That's one of those things, though, where I wonder if it isn't just a bunch of people saying what they think they're supposed to say. I read once that there aren't enough churches in the country to hold all the self-proclaimed "Church-going" Christians, or something like that. I doubt most people answering even know much of anything about sharia, but maybe I'm being optimistic.
Good point.
Pew investigated what Muslims think Shariah law requires by asking followup questions to those who indicated that they favor making Shariah law the law of the land. Results differed widely from country to country.
At one extreme, we find places like these:
15% of Bosnian Muslims indicated that they wanted Shariah to the law of the land in Bosnia. Of this 15%, only 21% (3% of all Bosnian Muslims) said that they support death by stoning for adulterers. Only 15% (2% of all Bosnian Muslims) supported the death penalty for apostasy.
12% of Albanian Muslims indicated that they want Shariah the law of the land in Albania. Of this 12%, 25% (3% of Albanian Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. Only 8% (1% of Albanian Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
Despite its current 'moderate' Islamist government, Turkey polled as pretty relaxed as well.
12% of Turks support making Shariah the law of the land in Turkey. Of this 12%, 29% (about 3.5% of Turkish Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 17% (2% of Turkish Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
There's a similar pattern in parts of central Asia.
Only 10% of Muslims in Kazakhstan favor making Shariah the law of the land in Kazakhstan. Of this 10%, 31% (3% of Kazakh Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. A tiny 4% (less than 1/2 of one percent of Kazakh Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
That's one extreme. Other places in the Muslim world produce strikingly different results.
In Malaysia, 86% of Malaysian Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land. (It already is for Muslims in Malaysia.) Of this 86%, 60% (52% of Malaysian Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 62% (53% of Malaysian Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
Neighboring Indonesia is a little more relaxed. 72% of Indonesian Muslims say they favor making Shariah the law of the land in Indonesia. Of this 72%, 48% (35% of Indonesian Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 18% (13% of Indonesian Muslims) favor death for apostasy. I think that in Indonesia, many Muslims are only nominally Muslim and really follow local village religious traditions. That might make them old-style traditionalists when it comes to things like marriage, but not as attached to the 'Muslim' label as they might otherwise be.
As we would expect from reading the news, Pakistan is extremely hard-line. 84% of Pakistani Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land. (I believe that it already is.) Of these, 89% (75% of Pakistani Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 76% (64% of Pakistani Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
Afghanistan is even worse. 99% of Afghan Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land in Afghanistan. Of these, 85% (84% of Afghan Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 79% (78% of Afghan Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
91% of Iraqi Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land in Iraq. Of these, 58% (53% of Iraqi Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 42% (38% of Iraqi Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
In Egypt, 74% of Egyptian Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land in Egypt. 81% of these (60% of Egyptian Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 86% (64% of Egyptian Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
In the middle of the spectrum, we find places like Tunisia. 56% of Tunisian Muslims favor making Shariah the law of the land in Tunisia. Of these, 44% (25% of Tunisian Muslims) favor death by stoning for adulterers. 29% (16% of Tunisian Muslims) favor death for apostasy.
One of the difficulties that Europe faces in assimilating its growing Muslim minorities is that it's never paid any attention to these kind of numbers when choosing whether to admit immigrants. So for example, the UK finds itself with Muslim populations drawn disproportionately from the most hard-line countries, like Pakistan.