WASHINGTON – Believing in ‘Allah’ is worse than believing in no god at all, according to a recent study that surveyed U.S. residents. 

The study from sociologists at the University of Minnesota who compared Americans’ perceptions of minority faith and racial groups found that Muslims are now more unpopular than both atheists and homosexuals. 

But the study marks a grimmer milestone — Americans’ disapproval of Muslims has jumped to 45.5 percent from just over 26 percent 10 years ago, the last time the question was asked, just a few years after the September 11 attacks.

Almost half of those surveyed — 48.9 percent — said they would disapprove of their child marrying a Muslim, up from 33.5 percent in 2006.

Atheists are disapproved by 41.9 percent of those surveyed, up less than two percent from ten years ago. Homosexuals meanwhile are disliked by 29.4 percent of those surveyed. 

What’s stunning about the research is nearly every group saw drastic increases in dislikes, including Conservative Christians, Hispanics, Jews and African American. 

Residents also share significant animosity towards Immigrants. 10 years ago when the survey asked about the particular group, only 12.5 percent said they were disliked.

Today, that number has more than doubled to 25.6 percent.

The findings depict a tense political climate in the U.S. 

Hussein Rashid, an adjunct professor at Barnard College who frequently writes and consults about Islam in the U.S., said the jump in anti-Islamic sentiment the study pinpoints is reflected in the current political rhetoric.

“The data from this survey shows that there is an increasing pull away from the promise of America,” he said in an email. “In 10 years, people have a more negative perception of Muslims, Jews, gays, Latinos, and Blacks. As a new America is taking shape, with all its diversity, there is a reactionary response that wants a mythic America of everyone being exactly the same.”

The study was written from data collected in 2014 from 2,500 participants. It was published in the current issue of Social Forces journal. The previous study was published in 2006 by three of the same authors.