A recent survey by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute shows a frightening amount of extremism within the Canadian-Muslim community. A significant minority support terrorist groups and establishing a global caliphate. The results substantiate the notion that the Canadian-Muslim community is relatively moderate, but plenty of extremism resides in America’s northern neighbor to provide a base for Islamists.
Sixty-five percent completely repudiate Al-Qaeda and only 3% view it positively. About one-fourth view the Muslim Brotherhood positively, though some of these may falsely believe it is a moderate group. One-fifth of respondents had a favorable opinion of Iran. Hezbollah and Hamas have favorability ratings of 17% and 15%, respectively. About 13% view Israel positively, which is quite high for a Muslim community.
The authors of the study admit that the extremist minority poses a significant risk.
“From a security perspective, it is difficult to know if a 65% rate of repudiation (of Al-Qaeda) is re-assuring or a 35% failure to repudiate troubling,” they wrote.
The survey shows that a substantial majority of Canadian-Muslims reject key tenets of Islamist doctrine and oppose terrorist groups, though significant extremist minorities exist.
Nearly half disagree with the objective of establishing a global Islamic state. A little more than one-fifth (22%) don’t want Sharia law at all, including voluntary courts for Muslims to settle civil disputes based on Islam. About half favor such courts. About 8% want Muslims to be required to use Sharia arbitration courts, and 7% want the courts to decide all matters for Muslims, which is effectively Sharia-based governance. Read the rest on:
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