France’s Muslims, regularly accused by the country’s right-wing politicians of not adapting to the culture here, are torn between tradition and modernity when it comes to relationships and marriage, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Done for an online dating service, the poll found huge opposition to both polygamy and arranged marriages.
But a strong majority of respondents said they were opposed to premarital sex and a bare majority said they wouldn’t marry someone of another faith background.
“In the area of customs and sexual morality Muslims in France swing between tradition and modernity,” concluded the polling firm Ifop.
“In a country dominated by the principle of liberal lifestyle choices they are largely free of the religious or cultural dictates that legitimize polygamy and arranged marriages.”
But the poll suggests that their value system remains “impregnated” with a moral code which views sex as legitimate only within a marriage and which strongly influences marriage partner choices.
The poll found that 84% opposed the legalization of polygamy in France, while 83% reject the notion that parents should choose spouses for their children.
Roughly three out of four (73%) are against sex outside marriage, while 53% said they were unwilling to marry a non-Muslim.
France has the largest number of Muslims of any European country, though estimates range between just under four million to more than seven million in a country of 63 million.
Due to the legacy of the Second World War, when the occupying Nazis and their French collaborators targeted French Jews, the government prohibits the taking of census information based on characteristics such as religion or race.
The poll, done for the online Muslim dating service www.inchallah.com, said 66% would consider using an online dating site to meet someone.
The telephone poll involved 503 respondents interviewed Nov. 23-24, 2010. The poll’s margin of error is between 1.3 and 4.4 percentage points, according to Ifop.