Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: “Survey reveals Muslim views on violence,” from The Jakarta Post, with thanks to all who sent this in:
Up to 1.3 percent of Indonesian Muslims nationwide admit using violence against people or objects they consider contradictory to their beliefs, a survey found, with more than 40 percent ready to wage war for their faith.
Acts of violence in the survey on religion and violence by the Center for Islamic and Social Studies (PPIM) ranged from 0.1 percent of respondents admitting their involvement in demolishing or arson of churches constructed without official permits, to 1.3 percent who committed “intimidation” against those they considered had blasphemed Islam.
The survey spanned 1,200 Muslims in 30 of the country’s 33 provinces.
“The percentage looks very small but it is very high in its real figure when you note that 85 percent, or 200 million, of the country’s 230 million population are Muslims,” PPIM researcher Jajat Burhanudin said Thursday during the release of the results.
However, other scholars said violence was traditionally widespread in local cultures, and it was unfair to blame Islam for its prevalence.
Of course. It’s never any fault of Islam, despite dozens of Qur’anic verses enjoining violence against unbelievers, as well as innumerable Hadith passages and jurisprudential rulings from all the schools of Islamic law.
The survey, conducted from 2001 to March 2006, found 43.5 percent of respondents were ready to wage war on threatening non-Muslim groups, 40 percent would use violence against those blaspheming Islam and 14.7 percent would tear down churches without official permits.
“This condition has helped terrorists easily recruit new comrades and makes the country a fertile ground for sectarian radicalism,” Jajat said.
He added that a simultaneous study on the reasons for the results found Islamic teaching and Islamism made the most significant contributions to violent behavior, both in the domestic and public spheres.
“The more Muslims give their support for certain Islamic teachings legitimizing the use of violence, the more violence will happen.”
He noted that between 30 percent and 58 percent approved of amputation of the left hand for thieves and the stoning to death of rapists, as well as other tenets of sharia law, and opposed the election of non-Muslims for president.