According to a Gallup poll, Muslim-Americans have given President Barack Hussein Obama a whopping 72% approval rating. Surprised?

In a story over at Politico.com, Muslim-American leaders explain this "sky-high… Barack Obama love" coming from their community. They say it is their "disdain for the Republican Party."

The president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, told Politico:

I think [Muslim-Americans] see the president sympathetically, but they also see his opponents to be, for lack of a better term, just damn awful. The way Republicans have handled the Muslim community… what they feel is outright bigotry. It makes them see the president in a sympathetic light.

Another leader, Haris Tarin from DC's Muslim Public Affairs Council, said the high polling numbers are a result of "the trauma of a post-9/11 Bush presidency." He adds, "“The president and the Democratic party, in terms of their rhetoric, are more inclusive. The conversations are more inclusive of all Americans and you don’t see that as much within the Republican Party.”

The Council of Americans-Islam Relations' director Ibrahim Hooper said that his community is quicker to blame Republicans for various problems rather than blame Obama. He said this is because Muslim-Americans view the president as under constant attack and without "the ability to carry out or implement the policies he would like to."

The other results from the Gallup poll shows Obama's approval ratings on the complete opposite side of the spectrum for Christians. Only 37% of Christians approve of his presidency. For non-Christians his approval rating was at 59%, thereby making Obama more popular amongst non-Christians than with those of his own professed Christian faith.