Unease With Islam "No one would have been surprised if, after 9/11, rage-filled Americans blamed Islam as the culprit. After all, the nation was just attacked in the name of Allah. Then, it might have been assumed, the antagonism would have faded as people gained a more nuanced understanding of Islam and the terrorists' twisted use of doctrine. Instead, something close to the opposite has happened. A surprising new ABCNEWS/Beliefnet poll shows that after starting out surprisingly tolerant, public opinion of Islam has become more negative."