Gallup poll
John Esposito and
Dalia Mogahed present data relevant to Islamic views on peace, and more, in their book
Who Speaks for Islam? The book reports
Gallup poll data from random samples in over 35 countries using Gallup's various research techniques (e.g. pairing male and female interviewers, testing the questions beforehand, communicating with local leaders when approval is necessary, travelling by foot if that is the only way to reach a region, etc.).
[1]
There was a great deal of data. It suggests, firstly, that individuals who dislike America and consider the
September 11 attacks to be "perfectly justified" form a statistically distinct group, with suddenly more extreme views. The authors call this 7% of Muslims "Politically Radicalized".
[1] They chose that title "because of their radical political orientation" and clarify "we are not saying that all in this group commit acts of violence. However, those with extremist views are a potential source for recruitment or support for terrorist groups."
[31] The data also indicates that poverty is not simply to blame for the comparatively radical views of this 7% of Muslims, who tend to be better educated than moderates.
[31]
The authors say that, contrary to what the media may indicate, most Muslims believe that the September 11 attacks cannot actually be justified at all. The authors called this 55% of Muslims "Moderates". They applied the same label to an additional 12% who said the attacks
almost cannot be justified at all. To be clear, 67% of Muslims were classified as Moderates, meaning 26% of Muslims are not quite Moderates, and the remaining 7% are Politically Radicalized. Esposito and Mogahed explain that the labels should not be taken as being perfectly definitive, however (e.g. there may be individuals who would generally not be considered radical, although they believe the attacks were justified, or vice versa).
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_of_Peace#Gallup_poll
