Georgetown’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has sponsored the first-ever systematic poll of Muslims in America. The survey, released Dec. 19 by the Center’s Project MAPS – uslims in American Public Square – documented Muslim Americans’ demographics, religious and political beliefs, and opinions about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath.

Fifty-eight percent of Muslims surveyed approved of President Bush’s handling of the attacks, while 51 percent approved of the current military campaign in Afghanistan. Seventy-nine percent, however, felt that American foreign policy in the Middle East had led to the attacks, and two-thirds responded that the best way to fight terrorism would be to change those policies. Just over half of the respondents reported that Muslim individuals or organizations had been targets of discrimination since Sept. 11.

“The poll results are significant for researchers, scholars and policy makers,” said Zahid Bukhari, director of Project MAPS. He noted that the U.S. State Department was sending two delegations of journalists and Islamic scholars from Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan to the CMCU next week to be briefed about the conditions and opinions of the Muslim American community.

The polling also painted the first comprehensive picture of uslim political and social life in America. Forty percent of uslims identified themselves as Democrats, 23 percent as Republicans and 28 percent as independents. While a vast majority supported extensive government involvement in issues such as health care or poverty, most Muslims adopted more conservative views on social questions, generally supporting the death penalty (68 percent), opposing gay marriage (71 percent) and opposing easy access to abortions (57 percent).

Almost three-quarters of American Muslims are under age 50, and about seven in ten are married. Fifty-eight percent graduated from college and half earn $50,000 or more each year. They are very likely to participate in school, youth and community service organizations, and roughly the same number – three-fourths – report being active in Muslim organizations.

Bukhari found one of the surprising aspects of the study was, “the eagerness of the American Muslim community to take part in the American political system despite the fact that 52 percent stated that they experienced acts of discrimination after Sept. 11.” Also notable was Muslims’ “balanced point of view” in their general acceptance of President Bush’s statement that this war is against terrorism and not Islam, he said.

Islam and spirituality play an important part in the lives of eight out of ten Muslims, according to the survey. Slightly more than half of respondents felt America was not an immoral society; however, this view was much more likely to be held by Muslim immigrants (70 percent) than by those born in the U.S., 49 percent of whom disagreed with this statement. Among African-American uslims, a majority (57 percent) felt American society was immoral. Roughly seven in ten respondents felt Muslims were not portrayed fairly in American media or in movies.

With regard to foreign policy, 84 percent thought the U.S. should support a Palestinian state, and 70 percent felt the U.S. should reduce its financial support to Israel. About six in ten also thought the U.S. should cut back support for Muslim governments that were not democratic.

One thousand seven hundred eighty-one Muslims nationwide were interviewed for this survey, conducted for Project MAPS by Zogby International. The margin of error is 2.4 percent.