According to the survey findings, most Muslims believe sharia is the
revealed word of God rather than a body of law developed by men based on the
word of God. Muslims also tend to believe sharia has only one, true
understanding, but this opinion is far from universal; in some countries,
substantial minorities of Muslims believe sharia should be open to multiple
interpretations. Religious commitment is closely linked to views about sharia:
Muslims who pray several times a day are more likely to say sharia is the
revealed word of God, to say that it has only one interpretation and to support
the implementation of Islamic law in their country.
Although many Muslims around the world say sharia should be the law of the
land in their country, the survey reveals divergent opinions about the precise
application of Islamic law.14 Generally, supporters of sharia are most
comfortable with its application in cases of family or property disputes. In
most regions, fewer favor other specific aspects of sharia, such as cutting off
the hands of thieves and executing people who convert from Islam to another
faith.
Sharia as Divine Revelation
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In 17 of the 23 countries where the question was asked, at least half of
Muslims say sharia is the revealed word of God. (For more information on sharia
see text box.) In no country are Muslims significantly more likely to say sharia
was developed by men than to say it is the revealed word of God.
Acceptance of sharia as the revealed word of God is high across South Asia
and most of the Middle East and North Africa. For example, roughly eight-in-ten
Muslims (81%) in Pakistan and Jordan say sharia is the revealed word of God, as
do clear majorities in most other countries surveyed in these two regions. Only
in Lebanon is opinion more closely divided: 49% of Muslims say sharia is the
divine word of God, while 38% say men have developed sharia from God’s
word.
Muslims in Southeast Asia and Central Asia are somewhat less likely to say
sharia comes directly from God. Only in Kyrgyzstan (69%) do more than two-thirds
say Islamic law is the revealed word of God. Elsewhere in these regions, the
percentage of Muslims who say it is the revealed word of God ranges from roughly
four-in-ten in Malaysia (41%) to six-in-ten in Tajikistan.
Views about the origins of sharia are more mixed in Southern and Eastern
Europe. At least half of Muslims describe sharia as the divine word of God in
Russia (56%) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (52%). By contrast, three-in-ten or fewer
hold this view in Kosovo (30%) and Albania (24%).
Overall, Muslims who pray several times a day are more likely to believe
that sharia is the revealed word of God than are those who pray less frequently.
This is the case in many countries where the question was asked, with especially
large differences observed in Russia (+33 percentage points), Uzbekistan (+21),
Kyrgyzstan (+20) and Egypt (+15). Views on the origins of sharia do not vary
consistently with other measures, such as age or gender.
Interpreting Sharia
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Muslims differ widely as to whether sharia should be open to multiple
understandings. While many say there is only one true interpretation,
substantial percentages in most countries either say there are multiple
interpretations or say they do not know.
A majority of Muslims in three Central Asian countries – Tajikistan (70%),
Azerbaijan (65%) and Kyrgyzstan (55%) – say there is only one way to understand
sharia. But elsewhere in the region there is less consensus, including in
Turkey, where identical proportions (36% each) stand on either side of the
question.
Muslims in Southern and Eastern Europe tend to lean in favor of a single
interpretation of sharia. However, only in Bosnia-Herzegovina (56%) and Russia
(56%), do majorities take this position.
Across the countries surveyed in South Asia, majorities consistently say
there is only one possible way to understand sharia. The proportion holding this
view ranges from 67% in Afghanistan to 57% in Bangladesh. But more than a
quarter of Muslims in Afghanistan (29%) and Bangladesh (38%) say sharia should
be open to multiple interpretations.
In the Middle East-North Africa region, belief in a single interpretation
of sharia prevails in Lebanon (59%) and the Palestinian territories (51%). But
opinion in Iraq is mixed: 46% say there is only one possible way to understand
sharia, while 48% disagree. And in Tunisia and Morocco, large majorities (72%
and 60%, respectively) believe sharia should be open to multiple
interpretations.
In Southeast Asia, opinion leans modestly in favor of a single
interpretation of sharia. The biggest divide is found in Thailand, where 51% of
Muslims say there is only one possible understanding of Islamic law, while 29%
say it should be open to multiple interpretations.
In a number of countries, significant percentages say they are unsure
whether sharia should be subject to one or multiple understandings, including at
least one-in-five Muslims in Albania (46%), Kosovo (42%), Uzbekistan (35%),
Turkey (23%), Russia (21%), Malaysia (20%) and Pakistan (20%).
An individual’s degree of religious commitment appears to influence views
on interpreting sharia. In many countries where the question was asked, Muslims
who pray several times a day are more likely than those who pray less often to
say that there is a single interpretation. The largest differences are found in
Russia (+33 percentage points) and Uzbekistan (+27), but substantial gaps are
also observed in Lebanon (+18), Malaysia (+16) and Thailand (+15).
Sharia as the Official Law of the Land
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Support for making sharia the official law of the land varies significantly
across the six major regions included in the study. In countries across South
Asia, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East-North Africa region
most favor making sharia their country’s official legal code. By contrast, only
a minority of Muslims across Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe
want sharia to be the official law of the land.
In South Asia, high percentages in all the countries surveyed support
making sharia the official law, including nearly universal support among Muslims
in Afghanistan (99%). More than eight-in-ten Muslims in Pakistan (84%) and
Bangladesh (82%) also hold this view. The percentage of Muslims who say they
favor making Islamic law the official law in their country is nearly as high
across the Southeast Asian countries surveyed (86% in Malaysia, 77% in Thailand
and 72% in Indonesia).15
In sub-Saharan Africa, at least half of Muslims in most countries surveyed
say they favor making sharia the official law of the land, including more than
seven-in-ten in Niger (86%), Djibouti (82%), the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (74%) and Nigeria (71%).
Support for sharia as the official law of the land also is widespread among
Muslims in the Middle East-North Africa region – especially in Iraq (91%) and
the Palestinian territories (89%). Only in Lebanon does opinion lean in the
opposite direction: 29% of Lebanese Muslims favor making sharia the law of the
land, while 66% oppose it.
Support for making sharia the official legal code of the country is
relatively weak across Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe.
Fewer than half of Muslims in all the countries surveyed in these regions favor
making sharia their country’s official law. Support for sharia as the law of the
land is greatest in Russia (42%); respondents in Russia were asked if sharia
should be made the official law in the country’s ethnic-Muslim republics.
Elsewhere in Central Asia and Southern and Eastern Europe, about one-in-three or
fewer say sharia should be made the law of the land, including just 10% in
Kazakhstan and 8% in Azerbaijan.
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Again, level of religious commitment makes a big difference in attitudes
about the implementation of sharia. Muslims who pray several times a day are
more likely than those who pray less frequently to favor Islamic law as the
official law of the land. The difference is particularly large in Russia (+37
percentage points), Lebanon (+28), the Palestinian territories (+27), Tunisia
(+25) and Kyrgyzstan (+24).
Across the countries surveyed, support for making sharia the official law
of the land generally varies little by age, gender or education. However, in the
Middle East-North Africa region, Muslims ages 35 and older are more likely than
those 18-34 to back sharia in Lebanon (+22 percentage points), Jordan (+12),
Tunisia (+12) and the Palestinian territories (+10).
Should Sharia Apply to All Citizens?
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Among Muslims who support making sharia the law of the land, most do not
believe that it should be applied to non-Muslims. Only in five of 21 countries
where this follow-up question was asked do at least half say all citizens should
be subject to Islamic law.
The belief that sharia should extend to non-Muslims is most widespread in
the Middle East and North Africa, where at least four-in-ten Muslims in all
countries except Iraq (38%) and Morocco (29%) hold this opinion. Egyptian
Muslims (74%) are the most likely to say it should apply to Muslims and
non-Muslims alike, while 58% in Jordan hold this view.
By contrast, Muslims in Southern and Eastern Europe who favor making sharia
the official law of the land are among the least likely to say it should apply
to all citizens in their country. Across the nations surveyed in the region,
fewer than a third take this view. This includes 22% of Russian Muslims (who
were asked about the applying sharia in their country’s ethnic Muslim
republics).
In other regions, opinion varies widely by country. For example, in
Southeast Asia, half of Indonesian Muslims who favor sharia as the official law
say it should apply to all citizens, compared with about a quarter (24%) of
those in Thailand. (Thai Muslims were asked if sharia should be made the
official law in the predominantly Muslim areas of the country.) Similarly, in
Central Asia, a majority of Muslims in Kyrgyzstan (62%) who support making
sharia the official law say it should apply to non-Muslims in their country, but
far fewer in Kazakhstan (19%) agree. Meanwhile, in South Asia, Muslims who are
in favor of making sharia the law of the land in Afghanistan are 27 percentage
points more likely to say all citizens should be subject to Islamic law than are
those in Pakistan (61% in Afghanistan vs. 34% in Pakistan).
How Should Sharia Be Applied?
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When Muslims in different regions of the world say they want sharia to be
the law of the land, do they also share a vision for how sharia should be
applied in practice? Overall, among those in favor of making sharia the law of
the land, the survey finds broad support for allowing religious judges to
adjudicate domestic disputes. Lower but substantial proportions of Muslims
support severe punishments such as cutting off the hands of thieves or stoning
people who commit adultery. The survey finds even lower support for executing
apostates.
Family and Property Disputes
Islamic law addresses a range of domestic and personal matters, including
marriage, divorce and inheritance.16 And most Muslims who say sharia should be
the law of the land in their country are very supportive of the application of
Islamic law in this sphere. Specifically, in 17 of the 20 countries where there
are adequate samples for analysis, at least half favor giving Muslim leaders and
religious judges the power to decide family and property disputes.
Support for allowing religious judges to decide domestic and property
disputes is particularly widespread throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia and
the Middle East-North Africa region. Across these three regions, at least
six-in-ten Muslims who support the implementation of sharia as the official law
say religious judges should decide family and property matters. This includes
more than nine-in-ten in Egypt (95%) and Jordan (93%), and nearly as many in
Malaysia (88%) and Pakistan (87%).
In Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe, Muslims who favor
making sharia the law of the land are somewhat less enthusiastic about having
religious judges decide matters in the domestic sphere. Across these two
regions, fewer than two-thirds favor giving religious judges the power to decide
family and property disputes. The least support for allowing religious judges to
decide matters in the domestic sphere is found in Kosovo (26%) and
Bosnia-Herzegovina (24%).
Penalty for Theft or Robbery
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Among those who want sharia to be the law of the land, in 10 of 20
countries where there are adequate samples for analysis at least half say they
support penalties such as whippings or cutting off the hands of thieves and
robbers.17 In South Asia, Pakistani and Afghan Muslims clearly support hudud
punishments (see Glossary). In both countries, more than eight-in-ten Muslims
who favor making sharia the official law of the land also back these types of
penalties for theft and robbery (88% in Pakistan and 81% in Afghanistan). By
contrast, only half of Bangladeshis who favor sharia as the law of the land
share this view.
In the Middle East and North Africa, many Muslims who support making sharia
the official law also favor punishments like cutting off the hands of thieves.
This includes at least seven-in-ten in the Palestinian territories (76%) and
Egypt (70%), and at least half in Jordan (57%), Iraq (56%) and Lebanon (50%).
Only in Tunisia do fewer than half (44%) of those who want Islamic law as the
law of the land also back these types of criminal penalties.
In Southeast Asia, about two-thirds (66%) of Malaysian Muslims who want
sharia as the law of the land also favor punishments like cutting off the hands
of thieves or robbers, but fewer than half say the same in Thailand (46%) and
Indonesia (45%).
In Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe, relatively few
Muslims who back sharia support severe criminal punishments. Across the two
regions, only in Kyrgyzstan do more than half (54%) support punishments such as
whippings or cutting off the hands of thieves. Elsewhere in these two regions,
between 43% and 28% of Muslims favor corporal punishments for theft and
robbery.
Penalty for Adultery
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In 10 of 20 countries where there are adequate samples for analysis, at
least half of Muslims who favor making sharia the law of the land also favor
stoning unfaithful spouses.18
Some of the highest support for stoning is found in South Asia and the
Middle East-North Africa region. In Pakistan (89%) and Afghanistan (85%), more
than eight-in-ten Muslims who want Islamic law as their country’s official law
say adulterers should be stoned, while nearly as many say the same in the
Palestinian territories (84%) and Egypt (81%). A majority also support stoning
as a penalty for the unfaithful in Jordan (67%), Iraq (58%). However, support is
significantly lower in Lebanon (46%) and Tunisia (44%), where less than half of
those who support sharia as the official law of the land believe that adulterers
should be stoned.
In Southeast Asia, six-in-ten Muslims in Malaysia consider stoning an
appropriate penalty for adultery. About half hold this view in Thailand (51%)
and Indonesia (48%).
Muslims in Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe are
generally less likely to support stoning adulterers. Among those who favor
Islamic law as the official law of the land, only in Tajikistan do about half
(51%) support this form of punishment. Elsewhere in the two regions, fewer than
four-in-ten favor this type of punishment, including roughly a quarter or fewer
across the countries surveyed in Southern and Eastern Europe.
Penalty for Converting to Another Faith
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Compared with attitudes toward applying sharia in the domestic or criminal
spheres, Muslims in the countries surveyed are significantly less supportive of
the death penalty for converts.19 Nevertheless, in six of the 20 countries where
there are adequate samples for analysis, at least half of those who favor making
Islamic law the official law also support executing apostates.
Taking the life of those who abandon Islam is most widely supported in
Egypt (86%) and Jordan (82%). Roughly two-thirds who want sharia to be the law
of the land also back this penalty in the Palestinian territories (66%). In the
other countries surveyed in the Middle East-North Africa region, fewer than half
take this view.
In the South Asian countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, strong majorities
of those who favor making Islamic law the official law of the land also approve
of executing apostates (79% and 76%, respectively). However, in Bangladesh far
fewer (44%) share this view.
A majority of Malaysian Muslims (62%) who want to see sharia as their
country’s official law also support taking the lives of those who convert to
other faiths. But fewer take this position in neighboring Thailand (27%) and
Indonesia (18%).
In Central Asia as well as Southern and Eastern Europe, only in Tajikistan
(22%) do more than a fifth of Muslims who want sharia as the official law of the
land also condone the execution of apostates. Support for killing converts to
other faiths falls below one-in-ten in Albania (8%) and Kazakhstan (4%).
Views on Current Laws and Their Relation to Sharia
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Many Muslims say their country’s laws do not follow sharia, or Islamic law.
At least half take this view in 11 of the 20 countries where the question was
asked. Meanwhile, in six countries, at least half of Muslims believe their
national laws closely adhere to sharia.
Muslims in Southern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are among the most
likely to say their laws do not adhere closely to Islamic law. A majority of
Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina (68%), Russia (61%) and Kosovo (59%) take this
view. Roughly four-in-ten Muslims in Albania (43%) also say their country’s laws
do not follow sharia closely, and about half (48%) are unsure.
In Central Asia, at least half of Muslims in Kazakhstan (72%), Azerbaijan
(69%) and Kyrgyzstan (54%) say their laws do not follow sharia closely. In
Tajikistan, by contrast, 51% say the laws of their country follow sharia.
In the Middle East-North Africa region, Muslims differ considerably in
their assessments on this question. Lebanese Muslims (79%) are the most likely
to say their country’s laws do not follow Islamic law closely. At least half of
Muslims in the Palestinian territories (59%), Jordan (57%), Egypt (56%) and
Tunisia (56%) say the same. Fewer Muslims agree in Iraq (37%) and Morocco
(26%).
In the two countries in Southeast Asia where the question was asked, at
least half of Muslims say their country’s laws adhere to sharia. By a 58%-to-29%
margin, most Malaysian Muslims say their laws follow sharia; in Indonesia, the
margin is 54% to 42%.
gsi2-chp1-11
Muslims in Afghanistan stand out for the high percentage (88%) that says
their laws follow sharia closely. Fewer Muslims in the other countries surveyed
in South Asia believe their laws closely follow sharia (48% in Bangladesh and
41% in Pakistan).
Across the countries surveyed, many Muslims who say their laws do not
follow sharia believe this is a bad thing. Muslims in South Asia are especially
likely to express this sentiment, including at least eight-in-ten Muslims in
Pakistan (91%), Afghanistan (84%) and Bangladesh (83%). In Southeast Asia and
the Middle East-North Africa region, too, Muslims who believe their country’s
laws depart from sharia tend to say this is a bad thing. At least six-in-ten in
the Palestinian territories (83%), Morocco (76%), Iraq (71%), Jordan (69%),
Egypt (67%), Malaysia (65%) and Indonesia (65%) hold this view. Somewhat fewer
Muslims in Tunisia (54%) say the same.
In the Middle East-North Africa region, Lebanon is the only country where
opinion on the matter is closely divided. Among Lebanese Muslims who say their
laws do not follow sharia closely, 41% say this is a good thing, while 38% say
it is a bad thing, and 21% have no definite opinion.
Muslims in Southern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are less likely to
say it is a bad thing that their country’s laws do not follow sharia. Among
Muslims who believe their country’s laws do not follow sharia, fewer than a
third in most countries surveyed in these regions say this is a bad thing, while
many say it is neither good nor bad, or express no opinion. The two exceptions
are Russia and Kyrgyzstan, where almost half (47% each) say it is a bad thing
that their country’s laws do not adhere closely to Islamic law.
Footnotes:
15 In Thailand, respondents were asked if
sharia should be made the official law in the predominantly Muslim areas of the
country. (return
to text)
16 See Quran 4:22-4; 65:1-6; 4:11-2. See also
Hourani, Albert. 1991. “A History of the Arab Peoples.” Harvard University
Press, page 65. (return
to text)
17 Certain hadith specify that some crimes,
including theft, merit corporal punishments, such as whipping or the cutting off
of hands. See Sahih al-Bukhari 81:771, 81:778, and 81:780. (return
to text)
18 Certain hadith prescribe stoning as the
appropriate penalty for adultery. See Sahih al-Muslim 17:4192 and 17:4198. (return
to text)
19 Certain hadith either state or imply that
the penalty for apostasy, or converting to another faith, is death. See Sahih
al-Bukhari 52:260 and 83:37. (return
to text)
Photo Credit: © Scott E Barbour
Dr. Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine, motivation, and
foreign policy. A community consultant, pluralist, social scientist, thinker,
writer, activist, news maker and an Interfaith Wedding officiant
. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic
solutions on issues of the day. Most of the words are linked to his work, and
please visit him at www.TheGhousediary.com and www.MikeGhouse.net 
