Arab Muslim youths say IS, al-Qaeda distort Islam — poll

A majority of Arab Muslim youths see the actions of extremists such as the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam’s teachings, according to a new poll.

The Zogby Research Services poll of 5,374 young Muslim men and women from the Middle East and North Africa also finds that many millennials blame corruption and repressive governments for the rise of jihadist groups.

“At least three-quarters of millennial respondents in all countries surveyed” say movements like IS and Al-Qaeda “are either a complete perversion of Islam’s teachings or mostly wrong,” the polling firm says.

The survey was conducted in October and November 2015 with respondents aged 15 to 34 in Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories.

More than 90 percent of respondents in Morocco and the UAE called both extremist groups a “complete perversion of Islam,” as did 83 percent of respondents in Egypt and more than 60 percent in Bahrain and Jordan.

More than 55 percent of respondents in the Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia also say the radical groups were distorting Islam’s teachings.

— AFP