Despite recent concerns, American Muslims say they are proud to be both Americans and Muslims and believe strongly in the opportunity to realize the American dream.
A Pew Research Center report Wednesday revealed that while Muslims perceive discrimination and are dissatisfied with the way things are going on in the United States, they also see increasing expressions of support for the community among Americans.
The findings of a Pew survey also report that a big majority of American Muslims oppose violent extremism and do not see much support for extremism among the U.S. Muslims.
“Despite concerns and perceived challenges they face, 89% of Muslims say they are both proud to be American and proud to be Muslim,” say findings of the survey that assessed the state and perceptions of American Muslims in the first few months of President Donald Trump’s Administration.
Additionally, eight-in-ten American Muslims say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives.
“And a large majority of U.S. Muslims continue to profess faith in the American dream, with 70% saying that most people who want to get ahead can make it in America if they are willing to work hard.”
“The early days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been an anxious time for many Muslim Americans,” the research center says, while reporting that Muslims do not see Islam as part of the mainstream America, and see the current political leadership as unfriendly toward Muslims.
“At the same time, however, Muslim Americans express a persistent streak of optimism and positive feelings. Overwhelmingly, they say they are proud to be Americans, believe that hard work generally brings success in this country and are satisfied with the way things are going in their own lives – even if they are not satisfied with the direction of the country as a whole.”
The survey also finds that half of the Muslims say it has become harder to be Muslim in the U.S. in recent years. And 48% say they have experienced at least one incident of discrimination in the past 12 months.
“But alongside these reports of discrimination, a similar – and growing – share (49%) of Muslim Americans say someone has expressed support for them because of their religion in the past year. And 55% think Americans in general are friendly toward U.S. Muslims, compared with just 14% who say they are unfriendly.”
Conducted between Jan. 23 to May 2, 2017, on landlines and cellphones, among a representative sample of 1,001 Muslim adults living in the United States, the survey finds that a majority disapprove of the way President Trump is handling his job.
“Indeed, Muslim Americans are no more disapproving of Trump today than they were of George W. Bush’s performance in office during his second term a decade ago.”
On the issue of religious extremism, the survey reveals that Muslims largely share the general public’s concerns.
“Indeed, if anything, Muslims may be more concerned than non-Muslims about extremism in the name of Islam. Yet most Muslims say there is little support for extremism within the U.S. Muslim community, and few say they think violence against civilians can be justified in pursuit of religious, political or social causes.”
“Overall, eight-in-ten Muslims (82%) say they are either very concerned (66%) or somewhat concerned (16%) about extremism in the name of Islam around the world. This is similar to the percentage of the U.S. general public that shares these concerns (83%), although Muslims are more likely than U.S. adults overall to say they are very concerned about extremism in the name of Islam around the world (66% vs. 49%).”
About seven-in-ten Muslims – and a similar share of Americans overall – are concerned about extremism in the name of Islam in the U.S., including roughly half of U.S. Muslims (49%) who say they are very concerned about domestic extremism, the survey says.
According to the Pew Center, among both Muslims and the larger U.S. public, concern about extremism around the world is higher now than it was in 2011.
As regards the Muslim population in the U.S., it is growing and highly diverse, made up largely of immigrants and the children of immigrants from all across the world, according to the Research Center.
Respondents in the survey hailed from at least 75 nations – although the vast majority are now U.S. citizens.
“As a group, Muslims are younger and more racially diverse than the general population.”
