam.

"I personally don't believe that it is a war against Islam, but if you look at it dispassionately and coldly, the way that it's manifested itself, it seems to be targeting Muslim countries."

December 2002

According to a new poll of British Muslims, 37% of the 500 adults surveyed viewed Anglo-Jewry as "a legitimate target as part of the struggle for justice in the Middle East."

More than half believed British Jews exerted too much influence over foreign policy.

46% believe "the Jewish community in Britain is in league with the Freemasons to control the media and politics," a conspiracy theory Board of Deputies director-general Jon Benjamin found "completely bizarre."

More than a quarter of 18- to 24-year-olds said they agreed with the views of jailed hate preacher Abu Hamza.

February 2006

Channel 4 has commissioned a NOP poll of British Muslims for Dispatches.
. . .
45% [of UK Muslims] thought that 9/11 was a conspiracy between the USA and Israel. 36% thought that Princess Diana was murdered to stop her marrying a Muslim. More seriously, only 29% thought that the holocaust occured, 2% denied it happened entirely, 17% think it was exaggerated (which is the stance proposed by most of today’s holocaust deniers), 24% said they had “no opinion” and 23% didn’t know what the holocaust was.

August 2006

Poll conducted by the Guardian/ICM organisations:

President Bush and Tony Blair have said that the war on terror is not a war against Islam. Do you agree or disagree?

March 2004 / Now

Agree 20% 14%
Disagree 68% 80%
Don't know 12% 6%"

October 2006

Channel 4 News, with GFK NOP, has commissioned a survey to reveal the Muslim community's attitudes towards the 'official narrative' surrounding the 7/7 bombings revealing that: 59% of the 500 people polled believe that the government has not told the public the whole truth about the 7th July bombings.

52% believe that the British security services have "made up" evidence to convict terrorist suspects.

24% believe the four men identified as the July 7th bombers were not actually responsible for the attacks.

68% believe that the Muslim community does not bear any responsibility for the emergence of extremists willing to attack UK targets. Although 58% felt that the community should be doing more.

June 2007

United States

More than one-third of American Muslims believe that the U.S. war on terrorism is really a war on Islam, according to survey information released yesterday by researchers at Georgetown University.

Thirty-eight percent of American Muslims polled said they believe the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the tensions with Iran and Syria, reflect a foreign policy that is targeting Islamic countries and Muslims themselves.

An additional 33 percent of Muslims interviewed said they believe the United States is fighting a war on terrorism, and 29 percent said they were not sure.

October 2004

Poll of attendees of a convention of the Islamic Society of North America:

3. Is the American government at war with the religion of Islam?

Yes: 208
No: 79
Undecided: 20
. . .

5. Did Muslims hijack planes and fly them into buildings on 9/11?

Yes: 117
No: 139
Undecided: 51

6. Did the U.S. government have advance knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, and allow the attacks to occur?

Yes: 200
No: 70
Undecided: 37

7. Did the U.S. government organize the 9/11 attacks?

Yes: 106
No: 151
Undecided: 50

8. Are the tapes of Osama Bin Laden, claiming responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and threatening future attacks, real or fake?

Real: 126
Fake: 129
Undecided: 52

9. Did Muslims commit the July 2005 train and bus bombings in London?

Yes: 140
No: 104
Undecided: 63

10. The Canadian government says it stopped a plot by Canadian Muslims in June 2006 to attack targets in Canada. Do you believe there was a real plot by Muslims?

Yes: 61
No: 202
Undecided: 44

11. The British government says it stopped a plot by British Muslims in August 2006 to bomb planes flying to America. Do you believe there was a real plot by Muslims?

Yes: 66
No: 191
Undecided: 50

12. Is Al Qaeda a real organization, operated by Muslims who are trying to attack America?

Yes: 149
No: 109
Undecided: 49

September 2006

Only one in four [American Muslims] consider the U.S. war on terrorism a sincere attempt to curtail international terror. Only 40 percent said they believe Arab men carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

May 2007

A 2010 Pew survey found the belief that Barack Obama is a Muslim is not limited to critics and Republicans, but present even among supporters and Democrats.

A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined. More than a year and a half into his presidency, a plurality of the public says they do not know what religion Obama follows.

A new national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. Fully 43% say they do not know what Obama's religion is. The survey was completed in early August, before Obama's recent comments about the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The view that Obama is a Muslim is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers. Roughly a third of conservative Republicans (34%) say Obama is a Muslim, as do 30% of those who disapprove of Obama's job performance. But even among many of his supporters and allies, less than half now say Obama is a Christian. Among Democrats, for instance, 46% say Obama is a Christian, down from 55% in March 2009.

The belief that Obama is a Muslim has increased most sharply among Republicans (up 14 points since 2009), especially conservative Republicans (up 16 points). But the number of independents who say Obama is a Muslim has also increased significantly (up eight points). There has been little change in the number of Democrats who say Obama is a Muslim, but fewer Democrats today say he is a Christian (down nine points since 2009).

When asked how they learned about Obama's religion in an open-ended question, 60% of those who say Obama is a Muslim cite the media. Among specific media sources, television (at 16%) is mentioned most frequently. About one-in-ten (11%) of those who say Obama is a Muslim say they learned of this through Obama's own words and behavior.

August, 2010

In a 2011 Pew survey, it was found that this belief is also present among US Muslims.

[Obama] is losing much of his 2008 base of voters with one notable exception: Muslim-Americans. They remain exceedingly loyal to the president. In fact, their enthusiasm for Obama has swelled.
. . .
many see him as one of their own. One in 10 say they think the president is a Muslim, while a third say they don't know or refused to answer.

September 2011

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