Perception Of Cartoons Of Prophet Muhammad

Ipsos conducted research on behalf of The Sun Newspaper looking at perceptions of the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad which have been printed by a number of newspapers.

The research found:

• Just one in four respondents had seen the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad while almost three quarters had not.
• Cartoons causing offence to Muslims-- Around three in five disagree with the statement that the cartoons would cause office to the ordinary people (58%), publishing the cartoons was a deliberate attempt to provoke outrage (55%), and Muslims demonstrations in Britain were justified (61%). However, three-quarters of the respondents agree that 'they would cause office to Muslims' (72%).
• Demonstrations held in Great Britain by Muslims-- Four-fifths feel that the police should have arrested demonstrators promoting acts of violence (80%). Even higher numbers feel that demonstrators who urged the killing of anyone should be prosecuted (87%).
• Attitude of British Muslims-- Half feel that ordinary Muslims in this country do not do enough to denounce extremists (51%); while three fifths agree that Muslims were right to be offended by the cartoons (62%).
• Religious diversity in Britain-- Almost three-quarters of people agreed that British papers were right not to publish the cartoons (72%) and four-fifths agreed with the statement people in Britain are generally more tolerant of other people's religions than other nations (82%).
• Extremism in Britain-- Two thirds of the respondents agreed that Muslim cleric Abu Hamza's prison sentence for inciting hatred was not long enough (65%) while half of the respondents stated that they believed there would be another incident of suicide bombing (49%).

Topline Results

• Ipsos interviewed 601 adults aged 18+ by telephone between 9-10 February 2006.
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
• All figures based on 'Sun readers' are based on 167 Sun readers, who read The Sun at least once a week. These figures are shaded gray.

Q1-15 From what you have heard or read about the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which have been published in a number of European newspapers, do you agree or disagree that ...

Q16 How many Muslims, if any, do you personally know?

Q17 How many Muslims would you count as friends?Base: All who know at least one Muslim (382)

Q18 Have you personally seen the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which were published in some newspapers and shown on some television programmes and Internet sites?