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Poll Contrasts Views On Sharia In Iran, Egypt, Turkey

By Howard M. Friedman

Today the Muslim-West Facts Initiative (a collaboration of the Gallup polling organization and the Coexist Foundation) published the first in a series of articles on views toward Islamic Sharia law in Iran, Egypt, and Turkey. The article is based on extensive polling data from last year. The authors summarize the results of the poll as follows:

In Iran, a majority of residents tell Gallup that Sharia must be a source of legislation, but not the only source. In Turkey, poll findings show how divided the Turkish public is about the role of Sharia in legislation. In Egypt, however, public opinion is much more likely to favor religious law as the only source of legislation....

[M]en and women express strikingly similar views within each country on the role of Sharia in legislation.... Overall, older respondents are more likely than younger ones to say Sharia must be the only source of legislation (although this pattern is weaker in Turkey than in Iran and Egypt).... In Turkey and Iran, those who have a secondary level of education are less likely than those with a primary level of education or less to say Sharia must be the only source of legislation. There is no difference by education level in Egypt.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on July 10, 2008 (boomark / email).