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 A recent global survey suggests that Muslims are more religious than Christians and Hindus.
December 3rd, 2011
10:00 PM ET
Conflict, theology and history make Muslims more religious than others, experts sayBy Richard Allen Greene, CNN (CNN) - Every religion has its true believers and its doubters, its pious and its pragmatists, but new evidence suggests that Muslims tend to be more committed to their faith than other believers. Muslims are much more likely than Christians and Hindus to say that their own faith is the only true path to paradise, according to a recent global survey, and they are more inclined to say their religion is an important part of their daily lives. Muslims also have a much greater tendency to say their religion motivates them to do good works, said the survey, released over the summer by Ipsos-Mori, a British research company that polls around the world.
Islam is the world's second-largest religion - behind Christianity and ahead of Hinduism, the third largest. With some 1.5 billion followers and rising, Islam's influence may be growing even faster than its numbers as the Arab Spring topples long-reigning secular rulers and opens the way to religiously inspired political parties. The case against TLC’s “All-American Muslim” But while there's no doubt about the importance of Islam, experts have different theories about why Muslims appear to be more religious than members of other global faiths - and contrasting views on whether to fear the depth of Muslims' commitment to their faith. One explanation lies in current affairs, says Azyumardi Azra, an expert on Islam in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim majority country. Many Muslims increasingly define themselves in contrast with what they see as the Christian West, says Azra, the director of the graduate school at the State Islamic University in Jakarta. "When they confront the West that they perceive or misperceive as morally in decline, many Muslims feel that Islam is the best way of life. Islam for them is the only salvation," he says. The case for TLC’s “All-American Muslim” That feeling has become stronger since the September 11 attacks, as many Muslims believe there is a "growing conflict between Islam and the so-called West," he says. "Unfortunately this growing attachment to Islam among Muslims in general has been used and abused by literal-minded Muslims and the jihadists for their own purposes," he says. But other experts say that deep religious commitment doesn't necessarily lead to violence. "Being more religious doesn't necessarily mean that they will become suicide bombers," says Ed Husain, a former radical Islamist who is now a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. In fact, Husain argues that religious upbringing "could be an antidote" to radicalism. American Muslim women who cover explain their choice The people most likely to become Islamist radicals, he says, are those who were raised without a religious education and came to Islam later, as "born-agains." Muslims raised with a grounding in their religion are better able to resist the distortions of Islam peddled by recruiters to radical causes, some experts like Husain argue, making them less likely to turn to violence. But he agrees that Muslims are strongly attached to their faith, and says the reason lies in the religion itself. "Muslims have this mindset that we alone possess the final truth," Husain says. Muslims believe "Jews and Christians went before us and Mohammed was the last prophet," says Husain, whose book "The Islamist" chronicles his experiences with radicals. "Our prophet aimed to nullify the message of the previous prophets." The depth of the Muslim commitment to Islam is not only a matter of theology and current events, but of education and history, as well, other experts say. "Where religion is linked into the state institutions, where religion is deeply ingrained from childhood, you are getting this feeling that 'My way is the only way,'" says Fiyaz Mughal, the director of Faith Matters, a conflict-resolution organization in London. The Ipsos-Mori survey results included two countries with a strong link between religion and the state: Legally Muslim Saudi Arabia, which calls itself the guardian of Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina; and Indonesia, home of the world's largest Muslim population. The third majority Muslim country in the study is Turkey, which has a very different relationship with religion. It was founded after World War I as a legally secular country. But despite generations of trying to separate mosque and state, Turkey is now governed by an Islam-inspired party, the AKP. Turkey's experience shows how difficult it can be to untangle government and religion in Muslim majority countries and helps explain the Muslim commitment to their religion, says Azyumardi Azra, the Indonesia expert. He notes that there has been no "Enlightenment" in Islam as there was in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, weakening the link between church and state in many Christian countries. "Muslim communities have never experienced intense secularization that took place in Europe and the West in general," says Azra. "So Islam is still adhered to very strongly." But it's not only the link between mosque and state in many Muslim majority countries that ties followers to their faith, says professor Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani diplomat who has written a book about Islam around the world. Like Christians who wear "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets, many Muslims feel a deep personal connection to the founder of their faith, the prophet Muhammad, he says. Muhammad isn't simply a historical figure to them, but rather a personal inspiration to hundreds of millions of people around the world today. "When a Muslim is fasting or is asked to give charity or behave in a certain way, he is constantly reminded of the example set by the prophet many centuries ago," argues Ahmed, the author of "Journey Into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization." His book is based on interviews with Muslims around the world, and one thing he found wherever he traveled was admiration for Muhammad. "One of the questions was, 'Who is your role model?' From Morocco to Indonesia, it was the prophet, the prophet, the prophet," says Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington. But while Ahmed sees similar patterns across the Islamic world, Ed Husain, the former radical, said it was important to understand its diversity, as well. "There is no monolithic religiosity - Muslims in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are following different versions of Islam," says Husain. "All we're seeing (in the survey) is an adherence to a faith." Political scientist Farid Senzai, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington, raised questions about the survey's findings. "Look at the countries that are surveyed - Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Turkey," he says. "There are about 300 million Muslims in those three countries, (who make up) about 20% of Muslims globally." Islam is "incredibly important" in Saudi Arabia, he says. "But in Tunisia or Morocco you could have had a different result. It would have been nice if they had picked a few more Arab countries and had a bit more diversity," says Senzai. The pollster, Ipsos-Mori, does monthly surveys in 24 countries, three of which are majority Muslim – Turkey, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. The other countries range from India to the United States, and Mexico to South Korea, and are the same each month, regardless of the subject the pollsters are investigating. In the survey released in July, about six in 10 Muslims in the survey said their religion was the only way to salvation, while only a quarter of Hindus and two out of 10 Christians made that claim about their own faiths. More than nine out of 10 Muslims said their faith was important in their lives, while the figure was 86% for Hindus and 66% for Christians. Ipsos-Mori surveyed 18,473 adults via an online panel in April and released the findings in July. Results were weighted to make the results as representative as possible, but the pollster cautioned that because the survey was conducted online, it was harder to get representative results in poorer countries where internet access is not widespread. CNN polling director Keating Holland also warns that in an "opt-in" survey, where respondents actively choose to participate, results tend to come from "people who are confident in their opinions and express them openly... not good for intensely private matters like faith or income or sex." Online surveys in countries that are not entirely free are also open to the possibility that pollsters get "the approved response" in those nations, "where the people who are most likely to be willing to talk about such matters are the ones who hold, or at least verbalize, opinions that won't get them in trouble if they are expressed," Holland says. That may have been an issue in Saudi Arabia, where respondents were given the choice of not answering questions on religion due to their potential sensitivity in the kingdom. The Saudi sample was the smallest, with 354 participants, meaning "findings for Saudi Arabia must be treated with caution," Ipsos-Mori said. About 1,000 people participated in most countries, but sample sizes were smaller in the three majority Muslim countries and in eight other countries. The survey participants did not reflect the true percentage of Christians and Muslims in the world. Christians were over-represented – as were people who said they had no religion – and Muslims were under-represented. Nearly half the respondents identified themselves as Christian. Eleven percent were Muslim, 4% were Buddhist, 3% were Hindu and 3% were "other." A quarter said they had no religion and 6% refused to say. Fiyaz Mughal, the interfaith expert, argues that even though the countries surveyed might not be representative of the entire Muslim world, the findings about Muslims rang broadly true. Muslims in different countries were committed to their faith for different reasons, he says. "Saudi Arabia is an institutionally religious state. Indonesia has religion tied into its culture," says Mughal. But Muslim immigrants to Europe also show strong ties to their religion, either as a defense mechanism in the face of a perceived threat, or because of an effort to cling to identity, he contends. He detects a link between insular communities and commitment to faith regardless of what religion is involved. It is prevalent in Muslim Saudi Arabia, but he has seen it among Israeli Jews as well, he says. "The Israeli Jewish perspective is that (the dispute with the Palestinians) is a conflict of land and religion which are integrally linked," Mughal says. "What does play a role in that scenario is a sense of isolationism and seclusion in Israeli Jewish religious communities, a growing trend to say, 'Our way is the only way,'" he says. Religious leaders of all faiths need to combat those kinds of attitudes because of the greater diversity people encounter in the world today, he argues. They have a responsibility to teach their congregations "that if they are following a religion, it is not as brutal or exclusive as possible," Mughal says. "Things are changing. The world is a different place from what it was even 20 years ago." Politicians, too, "need to take these issues quite seriously," he says. "In the Middle East there are countries - the Saudi Arabias - where you need to be saying that diversity, while it may not be a part of the country, is something they have to deal with when moving in a globalized area," he says. But Senzai, the political scientist, says that it's also important for the West to take the Muslim world on its own terms. "Many Muslims want religion to play a role in politics," he says. "To assume that everyone around the world wants to be like the West - that they want liberal secular democracy - is an absurd idea." - CNN's Nima Elbagir and Atika Shubert contributed to this report. soundoff (5,459 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Religion is the worst thing that ever happened to the human race.
.
Simple, their "religon" gives them power over others, especially women.
It is simply due to the fact that people who live in countries where Muslim is the only religious option live a life of struggle and action. In the West, where Christianity is the most popular option, people live a life of indolence. Life challenges force one to reflect on who he is and his purpose in life. When you do this, humility and graciousness follow. When you are humbled, you realize there is something greater than you out there and leads you to seek those answers.
Westerners lead a selfish life of pleasure and leisure. There is no room for anything other than their own self-interests....
Steve, please explain how Islamic sacred texts stand alone amongst the religions of this world that COMMAND its adherents to be intolerant -or worse – torward "unbelievers"? If you have read the Qur'an and ahadith, you will know the numerous passages of which I speak.
brainwashing from birth can be powerful
All organized religion is a form of mind control by man not by god.
creed
And you post that comment under "mudbone." Yea, you're right.
Its the intense heat and sun just beating down relentlessly on your brain OVER THERE and you just lose your mind and start beleving in a god
Don't get me wrong I believe in a God but not one that is forced down my throat by a religious organization.
@dg50484 – I just wanted to point out that that nickname was given to me by my a black staff sergeant name Sgt Jones in the US Air Force. I am a white guy. I had the deepest respect for that man and have retained this nickname for over 30 years.
Religions are for the weak and the dumb.
weakminded insecure nimcompoops believ e in God fairy tales
The fact is this world could have been a nice place without any religion and if all the human beings would have believed in a single divine power. I know there would definitely be conflicts but not atleast in the name of religion.....
Its simple. They are got at an early age and brainwashed into believing it. EVERY religion does this, its how they survive. It really is this virus of stupidity.
"virus of stupidity"? Then you must be terminally ill.
Muslims who become more religious, become more radical. When they follow the haddiths, word for word, they become brainwashed that all "non believers" must be killed. Sad that the PC group coddles a religion that mates with suicide bombers and all out hatred for non Muslims. http://shelter101.com
Instead of call religious fanaticism what it is, the author has chosen to view it as devotion.
Mohammed: "O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other.
Mohammed: Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people."
Mohammed: "Allah is an enemy to unbelievers."
Mohammed: "Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil."
Mohammed: "When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them."
Jesus Christ: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
Jesus Christ: "If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also."
Jesus Christ: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
Jesus Christ: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
The word christian didnt come around till the 1960s....until then everyone just said what sect they were from....
Chris, you're an idiot. Please srop posting.because you don't have a clue what you are saying.
Where do you find these quotes?
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
“If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ .?.?. do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death.”
“Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”
Answer: Matthew 10:34, Deuteronomy 13:6-9, Numbers 31:17-18
Ignorance of, and hatred for a religion will make the person cherry-pick the quotes.
To Seyed Ibrahim: I'm sure you noticed that I was quoting only Mohammed and Jesus, not the words of other men.
In the quote from Jesus, 'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword', the word 'sword' is a metaphor. Consider that Jesus said later in his life, while he was being arrested, "Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword."
My message here is simple. I can only find words of peace and love in what Jesus said. Though I know Mohammed is a very Godly man, I do not see the same Christ-like love in some of the his words. When I see news videos of Muslims brandishing guns and calling for the death of 'the American infidels', perhaps those are raising their guns might be thinking of what Mohammed said?
Technically christianity and judaism preach a lot of the same stuff, but muslims actually choose to practice it.
Exactly. Christians and Jews cherry-pick. Muslims decide to follow their religion. What's wrong with that? Just because it's not the way people in the U.S. live, it doesn't make it wrong or inferior.
Because they are stupid.
Great question. The answer can probably be found in the literature penned by enlightened former Muslims (al Hirsi Ayan, et al) whose intellectual curiosity caused them to apply critical thinking to the Islamic belief system. Any objective study of Islam's sacred texts, ahadith as well as the credible schools of Islamic jurisprudence will expose Islam for what is......a radical and deeply flawed political ideology masquerading as a religion.
All religion is bull sheet. They are all equally ridiculous.
The reason Muslims are more religious id due to having more illiterate poor populace, poor and illiterate peoples are attracted to religion, same thin goes for Christianity.
Muslims are the most peaceful people in the world. Thats why they have been the easiest to suppress. I'm surprised nobody talks about how almost all the muslim countries were occupied by European powers for about 300 years. Middle east was occupied by the Italians, French and the British. Indonesia and Malaysia by the Dutch. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh by the British. Infact the industrial revolution in the west was fueled by the cheap/free raw materials that was taken by force from the enslaved nations. It has hardly been 50/60 years that these countries have been given independence and even then they have been ruled by elites who are handpicked by the former western powers.
I wonder why this great injustice done to the muslims is never talked about in the media or in the history books?
I'm not at all condoning the actions of some extremists in the muslim world. But think about it: when you enslave an entire people and continue to supress them and wage war against them, some of the muslims are bound to react in an extreme manner.
I firmly believe that if the dominating western powers act with fairness and not just pursue their own interests blindly, world peace is possible and the aggrieved muslim populace will reconcile.
How do you think islam was started? Mohammad, the inventor of islam was an illiterate warmonger that converted and enslaved tribes at the tip of the sword.
"Muslims believe "Jews and Christians went before us and Mohammed was the last prophet," says Husain, whose book "The Islamist" chronicles his experiences with radicals. "Our prophet aimed to nullify the message of the previous prophets."
This lines are actually wrong. According to the Koran, Muhammad teached that Abraham, Moses and even Jesus were Islamic leaders or Imams, which were very highly acknowledged by Allah. However, their pupils, the ordinary Jews and the ordinary Christians, had turned apostate from the teachings or faith of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muhammad felt obliged to bring back the Arabs to the true religion of Abraham, which was alleged Islam in the sight of Muhammad.
Conclusion: Muhammad did not want to nullify the message of the previous prophets, but he implied that Jews and Christians had forged the genuine scriptures of the old prophets. Muhammad implied that Abraham, Moses and Jesus had teached the Islam, but the Jews and the Christians had distorted their genuine teachings.
Thanking you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book' and God talks to them directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Thank you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book' and God talks to them directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Thank you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book' and God talks to them directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Therefore Quran is an extension of the Bible and the Torah.
Thank you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book' and God talks to them directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Therefore Quran is an extension of the earlier holy books
Thank you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book'. In the Quran God talks to them directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Therefore Quran is an extension of the earlier holy books
Thank you for correcting that. Infact almost one third of the Quran is directed towards the Christians and the Jews also called 'people of the book'. In the Quran God talks to the people of the book directly and basically tells them that this message is the same message that was brought to the people by God's earlier messengers: Jesus and Moses and all the other prophets.
Therefore Quran is an extension of the earlier holy books
To "Now that was dumb" – Antonio is my middle name and given to me by my deceased father.
By no means am I Catholic and in fact I am not religious at all. For the record I'm Black or African American, or whatever the correct term is these days... Islam, to me, is the only faith where there are no gray areas. It is clear and to the point. The many Muslims that I see in the city are always shunned for those Muslims who believe in violence. I've always wanted to learn more about Islam, but not from Nation of Islam in the United States either... I'm wanting to learn the true meaning and beliefs of Islam for Farrakhan, to me, does not teach the true meaning and beliefs of Islam.
To Ahmed – Stay strong and do not let others get you upset or anything... I don't know you, but keep your thoughts and message positive. Don't fall the hatred and bigots of the world either.
"O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Mohammed: Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people."
Mohammed: "Allah is an enemy to unbelievers."
Mohammed: "Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil."
Mohammed: "When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them."
Jesus Christ: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
Jesus Christ: "If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also."
Jesus Christ: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
Jesus Christ: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Answer to headline question: because more of them are living in the Stone Age.
As my wife commented, Because they can be beheaded!