Just one in four Muslims in the UK believes Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a survey has suggested.
The results also indicate that one in three British Muslims and almost one in five of the general public consider it desirable to have sharia law implemented in the UK.
The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a defence and foreign affairs think tank that commissioned the poll, said on Monday that extreme views were “generally more likely to be found in the youngest age cohort of 18-34, among graduates of all ages (as opposed to non-graduates), and British born rather foreign born Muslims.”
The survey, which was conducted by JL Partners, involved 1,000 British Muslims and more than 2,000 members of the public.
The two groups were given two near-identical sets of questions on a range of issues including about the Israel–Hamas war, religion, and voting intentions.
Asked about the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war, just 24 percent of Muslim respondents said they believe Hamas had committed murder and rape on the day, compared to 62 percent of the general public.
Some 39 percent of Muslims and 8 percent of the general public believe Hamas did not commit murder and rape in Israel; 38 percent of Muslims and 30 percent of the general public chose “don’t know.”
Almost half (46 percent) of British Muslims felt more sympathy with Hamas than with Israel. This compares with 16 percent of the general public, the poll suggested.
Meanwhile, almost three quarters of Muslim respondents (72 percent) said they believe Israel is a racist endeavour, compared to 28 percent of the general public.
Only one in four, or 24 percent, of Muslims and 57 percent of the general public believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish homeland.
Almost half of British Muslims (49 percent) and 12 percent of the general public believe Israel does not have the right to exist as a Jewish homeland.
Meanwhile, some 29 percent of British Muslims have a positive view of Hamas, while 24 percent hold a negative view of the terrorist group.
Only 3 percent of British Muslims view Israel positively, and 64 percent hold a negative view of the state.
Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the terrorist group attacked Israeli civilians and soldiers, killing around 1,200 people, and taking some 240 hostages. According to forensic evidence, video footage, and witness accounts, some victims have been raped or gang raped, and some bodies were found burnt and decapitated.
The survey also found that one in five (21 percent) of British Muslims and 7 percent of the general public have a positive view of “jihad,” while 28 percent of Muslims and 63 percent of the general public have a negative view of it.
The word “jihad” is understood by moderate Muslims as an internal spiritual struggle but is now often used by extremists as a synonym for holy war against the enemies of Islam.
1 in 3 Say Sharia Law ‘Desirable’
The survey found almost one in three, or 32 percent of British Muslims, said it would be very or somewhat desirable to have sharia law—a body of religious law based on Islamic traditions—implemented in the UK in the next 20 years.Meanwhile, 23 percent of Muslims and 60 percent of the general public said it would be very or somewhat undesirable.
According to Islamic scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Nai’m, sharia is a set of guidelines on the Islamic way of life dating from 700 to 900 CE, and Islamic laws are based on interpretations of these guidelines.
The interpretation and implementation can vary a great deal in different countries and areas, and controversies in modern democracies around sharia law include capital and other corporal punishment, and the banning of blasphemy.
Elsewhere in the survey, more than half of Muslims, or 52 percent, believe it would be desirable to outlaw displaying a photo of the prophet, while 24 percent said it would be undesirable.
Compared to the general public, Muslims are more likely to support having Islam declared as the UK’s national religion, less teaching of Christianity in schools, a more traditional role for women, and the banning of abortion, homosexuality, and displaying pictures of Prophet Muhammad, according to the poll.
Commenting on the results of the survey, HJS Executive Director Alan Mendoza told The Telegraph that they show “the failure of counter-extremism policy over the years.”
“What is probably going wrong is an unwillingness to tackle this kind of extremism for fear of being labelled Islamophobic or racist. There is a reluctance to call it out in the same way that people are very happy to call out far-right extremism,” he said, adding that the government “needs to find a way of supporting and strengthening the voice of moderate Muslims and drive the extremist narrative to the sidelines.”
A government spokesperson told the outlet: “We have recently set out a series of measures which will promote social cohesion and counter religious hatred. Our plan will tackle division in our communities and ensure that we are protecting our democratic freedoms across the country.”
