Large majorities in the Muslim world want the Islamic legal and moral code of Sharia as the official law in their countries, but they disagree on what it includes and who should be subject to it, an extensive new survey says.

Over three-quarters of Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia want Sharia courts to decide family law issues such as divorce and property disputes, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said on Tuesday.

Views on punishments such as chopping off thieves’ hands or decreeing death for apostates is more evenly divided in much of the Islamic world, although more than three-quarters of Muslims in South Asia say they are justified. Those punishments have helped make Sharia controversial in some non-Islamic countries, where some critics say Muslims want to impose it on western societies, but the survey shows views in Muslim countries are far from monolithic.

“Muslims are not equally comfortable with all aspects of Sharia,” said the study by the Washington-based Pew Forum. “Most do not believe it should be applied to non-Muslims.”

Unlike codified Western law, Sharia is a loosely defined set of moral and legal guidelines based on the Holy Qura’an, the sayings of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Muslim traditions. Its rules and advice cover everything from prayers to personal hygiene.

More than four-fifths of the 38,000 Muslims interviewed in 39 countries said non-Muslims in their countries could practice their faith freely and that this was good.

This view was strongest in South Asia, where 97 per cent of Bangladeshis and 96 per cent of Pakistanis agreed, while the lowest Middle Eastern result was 77 per cent in Egypt.