Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2017
AmericanMuslimPoll2017:MuslimsatTheCrossroads
KeyFindings:
Fromearlyoninadeeplydivisivepresidentialelectioncyclethroughthefirstweeksofa
new administration, American Muslims have been at the center of heated social and
political debates. Rarely, however, are Muslims themselves centered as participants in
these conversations, and even rarer are their attitudes and behaviors systematically
examined. To help narrow this knowledge gap, the following analysis of data from our
AmericanMuslimPoll2017:MuslimsattheCrossroadsofferspublicofficials,civilsociety
stakeholders, and other interested parties a multi-dimensional portrait of the American
Muslimcommunity.OurpollwasconductedbetweenJanuary4thandJanuary23rd,2017;
with2,389nationallyrepresentativerespondents.
MuslimsDisproportionatelyFeelNegativeEffectofPoliticalClimate
● Morethantwoinfive(42%)MuslimswithchildreninK–12schoolreportbullyingof
theirchildrenbecauseoftheirfaith,comparedwith23%ofJews,20%ofProtestants,
and6%ofCatholics.
● Ateacherorotherschoolofficialisreportedtohavebeeninvolvedinoneinfour
bullyingincidentsinvolvingMuslims.
● Muslims(38%)andJews(27%)aremostlikelytoexpressfearfortheirpersonal
safetyorthatoftheirfamilyfromwhitesupremacistgroupsasaresultofthe2016
elections.Thiscompareswith16%ofpeoplenotaffiliatedwithafaith,11%of
Protestants,and8%ofCatholics.
● Muslimsaremorethantwiceaslikely(30%)asJews(13%),Catholics,andProtestants
(11%)tobestoppedattheborderforadditionalscreening.
● MostMuslims(67%)stoppedataU.S.bordersaytheywereeasilyidentifiedasa
memberoftheirfaithgroup,comparedwith32%ofJewsandnoneinothergroups.
● Muslimsarethemostlikelyfaithcommunitytoreportreligious-baseddiscrimination
(60%)inthepastyear.Thiscompareswith38%ofJewsandlessthan20%amongall
othergroupsstudied.
● ThemajorityofnonwhiteMuslims(56%ofblackMuslims,60%ofArabMuslims,and
63%ofAsianMuslim)reportsomefrequencyofrace-baseddiscriminationinthelast
year.
MuslimsRespondtoPrejudicewithResilienceandSolidarity
● Muslimsarethemostlikelyfaithgroup(66%)tosupporttheBlackLivesMatter(BLM)
movement.Thiscompareswithroughly58%ofJewsandindividualsnotaffiliatedwith
afaith,andlessthan39%ofCatholicsandProtestants.ThehighestsupportforBLMis
amongMuslimswhoareblack(72%),Asian(76%),oryoung(72%).
● Muslimsaremostlikelytoconsiderbigotryandcivilrightsasthemostimportantissue
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2017
facingourcountrytoday.
● Nearlyaquarter(23%)ofMuslimsincreasedtheirgivingtoorganizationsassociated
withtheirfaithcommunityand18%joined,donatedto,orvolunteeredatacivic
organizationsforthefirsttimeasaresultoftheelections.
MuslimWomenDefyStereotypes,Suffer,ResistMost
● MuslimwomenaremorelikelythanMuslimmentoachievehighereducation(73%of
womenvs.57%ofmenwithpost-highschooleducationorhigher).
● Nearlyoneinfive(19%)Muslimwomensaytheyhavestressandanxietyenoughto
believetheyneedthehelpofamentalhealthprofessionalasaresultofthe2016
elections,comparedwith9%ofMuslimmen.
● MuslimwomenaremorelikelythanMuslimmentoreportexperiencingreligious
discriminationinthelastyear(68%vs.55%).
● MuslimwomenaremorelikelythanMuslimmentofearfortheirsafetyfromwhite
supremacistgroups(47%vs.31%).
● Despitethisdeficitinsecurityandgreaterlikelihoodforexperiencedreligious-based
discrimination,MuslimwomenarenomorelikelythanMuslimmentochangetheir
appearancetobelessidentifiableasaMuslim(16%vs.15%).
● Insteadofhiding,MuslimwomenrespondedtoaTrumpwinwithgreatergiving.Nearly
30%ofMuslimwomenvs.19%ofMuslimmenhaveincreasedtheirdonationstoan
organizationassociatedwiththeirfaithcommunity.
● ThreeinfourMuslimwomensupporttheBlackLivesMattermovement.
AmericanMuslimsAretheMostEthnicallyDiverse,YoungestFaithCommunity
Surveyed
● Muslimsaretheonlyfaithcommunitysurveyedwithnomajorityrace,with25%black,
24%white,18%Asian,18%Arab,7%mixedrace,and5%Hispanic.
● HalfofMuslimsarenativebornandhalfareforeignborn,butmost(86%)arecitizens.
● Muslimsarethemostlikelyfaithcommunitytoreportlowincome,with35%reporting
ahouseholdincomelessthan$30,000comparedwith18%orlessofallotherstudied
groups.
● BlackandArabMuslims(44%and37%,respectively)aremorelikelytoreporta
householdincomeoflessthan$30,000comparedwithwhiteandAsianMuslims(28%
and30%,respectively).
● Muslims,Protestants,andCatholicshavesimilareducationlevels.
● MuslimwomenaremorelikelythanMuslimmentoachievehighereducation(73%of
womenvs.57%ofmenwithpost-highschooleducationorhigher).
● MuslimwomenaremorelikelythanMuslimmentoreportlivinginamiddle-class
household(28%vs.19%).
● Likeotherfaithgroupssurveyed,roughlynineintenMuslimsidentifyas“straight”with
theremainderidentifyingaseitherbisexual,“somethingelse,”orrefusingtoanswer.
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MuslimAmericansFaceSimilarSocialChallengesasOtherAmericanFaithGroups
● Muslimsareaslikelytoreportknowingsomeonewhoisavictimofdomesticviolence
intheirfaithcommunity(13%)asareCatholics(15%),Protestants(17%),andthe
generalpublic(15%),comparedwithJews(7%).
● MuslimsareaslikelyasAmericansofotherfaithstoreportdomesticviolencetolaw
enforcement(54%ofMuslimsandroughlythesamepercentageofProtestants,
Catholics,nonaffiliated,andthegeneralpublic,butonly35%ofJews).
● Muslims(51%)areaslikelytoreportdomesticviolencetoafaithleaderaslaw
enforcement(54%),andmorelikelythananyfaithgroupsurveyed(28%ofJews,23%
ofCatholics,and35%ofProtestants)toreportthisviolencetotheirfaithorcommunity
leader.ThissuggestsMuslimvictimsofdomesticviolencearemorelikelytoexpect
supportfromtheirfaithcommunityandregardtheassaultasamoralissueinaddition
toalegalone.
● AsignificantminorityofMuslimsofallraces(33%ofblackMuslims,26%ofArab
Muslims,and31%ofAsianMuslims)reportrace-baseddiscriminationinthelastyear
fromotherMuslims,butthemajorityofMuslims(roughly54%)reportracebased
discriminationfromthegeneralpublic.
● Intra-communityracismisnotuniquetoMuslims;one-thirdofbothAfricanAmerican
MuslimsandAfricanAmericansinthegeneralpublicreportrace-baseddiscrimination
frommembersoftheirownfaith.
AlthoughTheyAreLessPoliticallyEngaged,MuslimAreEquallyInvestedinthe
Country’sWelfare
● Muslimswhocontributetocausesorinstitutionsassociatedwiththeirfaithcommunity
areaslikelytosupportoverseasreliefefforts(52%)asthoseworkingtoalleviate
domesticpoverty(50%).
● Economy,bigotry,healthcare,education,andpovertytopthelistof“mostimportant
issuesfacingourcountrytoday”forMuslims.
● Muslimsvolunteeratequalnumbersasmembersofotherfaithcommunities(44%).
● MuslimsaretheleastlikelyfaithgrouptofavoraTrumpwin(15%vs.23%ofJews,
26%ofnonaffiliated,roughly41%ofProtestantsandCatholics,and34%ofthegeneral
public).
● Apathyanddissatisfactionwithchoiceswerethetopreasonsfornotvoting(not
religion).
● Muslimsaretheleastlikelyfaithcommunitytohavevoted(61%vs.roughly86%ofall
othergroupssurveyed).
Methodology
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ISPUcreatedthequestionnaireforthisstudyandcommissionedtwofirmstoconductthe
survey:SocialScienceResearchSolutions(SSRS)foranationallyrepresentativesurveyof
self-identified Muslims and Jews, and Triton Polling & Research for a nationally
representativesurveyofthegeneralAmericanpublic.FromtheTritonsample,researchers
examined the views of self-identified Protestants, Catholics, and those who were not
affiliatedwithafaith.Atotalof2,389interviewswereconducted.ISPUownsalldataand
intellectualpropertyrelatedtothisstudy.
SSRSconductedasurveyofMuslimsandJewsforISPUfromJanuary4throughJanuary19,
2017. SSRS interviewed 800 Muslim and 340 Jewish respondents. Sample for the study
camefromthreesources.SSRStelephonedasampleofhouseholdsthatwasprescreenedas
being Muslim or Jewish in the SSRS weekly national omnibus survey of 1,000 randomly
selected respondents (n = 661) and purchased a listed sample for Muslim and Jewish
householdsinbothlandlineandcellphoneframesfromExperian,asampleproviderthat
flagsspecificcharacteristicsforeachpieceofsample(n=129).TheSSRSomnibussurvey
completedhalfofallinterviewswithcellphonerespondents,soprescreenedrespondents
included those who had originally been interviewed on both landline telephones and cell
phones.TosupplementthenumberofMusliminterviewsSSRSwasabletocompleteinthe
giventimeframeandwiththeamountofavailableprescreenedsample,SSRSemployeda
Webmethodologypanelandcompletedthefinal350interviewswithMuslimsviaanonline
surveywithsamplesfromanonprobabilitypanel.Thedatafromthisprojectareweighted
to match estimates of the Jewish and/or Muslim populations determined from 3 years of
data collected through the SSRS omnibus and estimates from the Pew Research Center’s
2011surveyofMuslimAmericans.Thetelephoneportionofrespondentshasamarginof
errorata95percentconfidencelevelofMuslims±5.1%andJews±6.5%.
Triton live-agent surveys were conducted by interviewers in an in-house, state-of-the-art
call center located near Bend, Oregon. All surveys incorporated standard statistical
methodstoselectarepresentativesampleofthetargetpopulation.Tritonconductedthis
telephonepollofthegeneralpublic,onbehalfofISPU,byliveinterviewswithrespondents
vialandlinetelephonesandcellphonesbetweenJanuary4andJanuary23,2017,securing
asamplesizeof1,249completedsurveyswithamarginoferrorata95percentconfidence
levelof±2.8%.Theweightingappliedwasgender,age,region,andrace.
Formoredetailsonpollingmethodology,visitwww.ispu.org/poll.
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2017
AboutISPU
ISPUconductsobjective,solution-seekingresearchthatempowersAmericanMuslimsto
developtheircommunityandfullycontributetodemocracyandpluralismintheUnited
States.Since2002,ISPUhasbeenattheforefrontofdiscoveringtrendsandopportunities
thatimpacttheAmericanMuslimcommunity.Ourresearchaimstoeducatethegeneral
publicandenablecommunitychangeagents,themedia,andpolicymakerstomake
evidence-baseddecisions.Inadditiontobuildingin-housecapacity,ISPUhasassembled
leadingexpertsacrossmultipledisciplines,buildingasolidreputationasatrustedsource
forinformationforandaboutAmericanMuslims.
Formoreinformation,pleasevisit:www.ispu.org
InstituteforSocialPolicyandUnderstanding
[email protected]
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