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Most people in the UK associate Islam with extremism and the repression of women, a survey has suggested.

The online YouGov poll found 58% of those questioned linked Islam with extremism while 69% believed it encouraged the repression of women.

The survey of 2,152 adults was commissioned by the Exploring Islam Foundation.

The organisation has launched a poster campaign on London transport to combat negative perceptions of Muslims.

BBC home editor Mark Easton says the survey, conducted last month, paints a negative picture of British attitudes to Islam.

Asked if Muslims had a positive impact on British society, the YouGov poll found four out of 10 disagreed with the statement.

Half linked Islam with terrorism, just 13% thought it was based on peace and 6% associated it with justice.

Some 60% admitted they did not know much about the religion, but a third said they would like to know more.

Social responsibility

The Exploring Islam Foundation hopes to challenge the negative views of the religion with its Inspired By Muhammad project.

It will feature posters of Muslim professionals, displayed in central London locations such as bus stops and tube stations, alongside messages emphasising the ways in which Muslims balance religious tradition with contemporary human rights and social responsibility.

Remona Aly, campaigns director for the foundation, said many Muslims were concerned about the way their faith was perceived by the public.

"We want to foster a greater understanding of what British Muslims are about and our contribution to British society. We are proud of being British and being Muslim," she said.

A spokesman for the Quilliam Foundation , the counter-extremism think tank, welcomed the campaign, describing it as a "timely step to help improve relations and foster deeper understanding between British citizens".

"This campaign is important because it can help non-Muslims to better understand the faith that inspires and guides their Muslim friends, neighbours and colleagues.

"This initiative also helps British Muslims reclaim the Prophet Muhammad as a time-honoured guide for peace, compassion and social justice from those who seek to twist his teachingsp."

Some 60% admitted they did not know much about the religion, but a third said they would like to know more.

"I believe in polygamy"
"So did Muhammad"

Ok, so you agree that Polygamy should be practiced in any and every circumstance - that it should at least always be legal ?

The issue of Muhammad taking nine or ten wives at the same time can be discussed on a separate thread, as well as Ali taking four wives and over a dozen concubines.

Christian Polygamy is based solely upon the Old and New Testament Scriptures. It is a belief held mostly by evangelical, conservative Christians, who operate by the presupposition that the Scriptures, the Word of God, as written in the languages in which they were originally written, is the sole basis for doctrinal belief.

Idaho Evangelical Christian polygamists use Internet to meet potential spouses

Albert Morrison is a religious man. He prays, he reads the Bible and says he has a deep connection with Jesus. It is this devotion that helps explain why Albert and his wife, Sarah, are searching for a second wife.
"David, Abraham, Jacob, Solomon — they all had multiple wives," he said, referring to four of the Bible's most revered prophets. "The Bible never banned polygamy, it glorified it."

The Morrisons are part of a group of Evangelical Christian polygamists who believe that polygamy, the practice of taking more than one wife, is spiritually and even economically more favorable than monogamy.

Many times in the American society when relations are strained, the husband simply deserts his wife. He may then cohabit with a prostitute or with another immoral woman without going through the legalizing ritual of marriage. Women sometimes do the complementary act, deserting their husbands and then living with a new partner in an immoral relationship. More common, however, is the practice of ‘living together’ immorally before marriage, possibly trying out several partners before settling on someone to marry.

If the Koran is a book for all time, then why do you mention wars, etc. to justify polygamy?

The Koran does not say that if there is a shortage of men then polygamy can be legal.
The Koran says that polygamy is allowed. Nothing more, nothing less.
So, do you believe that polygamy is to be legal for all times or under certain exceptions ?

I also thought the author's claim that men in the West cohabit with prostitutes as being quite funny!