ONE in five Muslims in Egypt and Jordan support suicide bombing in defense of Islam, while 15% of Indonesian Muslims subscribe to the view that suicide bombing is alright if done to safeguard the tenets of Islam.
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in Dec last year, there is considerable support for suicide bombing in some Muslim countries.
The survey was conducted from April 12 to May 7, 2010 by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project in Muslim publics in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Indonesia and Turkey.
While Muslims in Lebanon and Nigeria are the most likely to say suicide bombings can often or sometimes be justified, nearly four out of 10 Lebanese Muslims (39%) and 34% of Nigerian Muslims say that is the case.
The report says: “In Lebanon, support for suicide bombing is especially pervasive among the Shia population – 46% say this kind of violence defense of Islam can often or sometimes be justified, compared with 33% of Sunnis.
However, most Muslims in Egypt, Jordan and Indonesia say these violent acts are never justified. Forty-six percent of Muslims in Egypt, 54% in Jordan and 69% of Muslims in Indonesia reject suicide bombings. The view is even more widespread in Pakistan and Turkey where 80% and 77% of the people surveyed gave thumbs down to suicide bombings.
According to the survey, the percentage of Muslims saying these types of attacks are often or sometimes justified has declined 35 percentage points in Lebanon (74% in 2002), 25 percentage points in Pakistan (33% in 2002), and 23 percentage points in Jordan (43% in 2002).
However, a good number of Muslims in Indonesia and Nigeria favor death for apostates (those who convert to other religions from Islam).
Twenty-two percent of Indonesian Muslims and 39% of Nigerian Muslims who say people who leave their religion should receive the death penalty say suicide bombings are often or sometimes justified, compared with 12% and 29%, respectively, of those who oppose the death penalty for those who leave Islam.
Read the detailed survey report here.
