Most Back Outreach to Muslim Nations, but Suspicion and Unfamiliarity Persist

April 5, 2009— -- With President Obama in Turkey for a two-day visit, an ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that Americans overwhelmingly support U.S. outreach to Muslim nations -- but many also express continued suspicion of the world's second-largest religion.

Americans by 48-41 percent hold an unfavorable opinion of Islam -- its highest unfavorable rating in ABC/Post polls since 2001. And 29 percent express the belief that mainstream Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims -- down slightly from its peak, but double what it was early in 2002.

Click here for PDF with charts and questions.

Unfamiliarity is a central factor in these views. Fifty-five percent of Americans concede that they lack a good basic understanding of Islam; about as many, 53 percent, don't personally know a Muslim. People who profess an understanding of Islam, or know a Muslim, have much more positive views of the religion.

But other factors also are at play, and favorable views of Islam have not improved even though familiarity has advanced slightly. Forty-five percent now feel they basically understand the religion, 5 points above its previous high and 20 points above its low in 2002. And the 47 percent who know a Muslim is up from 41 percent in October 2001.

Islam is practiced by an estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide, a fifth of humanity.

OBAMA/WORLD -- Obama, in a Chicago Tribune interview in December, described "a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular," and he's promised a major speech in a Muslim capital. That's not the purpose of the trip to Turkey, but it is among the first foreign countries he's visited as president, after Canada in February and his European stops this past week.

An overwhelming 81 percent of Americans in this poll call it important for Obama to try to improve U.S. relations with Muslim nations; 46 percent say it's "very important." While slightly more than one in five express concern that he'll "go too far" in that effort, most by far, 65 percent, expect him to handle it about right.