Dalia Mogahed is Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, and leads the analysis of Gallup's unprecedented survey representing the views and opinions of more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, including Muslims in the West. On behalf of One World, Many Peaces, Antony Adolf held an exclusive intereview with Ms. Mogahed.
In addition to her work with Gallup, Ms. Mogahed directs the Muslim-West Facts Initiative. Through this initiative, Gallup, in collaboration with the Coexist Foundation, disseminates the findings of the Gallup World Poll to key opinion leaders in the Muslim World and the West.
Ms. Mogahed is also involved with important international organizations that address issues of Muslim communities. She is a member of Women in International Security, serves on the leadership group of the Project on U.S. Engagement with the Global Muslim Community, and is a member of the Crisis in the Middle East Task Force of the Brookings Institution.
Antony Adolf: In what ways do you see personal relations and information-sharing (or their absence) among Muslims and non-Muslims influencing what Muslims think? And vice versa? How do you think this situation can be improved?
Dalia Mogahed: Information and personal relations is key. For example, Americans who know a Muslim are half as likely to have extreme prejudice toward the faith community. However, the key is not information, but accurate information.
Our research actually finds that those who know nothing about Islam and cannot even tell us the name of the Prophet are more likely to say they have no prejudice. Prejudice in America is learned, not inherently a function of knowing nothing about a group. Media content analysis shows that Islam is the most negatively portrayed religion in the world as well as the most reported on ideology. People may think they are well informed but unfortunately, the information is inaccurate.
Surprisingly, educated people are more likely to have negative views of the other both in America and in the Muslim world. This might be that less educated people do not have the level of engagement in global affairs to have a strong opinion.
Antony Adolf: Being in the position in which you are, can you tell us about how (or how not) your professional and biographical backgrounds have influenced one another and do so in the projects you carry out? What would you say to Muslim youths in these regards?
Dalia Mogahed: I believe that all of us bring our life experiences in to inform and enrich our work. I am no different. My training is in the hard sciences: Chemical Engineering to be specific. I bring the empirical rigor and the scientific method of inquiry of this training to the work I do today. I also had graduate and professional training in market research, and this approach of crafting solutions based on the views and needs of people is one I utilize in my profession.
I also spent several years in the field of inter-cultural education, and the communication skills I developed in this work come in very handy when I present our research. Gallup’s training and commitment to accuracy, integrity and objectivity guide my analysis perhaps more than anything else. In addition, my own background as a devout Muslim and a proud American, a living contradiction to the Clash of Civilization theory, also enriches my work.
Antony Adolf: Can you situate how your projects on Muslim communities worldwide fit within Gallup’s work as a whole, as well as in relation to key academic and/or policy formation fields you contribute to?
Dalia Mogahed: Gallup’s core business is giving people a voice. We do this in our Enterprise work by measuring employee and customer engagement. We do this in our Polling work, but conducting global public opinion research in 150 countries covering 95% of the world’s population. Within this massive research area we have different areas of focus, one of which is Muslim Studies. The Center for Muslim Studies draws on this global research and focuses on Muslim communities around the world, both as majorities as well as significant minorities.
This empirical research helps to inform policy discussions and academic research around the world. This occurs through direct briefings to these centers of influence, our involvement in advisory committees and commissions, or through our reports which are publically available on our website.
Antony Adolf: Your book with Professor John Esposito, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, provides fascinating accounts about public and personal opinions among the world’s Muslims. Can you let us in to some of the methodologies you used and surprising findings that resulted?
Dalia Mogahed: Our book is the result of years of research and tens of thousands of face to face interviews. We drew a representative sample of residents in more than 30 countries and conducted hour long interviews with each in their homes. Our sample includes young and old, educated and illiterate, men and women and urban as well as rural populations.
Our most important finding was that the conflict between Muslims and the West is not inevitable. Muslims admire much of what the West holds dear. They don’t hate our freedom, they respect us for it. In fact, the problem is not what they think of us, but what they think we think of them. Muslims around the world believe that the West disrespects them and that this disrespect and racism is reflected in our policies as well as our prose.
Antony Adolf: What about dissenting voices, or ones that are usually kept silent, even within Muslim communities? In other words, how is it possible (or not) to actually speak for or represent all Muslims, is not a lot always lost in efforts to find out what can be gained?
Dalia Mogahed: You are right and this is why it is very important to be representative in the sample that is chosen. The real issue however is that the media, especially the Western media, has been over representing minority voices, and in fact the majority has been silenced. The fringe, both extremists of religious or secular ideologies, have monopolies the conversation for too long.
Many have been lead to believe that there are only two possible voices on Islam: Osama bin Laden or Ayan Hersi Ali. Neither are representative, both only speak for a miniscule minority, but unfortunately both get a lot of air time. Our research opens the lenses and gives us a window into the lives of ordinary people who do not have access to the airwaves.
Antony Adolf: What does (or doesn't) your research show about what Muslims think about peace within themselves (i.e., denominationally), with others currently hostile forces (i.e., NATO and US-llied forces), and within other cultures (i.e., in Europe and North America)?
Dalia Mogahed: We found that Muslims, both Sunni and Shiites, believe that the most important thing Muslims should do to help themselves is to be more united. We heard a great deal about the lack of unity, sectarian division, that Muslims feel is their greatest problem as a community. On the surface, there are good intentions and Iraqis for example say they have positive views of both Sunnis and Shiites regardless of their own identities. But despite this, publics see these division as major problems.
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Along with her involvement with these organizations, Ms. Mogahed co-authored, with Professor John Esposito, the book Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. Her analysis also has appeared in such prestigious publications as The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy Magazine, the Harvard International Review, the Middle East Policy Journal, and many other academic and popular journals.
Ms. Mogahed has spoken at events and for organizations worldwide. Her audiences include the High-Level Group of the United Nations the Alliance of Civilizations, the Community of West and Islam Dialogue (C-100) group of the World Economic Forum, the Brookings Institution’s U.S.-Islamic World Forum, British parliamentarians, American senators, and religious leaders from every faith. She has discussed Gallup findings with a wide range of opinion leaders, including Madeleine Albright, Deepak Chopra, Stephen R., Covey, Quincy Jones, Jeffrey Sachs, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, evangelical leader Richard Land, bestselling author Karen Armstrong, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, Muslim activist and teacher Amr Khaled, Sheikh Habib Ali al-Jifri, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Her Majesty Queen Rania al Abdullah of Jordan, as well as two of the highest authorities of Sunni Islam - the Grand Muftis of Egypt and Bosnia and their Excellencies Dr. Ali Gomaa and Dr. Mustafa Ceric.
Ms. Mogahed earned her master's degree in business administration with an emphasis in strategy from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. Upon graduation, Ms. Mogahed joined Procter & Gamble as a marketing products researcher.