I hear the September 11 attacks were the work of extremists who in no way represent mainstream views of Islam, but hardly anybody offers numbers for what fraction of the worlds’s Islamic population hold these “extremist” views. What is the fraction? What’s the evidence for any specific claim?
Somehow we have to define what number I am looking for. Here are three test questions. It would be instructive to hear the number of people answering “yes” to any of them, or especially to each of them. No doubt positive answers to these are correlated but not always the same: 1) Do you support Bin Laden as a hero? 2) Do you approve of the September 11 attacks? 3) Do you think God endorses the killing of Americans?
Here are the tidbits I have found:
Daniel Pipes, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, said on a CNN interview that he thought about 50% of the world’s Muslims considered Bin Laden a hero and approved of the 9/11 attacks. There are numerous publications by Pipes around the Web, and those that I have found seem well informed and semsible to me.
A CNN poll of Pakistani Muslims in September reported that almost all persons answered that they approve of the attacks.
Another poll reported on CNN more recently said that 25% of Palestinians say they approve of the attacks. They did not say what constitutes a “Palestinian”, and I don’t know either.
Anybody know the number? or, better to ask, can anybody point out more evidence regarding this number?
Please help me out - I am looking for a number, and for references - not a debate. I think the question belongs in General Questions, and I don’t mean to attract answers that don’t.