9781422281093

P OLLING THE I SLAMIC W ORLD

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Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think . Since then, other public opinion firms have continued to sur- vey the Muslim world. By 2016, the Pew Research Center was reg- ularly surveying the attitudes and opinions of Muslims in thirty- nine different countries and publishing regular reports. The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American organization that informs the public about issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. Although the number of people interviewed in public opinion surveys is generally only a small fraction of the total global Muslim population of more than 1.6 billion, the people polled in each country were scientifically selected so that the group is repre- sentative of the total adult population of that country or region. Therefore, their answers and opinions can be interpreted to help understand the perceptions, hopes, and values of adults across the Islamic world.

Text-Dependent Questions 1. What percentage of Muslims are Arabs. 2. What 2001 event made Americans want to learn more about the Islamic world?

Research Project Using your school library or the Internet, find out more about the Hashemites, as the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad are known. What is the origin of this clan, and how have they held political and economic power in the Arab world both in ancient times and in the present day?