London: British Muslims have "separatist" tendencies and display belief in conspiracy theories, according to the findings of an extensive UK-wide survey released on Friday.
The report titled 'Unsettled Belonging' reveals that 31 per cent of those polled believe the US government was behind the 9/11 terror attacks with a further 7 per cent blaming Jews and only 4 per cent saying al-Qaeda was responsible.
Around one in 20, or 6 per cent, said they wanted integration "on some things" while leading "a separate Islamic life as far as possible" and one in a 100 were in favour of a "fully separate Islamic area in Britain, subject to Sharia Law and government".
The survey of over 3,000 Muslims living in the UK, carried out by ICM and right-of-centre think tank Policy Exchange, also found that 93 per cent feel a fairly or very strong attachment to Britain.
"British Muslims as a whole continue to live somewhat more separately than other large ethno-cultural minorities in neighbourhoods and schools, in terms of women not working, and in terms of attitudes and religiosity," said David Goodhart, co-author of the report and head of the integration and immigration unit at Policy Exchange.
"However, the promising news from this survey is that when it comes to everyday life, British Muslims, and their concerns and interests, are increasingly part of the mainstream, and to a much greater extent than one would assume listening to many organisations that claim to speak for Muslims," he added.
Birmingham's Pakistani-origin MP, Khalid Mahmood, who helped organise the survey, said the key aspect of the findings was that a majority of Muslims in the UK were positive towards integration.
"In an era in which intolerance and bigotry pose a growing challenge to our society, it cannot be stressed enough that most British Muslims want to integrate with their non-British neighbours but a readiness to believe in conspiracy theories and the mentality of victimhood is holding them back,” he said.
The study found that Muslims are more opposed to terrorism than the UK's population as a whole, with 89 per cent of Muslims saying it is wrong to use violence for political purposes while 81 per cent of British people agreed.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the country's umbrella body of Muslim organisations, described some of the findings as disturbing.
An MCB statement said, "There are some disturbing results in the poll that deserve further investigation. A large minority of Muslims seem to agree that conspiracy theories 'often contain elements of truth', in line with the broader UK population (40 per cent v 37 per cent). In addition, more British Muslims have conspiracy views about 9/11 in a proportion that is high and similar to results polling the US population on this issue.
"As the Muslim Council of Britain, we will be meeting to discuss how to understand this problem properly so that action can be taken to challenge these worrying views," it said.
