Abstract
The association of Islam with violent extremism ranks highly among the defining issues and events of the 21st century so far. A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found the threat of Islamist extremism topped the list of global concerns in a number of countries and ranked second in Australia after climate change. Thinking about Islam in this way has been a major factor in perpetuating feelings of insecurity and the securitisation of society. However, Muslim Australians strongly reject an association between Islam and violent extremism, according to the findings of a recent national survey.
Highlights
The association of Islam with violent extremism ranks highly among the defining issues and events of the 21st century so far
A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found the threat of Islamist extremism topped the list of global concerns in a number of countries and ranked second in Australia after climate change
Muslim Australians strongly reject an association between Islam and violent extremism, according to the findings of a recent national survey
Summary
The Islam in Australia survey was conducted by my team of researchers at Griffith University’s Centre for Social and Cultural Research. While more than half of the survey respondents were raised in Australia (57 percent), others were raised in South Asia (23 percent), Western Asia, including the Middle East (12 percent), Southeast Asia (seven percent), Europe (five percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (five percent) and Northern Africa (four percent), among other regions of the world. Another important factor in relation to the survey respondents concerns their religiosity and religious affiliation. This gave the researchers confidence that the survey responses reflect those of observant Muslims, sufficiently engaged with Islam to respond to the survey questions
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