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Loyalty to the United States

Gallup asked Americans whether they think Muslim Americans are loyal or not loyal to the U.S. Perceptions of disloyalty tend to fuel the flames of Islamophobia. If one believes that Muslims are not loyal, one may also believe that Muslims should be feared, not trusted, and not treated fairly. A feeling that Muslim Americans are disloyal to the U.S. is examined as a crucial component of Islamophobia. Women are more likely than men to think that Muslims in American are not loyal to the U.S. Those who think Muslim Americans are loyal to the country are younger than those who say Muslim Americans aren't loyal to the U.S. And while most Americans (87%) strongly agree that they would not object to a person of a different religion living next door to them, those who say Muslim Americans are loyal to the U.S. are more likely than those who don't to strongly agree that they would not object to neighbors of a different faith.

Americans who think their Muslim peers are loyal to the U.S. are more likely than those who question this loyalty to have confidence in a number of major U.S. institutions. Specifically, those who say Muslim Americans are loyal to the country are more likely to say they themselves have confidence in the U.S. judicial system (63% vs. 41%), in honesty of elections (49% vs. 27%), in the media (29% vs. 14%), in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (73% vs. 61%), and in local police (82% vs. 75%). The exception to this is Americans' confidence in the military, which is slightly greater among those who say Muslim Americans are not loyal to the U.S. However, most Americans say they have confidence in the military, regardless of their opinion about Muslim Americans' loyalty.

Data reported from 2010

Overall, one-third of Americans say they think Muslim countries have a very unfavorable opinion of the U.S. People who say Muslim Americans are not loyal to the U.S. are much more likely than those who say Muslim Americans are loyal to think people in Muslim countries harbor very unfavorable views of the U.S. Overall, though, majorities of Americans who say Muslim Americans are loyal or not loyal to the U.S. think people in Muslim countries have at least somewhat unfavorable views of America.

Data reported from 2010

Of those who say Muslim countries have unfavorable views of America, more than one-half (57%) say it is based mostly on misinformation provided by the media and government in those countries about what the U.S. has done, while about one-third (32%) say it is mostly because of what the U.S. has done. Those who say Muslim Americans are not loyal to the U.S. are much more likely to say these unfavorable views in Muslim countries are because of misinformation by these countries' media and government (70%), and not based on past U.S. actions (17%). Those who say Muslim Americans are loyal to the U.S. are still more likely to say unfavorable views in Muslim countries are due to misinformation (54%) than to U.S. actions (35%).

Two-thirds of Americans surveyed in this particular study say that religion is an important part of their daily lives. Those who say Muslim Americans are not loyal to the U.S. are more likely than those who say Muslims are loyal to claim religion is an important part of their daily life (74% vs. 65%).

European Muslims Feeling the Pressure

Gallup collected data in 2008 from representative samples in Germany, France, and the U.K., focusing on several issues related to the social and cultural integration of Muslim communities in these three countries. And while majorities of the adults in these countries agree that people from minority groups enrich the cultural life of their nations, sizable minorities of these respondents express fear about certain aspects of Muslim culture.

Data reported from 2008

Only the general population in the U.K. includes a sizable minority - more than one-quarter - that says people with different religious practices than theirs threaten respondents' way of life. The Muslim populations in France, Germany, and the U.K. are less likely than the general public in these countries to say those with differing religious practices threaten their way of life.

Between 16% and 21% of people in France, Germany, and the U.K. say they would not like Muslims as their neighbors, similar to the percentages of each country's general population that say they would not like homosexuals as neighbors. Generally, people in these countries are more likely to say they would not like Muslims as neighbors than they are to say the same about Jews, Christians, atheists, blacks, and Asians. An exception exists in the U.K., though, where 22% of people say they would not like immigrants or foreign workers as neighbors.

Data reported from 2008

Significant proportions of the French, German, and British publics consider different Muslim practices and relationships threatening. For example, 16% of Germans, 30% of British, and 39% of French say that wearing the hijab - the traditional head covering worn by Muslim women - is a threat to European culture. Similar proportions associate Muslims with terror, as 23% of Germans, 25% of the French, and 34% of the British say that Muslims are sympathetic to al Qaeda.

Overall, however, large majorities of French (90%), British (90%), and German (95%) respondents say they have not experienced racial or religious discrimination in the past year. Among Muslims in each of these three countries, those in France and Germany are significantly more likely than the general population to say they experienced discrimination in the past year.