The majority of British people believe Islam is incompatible with British values, and one in three say the ideology promotes acts of violence.
More than 56 per cent of respondents to a new ComRes poll disagree with the view that Islam is compatible with British values. In fact, it was found that more Britons believe Islam is a violent religion (31 per cent) than those who regard it as compatible with British values (28 per cent).
A marginally larger proportion of Brits, 43 per cent, agreed that Islam is a negative force in the UK compared to those who see it as a positive – 40 per cent. Older Britons, however, were more likely to see Islam as a negative force, while younger people were more likely to have a politically correct, positive view.
The generational divide was pronounced in several areas. Around ten per cent fewer of those over 25 believed Islam is both peaceful and compatible with British values compared to those aged between 18 and 24.
Younger people also regard themselves as more informed about Islam. Forty-one per cent of adults aged between 18 to 24 said they had a good understanding of the traditions and beliefs of Islam, compared to 27 per cent of those aged over 45.
The results tally with those of recent polls conducted in both France and Germany. A majority of the French, across the entire political spectrum, believe Islam is incompatible with their society. And in Germany, there has been a sharp shift in opinion with a rejection of Islam now a majority opinion for the first time.
The British poll was conducted on behalf of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, an Islamic sect that is brutally persecuted in the Muslim world and increasingly the West as well.
The community’s plight was brought to national attention when a locally well regarded Ahmadiyya shopkeeper in Glasgow was brutally murdered for his beliefs in March of this year, with the Muslim Council of Britain officially classing Ahmadiyyas as “apostates” shortly after.
In Pakistan, the national constitution has been specifically amended to officially declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims, a charge with grave consequences in the fundamentalist nation.
The results of the survey are due to be revealed today at a ‘Caliphate in the 21st Century‘ conference in Kensington, London. The leader (or Caliph), Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, of the international Ahmadiyya community has been based in London since 1984 due to persecution in his native Pakistan.
However, the word “caliphate” is marred by suspicion and fear in the UK. Forty-three per cent associate it with extremism and Islamic State; 41 per cent say it is incompatible with the British political system; 38 per cent say it is “dangerous”; and 33 per cent say it is a “threat to the UK”.
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