The results of a poll have claimed that half of Muslims in Britain want gay sex to be made illegal.
The survey was taken for Channel 4’s ‘What British Muslims Really Think’ programme.
It found that 52 percent of Muslims in the UK think homosexuality should be illegal in the UK.
The survey suggested a “chasm” between views in the Muslim community in Britain and the mainstream opinion of Brits.
Undertaken by ICM, the poll asked over 1,000 British Muslims a range of questions.
As well as over half saying homosexuality should be illegal, 39 percent said that they agreed that “wives should always obey their husbands”.
31 percent said it was acceptable for a man to have multiple wives.
Of the respondents, 23 percent said they wanted the introduction of Shariah law in the UK.
A question of adultery was also asked of respondents, 5 percent of who said they thought stoning was an appropriate punishments for those who commit it.
79 percent of those did say that they were against the use of stoning to punish adulterers.
The survey was interpreted by the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips.
He said: “The integration of Britain’s Muslims will probably be the hardest task we’ve ever faced.
“It will require the abandonment of the milk-and-water multiculturalism still so beloved of many, and the adoption of a far more muscular approach to integration.”
The Channel 4 programme will air on Channel 4 at 10pm on Wednesday.
Source: Pink News, Joseph Patrick McCormick, April 10, 2016
Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance of homosexuality, says poll
Survey shows UK Muslims have more conservative attitudes on sex than Muslims in France and Germany
Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance towards homosexual acts compared to their counterparts in France and Germany, according to a survey published today.
The Gallup poll features the results of telephone and face-to-face interviews with Muslims and non-Muslims in the UK, France and Germany and is designed to measure global attitudes towards people from different faith traditions.
It shows that British Muslims hold more conservative opinions towards homosexual acts, abortion, viewing pornography, suicide and sex outside marriage than European Muslims, polling markedly lower when asked if they believed these things were morally acceptable.
The most dramatic contrast was found in attitudes towards homosexuality. None of the 500 British Muslims interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable. 1,001 non-Muslim Britons were interviewed.
On the issue of sexual relations between unmarried men and women, general populations surveyed express similar views, with the majority believing it was acceptable. But the Muslim populations polled again reflected greater diversity on the matter. French Muslims ranked highest again, with 48% believing it was acceptable, followed by 27% of German Muslims responding favourably. British Muslims came last, with only 3% of those questioned personally believing that sex between unmarried men and women was moral. There was a similar outcome when asked for their views on extra-marital affairs.
The survey was formally launched in London today by Dalia Mogahed, who was recently appointed to US president Barack Obama's advisory council on faith-based and neighbourhood partnerships and is executive director of the Gallup Centre for Muslim Studies.
Mogahed said some of the findings surprised her, particularly that British Muslims identified more with their home nation than did non-Muslims because "it flew in the face of conventional wisdom". She expressed concern that British Muslims were less happier and less "thriving" than Muslims overseas. "The British Muslim community is disproportionately unemployed."
The report suggested that integration should be focusing on economic opportunity rather than religious issues, she added.
The survey, the Gallup Coexist Index 2009, concluded that while European Muslims not only accepted but welcomed the freedoms, democratic institutions, justice, and human rights that characterised their societies, their perceived lack of integration was often explained by their rejection of liberal, sexual mores.
It said: "Some researchers point out that the greatest differences between Muslims and westerners lie more in eros than demos. In other words, the Muslim-west gap rests on differences in attitudes toward sexual liberalisation and gender issues rather than democracy and governance.
"This theory implies that the west speaks with one voice on issues of morals, tolerance, and sexual freedom. Furthermore, this line of argument contends that this unified system of western values represents the logical progression in all civilized, modern societies and Muslims are expected to embrace such liberal views, if they are to live in the west."
As an example the survey cited an incident from 2006, when the state of Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany introduced a naturalisation test to assess applicants' moral views. One of its questions was: "What do you think about the fact that homosexual people hold official offices in Germany?"
Source: The Guardian, April 7, 2016