In 2007, Environics conducted a survey about the attitudes of Canadian Muslims.

It showed an astonishing 12% of respondents said, if the men in the so-called “Toronto 18” terror plot had succeeded in carrying out their attacks on Canada, they would have been “at least somewhat justified.” Most pundits simply shrugged off the shocking figure.

Now, six years later, we have a worldwide survey of Muslims conducted by the prestigious PEW Foundation. The results confirm the fear of many that the radical doctrine of jihad and Islamism is gaining ground.

The most talked about statistic was the fact 90% of Muslims (including women) in Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Malaysia expressed the view “a wife is always obliged to obey her husband.”

However, the most disturbing finding to emerge from this face-to-face survey of more than 38,000 Muslims around the world was the near-universal desire of most Muslims in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to see sharia become “the official law of the land.” (99% in Afghanistan, 84% in Pakistan, 83% in Morocco).

So what, argue those who have scant knowledge of sharia. To them I say, here is another statistic about the supporters of sharia that jumped out of the survey.

Of those Muslims who support sharia law, 85% in Egypt, 75% in Pakistan and 65% in the Palestinian Territories, support the execution of any Muslim who walks away from Islam. Even in secular Turkey, Bosnia and Russia, 15% of Muslims backing sharia supported the beheading of those who walk away from Islam.

While the current U.S. administration judges the Arab Muslim Brotherhood and its South Asian offshoot, the Jamaat-e-Islami, as “moderate” and even “secular,” Islamists have had a field day across the Islamic world.

On the ground they meet very feeble resistance from an often marginalized liberal Muslim opposition, be it in Cairo or Dhaka. Internationally, they can rely on a bottomless pit of petro-dollars from Gulf Arab states and the logistic support of elements within the Pakistan ISI intelligence service.

On suicide bombing, or other violence used in the name of Islam, even in the U.S., 8% of Muslims believe the use of violence is “often” or “sometimes” justified in order to defend Islam.

This means close to 500,000 Americans of the Islamic faith believe it is at least justifiable to use violence against the state.

In the West, instead of confronting the rise of radical political Islam, many Muslim leaders continue to play the victim card, support sharia and refuse to renounce armed jihad.

Even as 8% of their community defend the use of violence of the kind employed by the Boston bombers, community leaders keep shrugging off their responsibility to denounce it.

This is a classic example of abdicating the responsibility to denounce the doctrine of armed jihad.

Time is running out for Muslims who enjoy freedom as minorities in democratic nations like the U.S., Canada, India and much of Europe.

If they don’t take a bold stand against the doctrine of jihad and vigorously support the separation of state and religion, there will be a collective backlash against Muslims across the world. And that, unfortunately, will not be a pretty sight.

tarek.fatah@sunmedia.ca