Digital Library
What role should religion play in Muslim- and Jewish-majority countries?
Topic:
Jewish Diaspora & Interfaith Relations
Principal Investigators:
Laura Silver, Jonathan Evans, Maria Smerkovich, Sneha Gubbala, Manolo Corichi, and William Miner
Study Date:
2025
Source:
Pew Research Center
Key Findings:
The survey explores Muslim and Jewish perspectives on religion and governance, particularly on whether religious law should be the official law for people of their faith and whether a country can be both religious and democratic.
Broad support exists for making sharia (Islamic law) the official law for Muslims in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nigeria, with at least three-quarters of Muslims in these countries favoring it. In Israel and Turkey, support is significantly lower: Israeli Muslims are evenly split (46% support, 45% oppose). In Turkey, only 32% of Muslims favor making sharia official, while 48% strongly oppose it.
Muslims who pray daily are more likely to favor sharia (e.g., 93% of Malaysian Muslims pray daily and support sharia). Older Muslims (50+) in Turkey and Israel are more likely to support sharia than younger Muslims (18-34). In Turkey, lower-educated individuals are twice as likely to support sharia as higher-educated individuals. Supporters of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) are more than twice as likely to favor sharia (55% vs. 20% of non-supporters).
About one-third of Israeli Jews support making halakha the state law for Jews, while 60% oppose it (37% strongly oppose). Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Dati (religious) Jews overwhelmingly support it (about 90% favor halakha). Secular Jews (Hilonim) strongly oppose it (only 4% support, while 70% strongly oppose). Masorti (traditional) Jews fall in between, with 20% in favor.
Over 80% of Jews who pray daily support halakha as state law, compared to only 13% of less observant Jews. Younger Jews (18-34) are twice as likely as older Jews (50+) to strongly favor halakha (24% vs. 12%). Jews with less education are more likely to favor halakha (43% support among those with a secondary education or less, compared to 25% with postsecondary education).
Can a Country Be Both Religious and Democratic?
Most Muslims in surveyed countries believe their nation can be both democratic and Muslim, with strong agreement in: Bangladesh (86%) Tunisia (82%) Malaysia (80%) Indonesia (70%) Turkey (67%). Nigeria is an exception: Only 40% of Nigerians believe their country can be both Muslim and democratic, while 55% disagree. 55% of Nigerian Muslims believe Nigeria can be both, while only 31% of Christians agree.
73% of Israelis believe the country can be both Jewish and democratic, while 20% disagree. Jewish Israelis are far more likely to say this than Muslim Israelis (82% vs. 38%). Masortim (93%) are the most likely to agree. Haredim/Datiim (81%) and Hilonim (77%) also mostly agree. Right-wing Israelis (84%) and centrists (77%) are more likely to say Israel can be both Jewish and democratic. Only 48% of left-wing Israelis agree.
In Malaysia, Indonesia, and Nigeria, those who believe their country can be both religious and democratic are more likely to support religious law influencing governance. In Turkey, the opposite is true: Turks who believe their country can be both Muslim and democratic are less likely to support sharia (29% vs. 40%). Among Israeli Jews, those who say Israel can be both Jewish and democratic are more likely to support Jewish scripture influencing law (45% vs. 29% among those who say Israel cannot be both).
Methodology:
Pew Research Center conducted a survey to examine the role of religion in public life in 36 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East-North Africa region, North America and sub-Saharan Africa. The countries have a variety of historically predominant religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. The overall report produced (Comparing Levels of Religious Nationalism Around the World) encompasses this included Section 5 (What role should religion play in Muslim- and Jewish-majority countries?).
Non-U.S. data (used in Section 5, which focuses on Muslim and Jewish perspectives), draws on nationally representative surveys of 41,503 adults conducted from Jan. 5 to May 22, 2024. For this section, surveys were conducted over the phone with adults in Malaysia. Surveys were conducted face-to-face in Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, Tunisia and Turkey.
Throughout the report, Pew analyzes respondents’ attitudes based on where they place themselves on an ideological scale, their support for populist parties, their religious identification, their educational attainment, their income, and whether they live in high- or middle-income countries.