A new annual report by the Documentation Centre for Political Islam (DPI) reveals a disturbing finding: a significant proportion of Muslims of Somali, Sudanese and West African origin surveyed in Vienna express clear distancing from Western values and clearly separate themselves from Austrian society.
‘Only Islam tells the truth about God,’ said around 75.5% of respondents from Somalia. A further 56.1% of the same group agreed that ‘Muslim women are morally better than non-Muslim women’.
The responses to specific questions about violations of the law are particularly alarming: the DPI asked the three groups to what extent religious arguments are used to justify breaking the rules. The spectrum ranged from forced marriage and guardians of public morals to the view that suicide attacks against civilians are justified ‘under certain conditions’.
More than one in five respondents endorsed such violations on multiple occasions. This makes it clear that religiously motivated contempt for the law is not an exception among some members of the diaspora. However, respondents were never explicitly asked whether they would commit a violation of the law themselves.
‘Around one in ten believe that executions are justified for insulting the Prophet,’ the report states. This attitude clashes head-on with freedom of expression and artistic freedom – both of which are cornerstones of the Austrian constitutional state. The findings are also alarming when it comes to women’s rights: only around 40 per cent clearly support equality, while just under half prefer male dominance.
The survey is based on interviews with 318 people of Somali, Sudanese and West African origin who have been living in the Greater Vienna area for at least three years.