An executive summary of the Normative Islam Report which was published earlier today.
Report title: Normative Islam Report
Report commissioned by: 5Pillars
Survey carried out by: Pickersgill Consultancy & Planning Limited (PCP)
Date of commissioning: August 2015
Date of completion: January 2016
Date of publishing: Wednesday 17th February 2016
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Report brief: 5Pillars submitted a list of 352 influential British Muslims to market research company PCP to take part in a survey. The survey consisted of 95 statements pertaining to Islamic beliefs and practices categorised under 12 topic headings. From the 352 influential British Muslims, 150 completed the survey.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The average level of agreement with the great majority of the 95 statements about mainstream Islamic beliefs was extremely high. On average across all 95 statements, 86% “strongly agreed” and a further 9% “agreed”. Only 1% “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed”.
Statements under the heading “Belief in God”, “Revelation”, “Global Humanity” and “Prophethood” attracted the highest level of agreement. On average, at least 90% of respondents “strongly agreed” with the statements under these headings.
Lowest (though still extremely high) levels of agreement were recorded for the statements under the heading “Citizenship”, “Islamic Law and Consensus” and “Jihad, Extremism and Terrorism”. On average, 81% or fewer were in strong agreement with these statements.
Eleven individual statements attracted 95% or higher levels of strong agreement. These were:
- “God is the sole creator, uniquely One and has no partners” (99% strong agreement);
- “God is the only One worthy of worship and all acts of worship should only be directed to Him alone” (98%);
- “The Prophet Muhammad is the last and final prophet and messenger of God” (97%);
- “The Quran is the direct and unchanged revelation and word of God, sent down for the whole of humanity” (97%);
- “The Prophet Muhammad is a mercy to all of humanity” (97%);
- “Forced marriages are forbidden in Islam” (97%);
- “Islam is the final true religion God has revealed to mankind” (96%);
- “Islam does not discriminate or differentiate between people based on race, nationality or the colour of their skin” (96%);
- “Muslims have a religious duty to be compassionate, just and ethical to all living beings” (95%);
- “There is no compulsion in religion. No one can be forced to become a Muslim” (95%);
- “God does not take the form of His creation” (95%).
The eleven statements attracting the lowest levels of strong agreement (76% or below) were:
- “Jihad, as is mandated in the Quran, is used to maintain or restore order, peace and security or to remove oppression and injustice” (76% strong agreement);
- “Islam obligates people to obey and follow their leadership and their community as long as it does not conflict with Islamic morals, principles and values” (76%);
- “Authentic prophetic practices and teachings (known as Sunnah) are revelation from God and are infallible” (75%);
- “The niqab is a legitimate piece of Islamic clothing. Women should have the right to choose to wear it or not, without harassment, bans or fear of prejudice against them” (75%);
- “Nationalism is seen in the same manner as racism. It is not right to unfairly give advantage to others based on their nationality or race” (74%);
- “The affairs of the Muslims are considered as one united affair, irrespective of geographical distance or difference between them” (71%);
- “The true Caliphate (or any other Islamic equivalent) is considered the ideal Islamic way of governance for all people” (69%);
- “Consensus of the companions of the Prophet Mohammed forms definitive evidence” (67%);
- “The true Caliphate (or any other Islamic equivalent) is not a theocratic state” (61%);
- “Opposing established consensus of the companions of the Prophet is impermissible” (60%);
- “The segregation of men and women in religious and closed public settings is recommended for the best interest of society and acts as a safeguarding mechanism for the preservation of virtue” (58%).
Most of the statements attracting the lowest levels of strong agreement also tended to be those for which disagreement was highest. However, no more than 7% of the sample expressed disagreement (whether strong or otherwise) even with these statements. The two statements attracting 7% disagreement were: “The segregation of men and women in religious and closed public settings is recommended for the best interest of society and acts as a safeguarding mechanism for the preservation of virtue” and “Opposing established consensus of the companions of the Prophet is impermissible”.
No more than 3% of the sample “strongly disagreed” with any of the statements.
Respondents following the Salafi theological creed and the Shafi’i or Hanbali School of jurisprudence showed strongest agreement with the statements.
Respondents following the Jaafari or “other” school of jurisprudence showed least strong (though nevertheless still very high) average agreement with the statements.
You can download the full report here and also view it below.
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