What do other polls (Gallup, Institute for Social Policy) report about US Muslims and Sharia support?
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Executive summary
Major non‑academic polls show wide variation: a 2015 Center for Security Policy poll claimed 51% of U.S. Muslims “agreed that ‘Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to shariah’” [1]. By contrast, specialist organizations that regularly survey American Muslims — notably the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and Gallup’s studies of Muslim populations — frame support for sharia as context‑dependent and generally lower or more qualified than some activist polls suggest [2] [3] [4].
1. One dramatic headline, one disputed source
The oft‑cited “51%” figure comes from a 2015 Center for Security Policy poll and has been repeated by advocacy outlets and think tanks [1] [5]. That survey’s result — a majority favoring a choice to be governed by sharia — is used in alarmist commentary and has driven policy rhetoric, but the Center for Security Policy is an ideologically driven organization and its methodology and framing have been questioned in reporting and by competing data sources [1] [5].
2. ISPU: nuanced, community‑focused measurement
ISPU’s American Muslim Polls are explicitly designed to produce nuanced, representative data about American Muslims and to correct stereotyped portrayals; ISPU’s 2025 American Muslim Poll was fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago and offers detailed cross‑tabs and contextual figures rather than single sensational percentages [2] [4]. ISPU materials emphasize that questions about “sharia” need careful wording because respondents interpret the term differently — often distinguishing private religious practice, family arbitration, or financial rules from criminal punishments [2] [4].
3. Gallup’s cross‑national framing shows variation by country
Gallup’s longstanding polling of Muslim populations across countries demonstrates huge regional differences: in some countries a clear majority want sharia to play a central role, while in others only a minority do [3] [6] [7]. Gallup’s reporting stresses that support for sharia often means different things to respondents — “one of the sources” of legislation, versus “the only source” — and finds that in places like Egypt support for sharia as the only source can be very high while in others it is low [6] [7].
4. Global surveys vs. U.S. Muslim community polls: apples and oranges
Large international surveys (for example Pew and Gallup work outside the U.S.) repeatedly find strong majorities in many Muslim‑majority countries favor sharia in some form, but those results do not directly translate to the U.S. context because diaspora communities, religious pluralism, and political culture differ [8] [3]. Media and advocacy frequently conflate global majorities with attitudes of American Muslims — a leap not supported by ISPU’s U.S.-focused work [8] [2].
5. Question wording and concept ambiguity matter more than headlines
Multiple sources highlight that “sharia” is an ambiguous term for respondents: some think only of personal moral guidance or family arbitration, others of criminal punishments [9] [8] [4]. Gallup and ISPU reporting stress that answers shift dramatically depending on whether surveys ask about sharia as “one source” of law, “the only source,” or as private religious practice [6] [7] [9].
6. What reputable polling does not show (and what the sources omit)
Available sources do not mention a consensus among rigorous, recent U.S. national polls that a majority of American Muslims seek to replace U.S. law with sharia; ISPU’s and Gallup’s work suggests complexity and lower, more qualified levels of support when questions are carefully worded [2] [3]. The sources also do not provide recent, independently verified national figures replicating the 51% claim in a way that accounts for question wording and sampling differences [1] [2].
7. How to read competing claims — and why it matters
Readers should treat claims from ideologically motivated groups [1] [5] with caution and prefer polls with transparent methodology and careful question design, like ISPU and Gallup [2] [3]. Both Gallup and ISPU explicitly contextualize “support for sharia,” showing it varies by country, phrasing, and what aspects of sharia respondents mean, undermining simple headline takeaways [6] [4].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided search results and cites those sources directly; other polling or methodological critiques not included in those results are not reflected here.