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Survey: 'What a Billion Muslims Really Think'

Muslim men take part in a special morning prayer in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A new book presents the findings of a six-year, 50,000-interview Gallup survey of Muslim populations in 35 countries.
Farjana K. Godhuly
/
AFP/Getty Images
Muslim men take part in a special morning prayer in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A new book presents the findings of a six-year, 50,000-interview Gallup survey of Muslim populations in 35 countries.
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When the Gallup organization asked Muslims around the world and Westerners what they admired most and least about the West, both groups gave the same answers: They admired Western technology and democracy, but were disappointed by the breakdown of family values and morality.

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think is a book that presents the findings of a six-year, 50,000-interview Gallup survey of Muslim populations in 35 countries.

Dalia Mogahed, co-author of Who Speaks for Islam?, discusses what the survey concludes about how Muslims view democracy, women's rights and radicalism. The poll posed some tough questions:

Is Islam to blame for terrorism?
Why is there so much anti-Americanism in the Muslim world?
Who are the extremists?
Where are the moderates?
What do Muslim women really want?

"Shortly after 9/11, we asked Americans what they knew about Islam and Muslims and their views and values," Mogahed says. "And we found that 54 percent said they knew either nothing or not much. ... Then in early 2007, we asked the same question. Now, this is after two wars, a great deal of media coverage on Islam and Muslims, and this time, 57 percent said they knew either nothing or not much."

Dalia Mogahed talks with guest host Ari Shapiro and callers about the findings of the comprehensive study.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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