 |
| Detroit Mosque |
Unfinished journey (23)
(Part twenty-three, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 31
August 2014, 17:00 pm)
When I was studying at California Sate University,
Fresno, USA early in 1982 and I live in apartments just 100 meters apart from
campus, is also adjacent to the Fresno Mosque.
This mosque is a small apartment previously purchased by
the Libyan government before donated to be used as a mosque. The students who
study in Fresno generally pray in this mosque,
When it apart from the Muslim population is still small,
the number of mosques and mosque in Fresno and in the United States are
generally still a little.
On my second and third visits to the United States in the
1990s has changed a lot in San Diego, California for example, there are already
a lot of mosque and mosque, and the population continues to increase but to
start so many Americans who converted to Islam immigrant from countries such as
the conflict continued to arrive from Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. They are
in addition to forming a new Muslim community, they also began to build the
mosque and the mosque itself.
 |
| Muslim Women |
This is possible because the United States is very high
menjunjunjung religious freedom, in contrast to countries in Europe are
sometimes prohibited from using hijab population. My younger brother who lives
in San Diego everyday use purdah and all the children wear veils.
Islam in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| Mike Tyson |
American Muslims
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Muhammad Ali
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Keith Ellison
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André Carson
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Zalmay Khalilzad
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Asma Gull Hasan
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Mike Tyson
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Jermaine Jackson
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Vali Nasr
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Shahid Khan
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Rasheed Wallace
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Bernard Hopkins
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Louis Farrakhan
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Siraj Wahhaj
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Ice Cube
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Dave Chappelle
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Dalia Mogahed
Total population
2,600,000 (0.8% of the U.S. population)[1]
Regions with significant populations
New York metropolitan area, Greater Los Angeles Area,
Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Detroit metropolitan area
(Dearborn), Northern Virginia, Houston, Texas, and to a lesser extent Boston
Languages
 |
| Muhammad Ali |
American English, Arabic, Punjabi, Bengali, Persian,
Spanish, Turkish, Bosnian, Russian, Chechen, Urdu, Albanian, Kurdish,
Indonesian, Sindhi, Pashto, Malaysian, Chinese, other languages
Religion
Islam
(majority Sunni, also Shia, Sufi, non-denominational
Muslims, Nation of Islam, 5 percenter, Moorish scientist, Quranic Movement)
[hide]Islam
"Allahu" in Arabic calligraphy
Allahu in Arabic calligraphy
Beliefs[show]
Practices[show]
Texts Laws
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Related topics[show]
Portal icon Islam portal
v t e
Islam in the United States is a minority religion, the
3rd largest faith in America, after Christianity and Judaism, representing 0.8%
of the population.[2][3] While an estimated 30%[4] of the slaves brought to
colonial America from Africa arrived as Muslims,[5] Islam was stringently
suppressed on plantations.[6]
From the 1880s to 1914, several thousand Muslims
immigrated to the United States from the former territories of the Ottoman
Empire and the former Mughal Empire.[7]
American Muslims come from various backgrounds, and are
one of the most racially diverse religious groups in the United States
according to a 2009 Gallup poll.[8] Native-born American Muslims are mainly
African Americans who make up about a quarter of the total Muslim population.
Many of these have converted to Islam during the last seventy years. Conversion
to Islam in large urban areas[9] has also contributed to its growth over the
years.
The Muslim population of the U.S. increased dramatically
in the 20th century, with much of the growth driven by a comparatively high
birth rate and immigrant communities of mainly Arab and South Asian descent.
About 72% of American Muslims are immigrants or "second
generation".[10][11] In 2005, more people from Islamic countries became
legal permanent United States residents — nearly 96,000 — than in any year in
the previous two decades.[12][13] In 2009, more than 115,000 Muslims became
legal residents of the United States.[14]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Pre-Columbian Islamic contact theories
1.2 Earliest records
1.2.1 Pre American Revolution
1.2.2 American Revolution and onwards
1.2.3 19th century
2 Slaves
3 Religious freedom
3.1 Anti-Islam suppositions
4 Modern Muslims
5 Sub-groups
5.1 Ahmadiyya
5.2 Black Muslim movements
5.2.1 Nation of Islam
5.2.2 Five-Percent Nation
5.3 Non-denominational Muslims
5.4 Quranic movement
5.5 Shia
5.6 Sunni
5.7 Sufism
6 Demographics
6.1 Race
6.2 Religion
6.3 Education and income
6.4 Crime
6.5 Population concentration
6.5.1 By state
6.5.2 By city
6.6 Mosques
7 Culture
8 Politics
9 Integration
10 Organizations
10.1 Political
10.2 Charity
10.3 Museums
11 Views
11.1 American populace's views on Islam
11.2 American Muslims' views of the United States
11.3 American Muslim life after the September 11, 2001
attacks
12 Controversy
12.1 Extremism in the United States
13 See also
14 Notes
15 Primary sources
16 Further reading
17 External links
17.1 Events
17.2 Guides and reference listings
17.3 Academia and news
17.4 History
History[edit]
Pre-Columbian Islamic contact theories[edit]
The date of the first Muslim visit to the Americas, or to
what is now North America, is unknown. Some historians have written theories
that the first Muslims landed in, or visited the territory long before
Christopher Columbus in 1492.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
"The story of Islam in America antedates the
European conquest of the continent. Some say that Andalusian Muslims visited
the American continent long before Columbus, as reported by al-Sharif al-Idrisi
in the twelfth century. Others claim that adventurers from the Muslim kingdoms
of West Africa had visited the Caribbean. Furthermore, it is alleged that the
Portuguese and Spanish discoverers were led by Andalusian Muslim mariners who
were familiar with the high seas. Some of the discoverers were said to be
Moriscos (Spanish Muslims who pretended to be Christians). Andalusian Muslim
immigrants of Rabat and Salé in Morocco led the fight against Spanish and
Portuguese navies in the Caribbean."[22]
—Caesar E. Farah
Earliest records[edit]
Pre American Revolution[edit]
N. Brent Kennedy has speculated that during the period
1567-1587, Moors and Turks were brought to the present-day Carolinas, and that
some of these intermarried with Native Americans, giving rise to the Melungeon
communities of Southern Appalachia.[23]
An early Egyptian immigrant is mentioned in the accounts
of the Dutch settlers of the Catskill Mountains and recorded in the 1884
History of Greene County, New York. According to this tradition, an Egyptian
named "Norsereddin" settled in the Catskills in the vicinity of the
Catskill Mountain House. He befriended the Indian chief, Shandaken, and sought
the hand of his daughter Lotowana in marriage. Rejected, he poisoned Lotowana
and in consequence was caught and burned alive.[24][25]
American Revolution and onwards[edit]
A 1975 Postage Stamp of Salem Poor a war hero during the
American Revolutionary War, (Salem Poor Muslim identity is less certain and
based solely on the characteristics of his first name).[26]
Peter Salem was a war hero during the American
Revolutionary War, (Peter Salem's Muslim identity is less certain and based
solely on the characteristics of his attitude towards his slave name
"Peter Buckminister").[26]
Letter of George Washington to Mohammed ben Abdallah in
appreciation of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed in 1787.
Records from the American Revolutionary War indicate that
at least a few Muslims fought on the American side. Among the recorded names of
American soldiers are "Peter Salem","Yusuf ben Ali" and
"Bampett Muhamed".[27]
The first country to recognize the United States as an
independent nation was the Sultanate of Morocco under its ruler Mohammed ben
Abdallah, in the year 1777.[28] He maintained several correspondences with
President George Washington.
On 9 December 1805, President Thomas Jefferson hosted an
Iftar dinner at the White House for his guest Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, an envoy
from Tunis.[29]
Bilali (Ben Ali) Muhammad was a Fula Muslim from Timbo,
Futa-Jallon in present day Guinea-Conakry, who arrived at Sapelo Island during
1803. While enslaved, he became the religious leader and Imam for a slave
community numbering approximately eighty Muslim men residing on his plantation.
During the War of 1812, Muhammad and the eighty Muslim men under his leadership
protected their master's Sapelo Island property from a British attack.[30] He
is known to have fasted during the month of Ramadan, worn a fez and kaftan, and
observed the Muslim feasts, in addition to consistently performing the five
obligatory prayers.[31] In 1829, Bilali authored a thirteen-page Arabic Risala
on Islamic beliefs and the rules for ablution, morning prayer, and the calls to
prayer. Known as the Bilali Document, it is currently housed at the University
of Georgia in Athens.
Between 1785 and 1815, over a hundred American sailors
were captive in Algiers for ransom. Several wrote captivity narratives of their
experiences that gave most Americans their first view of the Middle East and
Muslim ways, and newspapers often commented on them. The views were generally
negative. Royall Tyler wrote The Algerine Captive (1797), an early American
novel depicting the life of an American doctor employed in the slave trade who
becomes himself enslaved by Barbary pirates. Finally Presidents Jefferson and
Madison sent in the Navy to confront the pirates, and ended the threat in 1815
during the First Barbary War.[32][33][34] During the peace treaty that
concluded the secession of hostilities, American envoys made it clear that the
United States had no animosity towards any Muslim country.
19th century[edit]
On the morning of April 4, 1865 during the American Civil
War, Union troops led by Col. Thomas M. Johnston set ablaze the University of
Alabama, a copy of the Quran known as the “The Koran: Commonly Called The
Alcoran Of Mohammed.” was saved by one of the University's staff.[35]
292[36] Muslims are known to have fought during the civil
war. The highest ranking Muslim officers during the civil war was Captain Moses
Osman[37] and Nicholas Said, formerly enslaved to an Arab master, came to the
United States in 1860 where he found a teaching job in Detroit. In 1863, Said
enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiment in the United States Army
and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was later granted a transfer to a hospital
department, where he gained some knowledge of medicine. His Army records state
that he died in Brownsville, Tennessee in 1882.[38] Another Muslim soldier from
the Civil War was Max Hassan, an African who worked for the military as a
porter.[39]
Gertrudis Serna & Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly).
A Muslim named Hajj Ali (commonly spelled as "Hi
Jolly") was hired by the United States Cavalry in 1856 to raise camels in
Arizona and California. He would later become a prospector in Arizona.[40][41]
Hajj Ali died in 1903.[38]
During the American Civil war, the "scorched
earth" policy of the North destroyed churches, farms, schools, libraries,
colleges, and a great deal of other property. The libraries at the University
of Alabama managed to save one book from the debris of their library buildings.
On the morning of April 4, when Federal troops reached the campus with order to
destroy the university, Andre Deloffre, a modern language professor and
custodian of the library, appealed to the commanding officer to spare one of
the finest libraries in the South. The officer, being sympathetic, sent a
courier to Gen. Croxton at his headquarters in Tuscaloosa asking permission to
save the Rotunda. The general's reply was no. The officer reportedly said,
"I will save one volume as a memento of this occasion." The volume
selected was a rare copy of the Qur'an.[42]
Alexander Russell Webb is considered by historians to be
the earliest prominent Anglo-American convert to Islam in 1888. In 1893 he was
the only person representing Islam at the first Parliament for the World's
Religions.[43] And the Russian-born Muslim scholar and writer Achmed Abdullah
(1881–1945) was another early prominent American Muslim. [44]
 |
| Kareem Abdul Jabbar |
Slaves
Drawing of Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori who was a Muslim
prince from West Africa and made a slave in the United States.
Many of the slaves brought to colonial America from
Africa were Muslims.[6][7] By 1800, some 500,000 Africans arrived in what
became the United States. Historians estimate that between 15 to 30 percent of
all enslaved African men, and less than 15 percent of the enslaved African women,
were Muslims. These enslaved Muslims stood out from their compatriots because
of their "resistance, determination and education".[45]
It is estimated that over 50% of the slaves imported to
North America came from areas where Islam was followed by at least a minority
population. Thus, no less than 200,000 came from regions influenced by Islam.
Substantial numbers originated from Senegambia, a region with an established
community of Muslim inhabitants extending to the 11th century.[46]
Through a series of conflicts, primarily with the Fulani
jihad states, about half of the Senegambian Mandinka were converted to Islam
while as many as a third were sold into slavery to the Americas through capture
in conflict.[47]
Michael A. Gomez speculated that Muslim slaves may have
accounted for "thousands, if not tens of thousands," but does not
offer a precise estimate. He also suggests many non-Muslim slaves were
acquainted with some tenets of Islam, due to Muslim trading and proselytizing
activities.[48] Historical records indicate many enslaved Muslims conversed in
the Arabic language. Some even composed literature (such as autobiographies)
and commentaries on the Quran.[49]
Some newly arrived Muslim slaves assembled for communal
salat (prayers). Some were provided a private praying area by their owner. The
two best documented Muslim slaves were Ayuba Suleiman Diallo and Omar Ibn Said.
Suleiman was brought to America in 1731 and returned to Africa in 1734.[46]
Like many Muslim slaves, he often encountered impediments when attempting to
perform religious rituals and was eventually allotted a private location for
prayer by his master.[49]
Omar Ibn Said (ca. 1770–1864) is among the best
documented examples of a practicing-Muslim slave. He lived on a colonial North
Carolina plantation and wrote many Arabic texts while enslaved. Born in the
kingdom of Futa Tooro (modern Senegal), he arrived in America in 1807, one
month before the U.S. abolished importation of slaves. Some of his works
include the Lords Prayer, the Bismillah[disambiguation needed], this is How You
Pray, Quranic phases, the 23rd Psalm, and an autobiography. In 1857, he
produced his last known writing on Surah 110 of the Quran. In 1819, Omar
received an Arabic translation of the Christian Bible from his master, James
Owen. Omar converted to Christianity in 1820, an episode widely used throughout
the South to "prove" the benevolence of slavery. However, some
scholars believe he continued to be a practicing Muslim, based on dedications
to Muhammad written in his Bible.[50][51]
Ayuba Suleiman Diallo was the son of an Imam of Boonda in
Africa, before being enslaved.
Omar Ibn Said was an Islamic scholar from Senegal.
Surat Al-Mulk from the Qur'an. copied by Omar ibn Said.
Religious freedom[edit]
American views of Islam affected debates regarding
freedom of religion during the drafting of the state constitution of
Pennsylvania in 1776. Constitutionalists promoted religious toleration while
Anticonstitutionalists called for reliance on Protestant values in the
formation of the state's republican government. The former group won out, and
inserted a clause for religious liberty in the new state constitution. American
views of Islam were influenced by favorable Enlightenment writings from Europe,
as well as Europeans who had long warned that Islam was a threat to
Christianity and republicanism.[52]
In 1776, John Adams published "Thoughts on
Government," in which he praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a
"sober inquirer after truth" alongside Confucius, Zoroaster,
Socrates, and other thinkers.
In 1785, George Washington stated a willingness to hire
"Mahometans," as well as people of any nation or religion, to work on
his private estate at Mount Vernon if they were "good workmen."[53]
In 1790, the South Carolina legislative body granted
special legal status to a community of Moroccans.
In 1797, President John Adams signed the Treaty of
Tripoli, declaring the United States had no "character of enmity against
the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen".[54]
Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11
In his autobiography, published in 1791, Benjamin Franklin
stated that he "did not disapprove" of a meeting place in
Pennsylvania that was designed to accommodate preachers of all religions.
Franklin wrote that "even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a
missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his
service."[55] Franklin also wrote an anti-slavery parody piece claiming to
be translation of the response of a government official at Algiers to a
17th-century petition to banish slavery there; the piece develops the theme that
Europeans are specially suited for enslavement on cultural and religious
grounds, and that there would be practical problems with abolishing slavery in
North Africa; this satirizes similar arguments that were then made about the
enslavement of Blacks in North America.[56]
Thomas Jefferson defended religious freedom in America
including those of Muslims. Jefferson explicitly mentioned Muslims when writing
about the movement for religious freedom in Virginia. In his autobiography
Jefferson wrote "[When] the [Virginia] bill for establishing religious
freedom... was finally passed,... a singular proposition proved that its
protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares
that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion,
an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word 'Jesus Christ,' so that it
should read 'a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our
religion.' The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they
meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the
Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every
denomination."[57] While President, Jefferson also participated in an
iftar with the Ambassador of Tunisia in 1809.[58]
Anti-Islam suppositions[edit]
However, not all politicians were pleased with the
religious neutrality of the Constitution, which prohibited any religious test.
Anti-Federalists in the 1788 North Carolina ratifying convention opposed the
new constitution; one reason was the fear that some day Catholics or Muslims
might be elected president. William Lancaster said:.[59]
Let us remember that we form a government for millions
not yet in existence.... In the course of four or five hundred years, I do not
know how it will work. This is most certain, that Papists may occupy that
chair, and Mahometans may take it. I see nothing against it.
Indeed, in 1788 many opponents of the Constitution
pointed to the Middle East, especially the Ottoman Empire as a negative object
lesson against standing armies and centralized state authority.[60]
Modern Muslims[edit]
Turkish immigrant in New York (1912)
A group of immigrants, most wearing fezzes, surrounding a
large vessel which is decorated with the star and crescent symbol of Islam and
the Ottoman Turks (1902-1913)
Small-scale migration to the U.S. by Muslims began in
1840, with the arrival of Yemenis and Turks,[46] and lasted until World War I.
Most of the immigrants, from Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire, came with the
purpose of making money and returning to their homeland. However, the economic
hardships of 19th-Century America prevented them from prospering, and as a
result the immigrants settled in the United States permanently. These
immigrants settled primarily in Dearborn, Michigan; Quincy, Massachusetts; and
Ross, North Dakota. Ross, North Dakota is the site of the first documented
mosque and Muslim Cemetery, but it was abandoned and later torn down in the
mid-1970s. A new mosque was built in its place in 2005.[43]
1906: Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) in Chicago, Illinois,
started the Džemijetul Hajrije (Jamaat al-Khayriyya) (The Benevolent Society; a
social service organization devoted to Bosnian Muslims). This is the longest
lasting incorporated Muslim community in the United States. They met in Bosnian
coffeehouses and eventually opened the first Islamic Sunday School with
curriculum and textbooks under Bosnian scholar Sheikh Ćamil Avdić (Kamil
Avdich) (a graduate of al-Azhar and author of Survey of Islamic Doctrines).
1907: Lipka Tatar immigrants from the Podlasie region of
Poland founded the first Muslim organization in New York City, the American
Mohammedan Society.[61]
1915: What is most likely the first American mosque was
founded by Albanian Muslims in Biddeford, Maine. A Muslim cemetery still exists
there.[62][63]
1920: First Islamic mission station was established by
Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, an Indian Ahmadi Muslim missionary, followed by the
building of the Al-Sadiq Mosque in 1921.
1929: The Ross Masjid in North Dakota was founded by
Syrian Muslims, there is still a cemetery nearby.[64]
1934: The first building built specifically to be a
mosque is established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Mosque is where Abdullah Igram
a notable Muslim veteran would teach the Quran, Abdullah Igram later wrote a
letter to President Eisenhower persuading him to add the M option (for Muslims)
on military dog tags.
1945: A mosque existed in Dearborn, Michigan, home to the
largest Arab-American population in the U.S.
Construction of mosques sped up in the 1920s and 1930s,
and by 1952, there were over 20 mosques.[43] Although the first mosque was
established in the U.S. in 1915, relatively few mosques were founded before the
1960s. Eighty-seven percent of mosques in the U.S. were founded within the last
three decades according to the Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey.
California has more mosques than any other state.
Chinese Muslims, known as Hui, have immigrated to the
United States and lived within the Chinese community rather than integrating
into other foreign Muslim communities. Two of the most prominent Chinese
American Muslims are the Taiwan National Revolutionary Army Generals Ma Hongkui
and his son Ma Dunjing, who moved to Los Angeles after fleeing from China to
Taiwan. Pai Hsien-yung, son of the Chinese Muslim General Bai Chongxi, is a
Chinese Muslim writer who moved to Santa Barbara, California after fleeing from
China to Taiwan. And the Chinese Muslim artist Zhang Hongtu has become
internationally known for his paintings and sculptures.
In the year 1857, the Mughal Empire was dissolved after
the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and many children and grandchildren of the last
Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II were killed during the conflict. And in the 20th
century some descendants of his surviving children emigrated to the United
States.[65]
Sub-groups[edit]
Ahmadiyya[edit]
Main article: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, first Muslim missionary and
member of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, who established a mission in 1920
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the oldest continuous
Muslim community in America. Ahmadi Muslims were among the earliest Muslim
missionaries in America, the first being Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, and between 1921
and 1925 alone they converted over 1000 people to the Islam. Although at first
their efforts were broadly concentrated at over large number of Racial and
Ethnic groups, subsequent realization of the deep-seated racial tensions and
discrimination made Ahmadi Muslim missionaries focus their attention to mainly
African Americans and the Muslim immigrant community and became vocal
proponents of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954) to (1954–68)
. Many Ahmadi Muslims fled countries like Pakistan due to persecution in recent
times.[66]
Black Muslim movements[edit]
Further information: American Society of Muslims
Clarence 13X founded the Five-Percent Nation movement.
Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam since 1981
During the first half of the 20th century, a small number
of African Americans established groups based on Islamic and black supremacist
teachings.[67] The first of such groups created was the Moorish Science Temple
of America, founded by Timothy Drew (Drew Ali) in 1913. Drew taught that black
people were of Moorish origin but their Muslim identity was taken away through
slavery and racial segregation, advocating the return to Islam of their Moorish
ancestry.[68]
Nation of Islam[edit]
Main article: Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) was the largest organization,
created in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad. It however taught a different form of
Islam, promoting black supremacy and labeling white people as
"devils".[69] Fard drew inspiration for NOI doctrines from those of
Timothy Drew's Moorish Science Temple of America. He provided three main
principles which serve as the foundation of the NOI: "Allah is God, the
white man is the devil and the so called Negroes are the Asiatic Black People,
the cream of the planet earth". In 1934 Elijah Muhammad became the leader
of the NOI, he deified Wallace Fard, saying that he was an incarnation of God,
and taught that he was a prophet who had been taught directly by God in the
form of Wallace Fard. Although Elijah's message caused great concern among
white Americans, it was effective among blacks, primarily attracting poor
people including students and professionals. Two of the most famous people to
join the NOI were Malcolm X, who became the face of the NOI in the media, and
Muhammad Ali, who, while initially rejected, was accepted into the group
shortly after his first world heavyweight championship victory.[67][70] Malcolm
X was one of the most influential leaders of the NOI, and advocated complete
separation of blacks from whites. He left the NOI after being silenced for 90
days (due to a controversial comment on the John F. Kennedy assassination), and
proceeded to form Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity
before his pilgrimage to Mecca and conversion to Sunni Islam. He is viewed as
the first person to start the movement among African Americans towards Sunni
Islam.
In 2006, it was estimated that there were at least 20,000
members.[71] However, today the group has a wide influence in the African
American community. The first Million Man March took place in Washington, D.C.
1995 and was followed later by another one in 2000 which was smaller in size
but more inclusive welcoming individuals other than just African American
men[72] The group sponsors cultural and academic education, economic
independence, and personal and social responsibility. The Nation of Islam has received
a great deal of criticism for its anti-white, anti-Christian, and anti-semitic
teachings,[73] and is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law
Center.[74]
Five-Percent Nation[edit]
Main article: Five-Percent Nation
The main offshoot of the NOI was the Five-Percent Nation.
Members in the movement, which was founded by Clarence 13X, call themselves
Five Percenters. The movement was largely concentrated in New York.
Non-denominational Muslims[edit]
Non-denominational Muslims make up roughly one in seven
of all American Muslims, at 15%. Non-denominational Muslims, also called ghayr
muqallids, do not have any specific affiliation with a religious body and
usually describe themselves as being "just a Muslim". Muslims who
were born in the US are more likely to be non-denominational than immigrant
Muslims. 24% or one in four US-born Muslims are non-denominational, versus 10%
of immigrant Muslims.[75]
Quranic movement[edit]
Main article: Quranism
Alexander Russell Webb, U.S. Consular Representative to
the Philippines, was a convert and Quranist.
Quranists reject the authority of hadith. An early
American convert to Islam, Alexander Russell Webb, was influenced by the ideas
of the Indian Quranist Chiragh Ali.
The largest Quranist movement in the United States is the
United Submitters International. This movement was founded by Rashad Khalifa.
His movement popularized the phrase: "The Qur'an, the whole Qur'an, and
nothing but the Qur'an". Although he was initially well received by many,
his subsequent claims of divine inspiration caused friction between him and
others, and he was assassinated in 1990.[76] Notable Americans influenced by
Rashad Khalifa include his son, Sam Khalifa, a retired professional baseball
player and Ahmad Rashād, a sportscaster and retired football player.
Shia[edit]
Main article: Shia Islam
Shia Muslims have developed the largest mosque in North
America, the Islamic Center of America. It is also the oldest Shia institution
in the country. Hassan Al-Qazwini posts his regular sermons from the mosque
online, where they are watched by Shia Muslims from across the United States.
His sermons are usually hosted through the programs of the Young Muslim
Association.
Sunni[edit]
Main article: Sunni Islam
After the death of Elijah Muhammad, he was succeeded by
his son, Warith Deen Mohammed. Mohammed rejected many teachings of his father,
such as the divinity of Fard Muhammad and saw a white person as also a
worshipper. As he took control of the organization, he quickly brought in new
reforms.[77] He renamed it as the World Community of al-Islam in the West,
later it became the American Society of Muslims. It was estimated that there
were 200,000 followers of WD Mohammed at the time.[78]
WD Mohammed introduced teachings which were based on orthodox
Sunni Islam.[79] He removed the chairs in temples, with mosques, teaching how
to pray the salat, to observe the fasting of Ramadan, and to attend the
pilgrimage to Mecca.[80]
A small number of Black Muslims however rejected these
new reforms brought by Imam Mohammed, Louis Farrakhan who broke away from the
organization, re-established the Nation of Islam under the original Fardian
doctrines, and remains its leader.[81]
Sufism[edit]
Some Muslim Americans adhere to the doctrines of Sufism.
The Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) is a small body representing Sufi
teachings, which, according to adherents, is the inner, mystical dimension of
Islam. The ISCA's stated aims include providing practical solutions for
American Muslims, based on the traditional Islamic legal rulings of an
international advisory board, many of whom are recognized as the highest
ranking Islamic scholars in the world. ISCA aims to integrate traditional scholarship
in resolving contemporary issues affecting the maintenance of Islamic beliefs
in a modern, secular society.[82] It has been linked to neoconservative
thought.
Demographics[edit]
According to the U.S. Department of State, the largest
ethnic groups of American Muslims are those of South Asian, Arab and
African-American descent
A crowd of Black Muslims applaud during Elijah Muhammad's
annual Saviors' Day message in Chicago in 1974
Tucson Islamic Center, Tucson, Arizona
Paterson, New Jersey, within the New York City
Metropolitan Area, is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Muslim
immigrants.[83]
The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious
identification. Various institutions and organizations have given widely
varying estimates about how many Muslims live in the U.S. Tom W. Smith, author
of "Estimating the Muslim Population in the United States," said that
of twenty estimates he reviewed during a five-year period until 2001, none was
"based on a scientifically-sound or explicit methodology. All can probably
be characterized as guesses or assertions. Nine came from Muslim organizations
such as the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Student Association,
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the American Muslim Council, and the
Harvard Islamic Society or unspecified "Muslim sources." None of
these sources gave any basis for their figures."[84]
CAIR claims that no scientific count of Muslims in the
U.S. has been done, but that the larger figures should be considered accurate.[85]
Some journalists have also alleged that the higher numbers have been inflated
for political purposes.[86][87]
Race[edit]
According to a 2001 study written by Ihsan Bagby, an
associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky, of
Americans who convert to Islam, 64% are African American, 27% are White, 6% are
Hispanic, and 3% are other. Around that time increasing numbers of American
Hispanics converted to Islam. Many Hispanic converts in Houston said that they
often had been mistaken as of being of Pakistani or Middle Eastern descent, due
to their religion. Many Hispanic converts were former Christians.[88]
Since the arrival of South Asian and Arab communities
during the 1990s there has been divisions with the African Americans due to the
racial and cultural differences; however, since September 11, 2001, the two
groups joined together when the immigrant communities looked towards the
African Americans for advice on civil rights.[89]
Religion[edit]
According to a 2007 religious survey, 72% of Muslims
believe religion is very important, which is higher in comparison to the
overall population of the United States at 59%. The frequency of receiving
answers to prayers among Muslims was, 31% at least once a week and 12% once or
twice a month.[90] Nearly a quarter of the Muslims are converts to Islam (23%),
mainly native-born. Of the total who have converted, 59% are African American
and 34% white. Previous religions of those converted was Protestantism (67%),
Roman Catholicism (10%), and 15% no religion.
Mosques are usually explicitly Sunni or Shia. There are
1,209 mosques in the United States and the nation's largest mosque, the Islamic
Center of America, is in Dearborn, Michigan. It caters mainly to the Shia
Muslim congregation; however, all Muslims may attend this mosque. It was
rebuilt in 2005 to accommodate over 3,000 people for the increasing Muslim
population in the region.[91][92] Approximately half (50%) of the religious
affiliations of Muslims is Sunni, 16% Shia, 22% non-affiliated and 16%
other/non-response.[93] Muslims of Arab descent are mostly Sunni (56%) with
minorities who are Shia (19%). Muslims of South Asian descent including
Bangladeshis (90%), Indians (82%) and Pakistanis (72%) are mainly Sunni, other
groups such as Iranians are mainly Shia (91%).[93] Of African American Muslims,
48% are Sunni, 34% are unaffiliated (mostly part of the Community of W.Deen
Mohammed), 16% other (mostly Nation of Islam and Ahmadiyya) and 2% Shia.[93]
In many areas, a mosque may be dominated by whatever
group of immigrants is the largest. Sometimes the Friday sermons, or khutbas,
are given in languages like Urdu, Bengali or Arabic along with English. Areas
with large Muslim populations may support a number of mosques serving different
immigrant groups or varieties of belief within Sunni or Shia traditions. At
present, many mosques are served by imams who immigrate from overseas, as only
these imams have certificates from Muslim seminaries.[94][95][96][97]
Education and income[edit]
Contrary to popular perceptions, the condition of Muslims
in the U.S. is very good. Among South Asians in the country, the large
Pakistani American community stands out as particularly well educated and
prosperous, with education and income levels exceeding those of U.S.-born
whites. Many are professionals, especially doctors, scientists, engineers, and
financial analysts, and there are also a large number of entrepreneurs. There
are more than 15,000 doctors practicing medicine in the USA who are of Pakistani
origin alone[98] and the number of Pakistani American millionaires was reported
to be in the thousands.Shahid Khan a Pakistani-born American multi billionaire
businessmen owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League
(NFL) making him the first and only ethnic minority member to own one, he also
owns English Premier League team Fulham F.C., and automobile parts manufacturer
Flex-N-Gate in Urbana, Illinois.[99] 45 percent of immigrant Muslims report
annual household income levels of $50,000 or higher. This compares to the
national average of 44 percent. Immigrant Muslims are well represented among
higher-income earners, with 19 percent claiming annual household incomes of
$100,000 or higher (compared to 16 percent for the Muslim population as a whole
and 17 percent for the U.S. average). This is likely due to the strong
concentration of Muslims in professional, managerial, and technical fields,
especially in information technology, education, medicine, law, and the
corporate world.[100]
Crime[edit]
Main article: Conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons
In 2005, according to The New York Times, more people
from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents — nearly
96,000 — than in any year in the previous two decades.[12][13][101] In addition
to immigration, the state, federal and local prisons of the United States may
be a contributor to the growth of Islam in the country. J. Michael Waller
claims that Muslim inmates comprise 17-20% of the prison population, or roughly
350,000 inmates in 2003. Waller states that these inmates mostly come into
prison as non-Muslims. He also claims that 80% of the prisoners who "find
faith" while in prison convert to Islam.[102] These converted inmates are
mostly African American, with a small but growing Hispanic minority. Waller
also asserts that many converts are radicalized by outside Islamist groups
linked to terrorism, but other experts suggest that when radicalization does
occur it has little to no connection with these outside interests.[103][104][105]
Population concentration[edit]
There are 2.6 million Muslim adherents across the country
in 2010.[106] Islamic populations are 0.8% of the US population per Fareed
Zacaria quoting Pew Research Center, 2010.[107]
By state[edit]
State Adherents per
100,000 people[108]
Illinois 2,800
Virginia 2,663
New York 2,028
New Jersey 1,827
Texas 1,678
Michigan 1,218
Florida 877
Delaware 793
California 732
Pennsylvania 634
According to the 2000 United States Census, the state
with the largest percentage of Muslims is Michigan, with 1.2% of its population
being Muslim. New Jersey has the second largest percentage with 0.9%, followed
by Massachusetts with 0.8%.
By city[edit]
New York City had the largest number of Muslims with
69,985. In 2000, Dearborn, Michigan ranked second with 29,181, and Los Angeles
ranked third with 25,673; although Paterson, New Jersey, in the New York City
Metropolitan Area, was estimated to have become home to 25,000 to 30,000
Muslims as of 2011. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was estimated to have 30,000 to
50,000 Muslims as of 2012.[109] Of cities with at least 100,000 people, Jersey
City, New Jersey rank second and third with 3% of their populations.[110]
Mosques[edit]
The number of mosques in the United States in 2011 was
2,106. The top six states with the most amount of mosques were: New York 257,
California 246, Texas 166, Florida 118, Illinois 109, New Jersey 109.[111]
Culture[edit]
See also: Hijab by country § United States
Pop art painting of Muhammad Ali.
Muslims in the United States have increasingly made their
own culture; there are various Muslim comedy groups, rap groups, Scout troops
and magazines, and Muslims have been vocal in other forms of media as well.[112]
Within the Muslim community in the United States there
exist a number of different traditions. As in the rest of the world, the Sunni
Muslims are in the majority. Shia Muslims, especially those in the Iranian
immigrant community, are also active in community affairs. All four major
schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) are found among the Sunni community.
Some Muslims in the U.S. are also adherents of certain
global movements within Islam such as the Salafi, the Muslim Brotherhood, the
Gulen Movement, and the Tablighi Jamaat.
As of December 2013 increasing numbers of Muslim
Americans are celebrating Christmas, a Christian holiday.[113]
Politics[edit]
In the 2000 Presidential election, nearly 80 percent of
Muslim Americans supported Republican candidate George W. Bush over Democratic
candidate Al Gore. However, due to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq which
took place under the Bush Administration, as well as increased anti-Muslim
rhetoric from the Republican Party after the September 11 attacks, support for
the Republican Party among American Muslims has declined sharply. By 2004,
Bush's Muslim support had been reduced by at least half, who would vote for
Democratic candidate John Kerry or a third party candidate.[114] By 2008,
Democratic candidate Barack Obama got 67% to 90% of the Muslim vote depending
by region.[115]
Integration[edit]
Frocking ceremony for U.S. Navy's first Muslim chaplain,
when Navy (rabbi) Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff attaches new shoulder boards with
Muslim Chaplain crescent insignia to uniform of Imam Monje Malak Abd al-Muta
Noel Jr, 1996
According to a 2004 telephone survey of a sample of 1846
Muslims conducted by the polling organization Zogby, the respondents were more
educated and affluent than the national average, with 59% of them holding at
least an undergraduate college degree.[116] Citing the Zogby survey, a 2005
Wall Street Journal editorial by Bret Stephens and Joseph Rago expressed the
tendency of American Muslims to report employment in professional fields, with
one in three having an income over $75,000 a year.[117] The editorial also
characterized American Muslims as "role models both as Americans and as
Muslims".
Unlike many Muslims in Europe, American Muslims overall
do not tend to feel marginalized or isolated from political participation and
have often adopted a politically proactive stance. Several organizations were
formed by the American Muslim community to serve as 'critical consultants' on
U.S. policy regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. Other groups have worked with law
enforcement agencies to point out Muslims within the United States that they
suspect of fostering 'intolerant attitudes'. Still others have worked to invite
interfaith dialogue and improved relations between Muslim and non-Muslim
Americans.[118]
Growing Muslim populations have caused public agencies to
adapt to their religious practices. Airports such as the Indianapolis
International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport[119][not in
citation given], Kansas City International Airport have installed foot-baths to
allow Muslims, particularly taxicab drivers who service the airports, to
perform their religious ablutions in a safe and sanitary manner.[120] and
Denver International Airport included a mosque as part of its Interfaith Chapel
when opened in 1996[121] although such developments have not been without
criticism.[122]
As of May 30, 2005, over 15,000 Muslims were serving in
the United States Armed Forces.[123]
A Pew report released in 2009 noted that nearly
six-in-ten American adults see Muslims as being subject to discrimination, more
than Mormons, Atheists, or Jews.[124] While Muslims comprise less than one
percent of the American population, they accounted for approximately one
quarter of the religious discrimination claims filed with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission during 2009.[125] According to FBI statistics, hate
crimes against Muslims are rare, at 6.0 per 100,000, compared to blacks at 6.7,
homosexuals and bisexuals at 11.5, and Jews at 14.8.[126][127]
On December 14, 1992, the Chief of Chaplains of the
United States Army requested that an insignia be created for future Muslim
chaplains, and the design (a crescent) was completed January 8, 1993.[128][129]
Muslim Chaplain insignia, Army
Muslim Chaplain insignia, Navy
Muslim Chaplain insignia, Air Force
U.S. Army Muslim Chapel Flag
Organizations[edit]
Islamic Center of Washington D.C.
One of the largest Islamic organizations is the Islamic
Society of North America (ISNA) which says that 27% of mosques in U.S. are
associated with it.[130] ISNA is an association of immigrant Muslim
organizations and individuals that provides a common platform for presenting
Islam. It is composed mostly of immigrants. Its membership may have recently
exceeded ASM, as many independent mosques throughout the United States are
choosing to affiliate with it. ISNA's annual convention is the largest
gathering of Muslims in the United States.[131]
The second largest is the community under the leadership
of W.Deen Mohammed or the American Society of Muslims with 19% of mosques,
mostly African-Americans having an affiliation with it.[130] It was the
successor organization to the Nation of Islam, once better-known as the Black
Muslims. The association recognizes the leadership of Warith Deen Mohammed.
This group evolved from the Black separatist Nation of Islam (1930–1975). The
majority of its members are African Americans. This has been a 23-year process
of religious reorientation and organizational decentralization, in the course
of which the group was known by other names, such as the American Muslim
Mission, W.Deen Mohammed guided its members to the practice of mainstream Islam
such as salat or fasting, and teaching the basic creed of Islam the shahadah.
The third largest group is the Islamic Circle of North
America (ICNA). ICNA describes itself as a non-ethnic, open to all,
independent, North America-wide, grass-roots organization. It is composed
mostly of immigrants and the children of immigrants. It is growing as various
independent mosques throughout the United States join and also may be larger
than ASM at the present moment. Its youth division is Young Muslims.[132] Why
Islam? is a community outreach project of ICNA;[133][134] it seeks to provide
accurate information about Islam[135] while debunking popular stereotypes and
common misconceptions through various services and outreach
activities.[136][137]
The Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) is a small
organization representing Sufi teachings, which, according to adherents, is the
inner, mystical dimension of Islam. The ISCA's stated aims include providing
practical solutions for American Muslims, based on the traditional Islamic
legal rulings of an international advisory board, many of whom are recognized
as the highest ranking Islamic scholars in the world. ISCA strives to integrate
traditional scholarship in resolving contemporary issues affecting the
maintenance of Islamic beliefs in a modern, secular society.[82] It has been
linked to neoconservative thought.
Islamic Society of Boston mosque in Roxbury.
The Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA) is a leading
Muslim organization in the United States. According to its website, among the
goals of IANA is to "unify and coordinate the efforts of the different
dawah oriented organizations in North America and guide or direct the Muslims
of this land to adhere to the proper Islamic methodology." In order to
achieve its goals, IANA uses a number of means and methods including
conventions, general meetings, dawah-oriented institutions and academies,
etc.[138] IANA folded in the aftermath of the attack of September 11, 2001 and
they have reorganized under various banners such as Texas Dawah and the Almaghrib
Institute.
The Muslim Students' Association (MSA) is a group
dedicated, by its own description, to Islamic societies on college campuses in
Canada and the United States for the good of Muslim students. The MSA is
involved in providing Muslims on various campuses the opportunity to practice
their religion and to ease and facilitate such activities. MSA is also involved
in social activities, such as fund raisers for the homeless during Ramadan. The
founders of MSA would later establish the Islamic Society of North America and
Islamic Circle of North America.[139]
The Islamic Information Center (IIC) (IIC) is a
"grass-roots" organization that has been formed for the purpose of
informing the public, mainly through the media, about the real image of Islam
and Muslims. The IIC is run by chairman (Hojatul-Islam) Imam Syed Rafiq Naqvi,
various committees, and supported by volunteers.[140]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in the
U.S. in 1921, before the existence of Nation of Islam, according to its
members.[141][142] This sect, however, is considered heretical by mainstream
Muslims and not considered a part of the Ummah, or worldwide community of
Muslims.
Muslim Congress is another National Muslim Organization.
It is primarily a Social Welfare organization and runs many social projects,
including Food Distribution to the homeless in their "No More Hunger"
project and also provides Scholarship. It is under the leadership of Islamic
Scholars.
Political[edit]
Islamic Center of America, Dearborn, Michigan
Muslim political organizations lobby on behalf of various
Muslim political interests. Organizations such as the American Muslim Council
are actively engaged in upholding human and civil rights for all Americans.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the
United States largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, originally
established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America. CAIR
is the voice of mainstream, moderate Islam on Capitol Hill and in political
arenas throughout the United States. It has repeatedly condemned acts of
terrorism and has been working in collaboration with the White House on
"issues of safety and foreign policy."[118] The group has been
criticized for alleged links to Islamic terrorism; its leadership strenuously
denies any involvement with such activities.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is an American
Muslim public service & policy organization headquartered in Los Angeles
and with offices in Washington, D.C. MPAC was founded in 1988. The mission of
MPAC "encompasses promoting an American Muslim identity, fostering an
effective grassroots organization, and training a future generation of men and
women to share our vision. MPAC also works to promote an accurate portrayal of
Islam and Muslims in mass media and popular culture, educating the American
public (both Muslim and non-Muslim) about Islam, building alliances with
diverse communities and cultivating relationships with opinion- and
decision-makers."[143]
The American Islamic Congress is a small secular Muslim
organization that promotes "religious pluralism". Their official
Statement of Principles states that "Muslims have been profoundly
influenced by their encounter with America. American Muslims are a minority
group, largely comprising immigrants and children of immigrants, who have
prospered in America's climate of religious tolerance and civil rights. The
lessons of our unprecedented experience of acceptance and success must be
carefully considered by our community."[144] The AIC holds an annual essay
writing competition, the Dream Deferred Essay Contest, focusing on civil rights
in the Middle East.
The Free Muslims Coalition states it was created to
"eliminate broad base support for Islamic extremism and terrorism"
and to strengthen secular democratic institutions in the Middle East and the
Muslim World by supporting Islamic reformation efforts.[145]
Muslims for Bush was an advocacy group aiming to drum up
support from Muslims for President George W. Bush. It was co-founded by
Muhammad Ali Hasan and his mother Seeme, who were prominent donors to the
Republican Party. In 2010, co-founder Muhammad Ali Hasan left the Republican
Party. Muslims for Bush has since been reformed into the bipartisan Muslims for
America.
American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) was
created in July 2012 by MD Rabbi Alam, a Bangladeshi-born American politician.
This newly created organization is one of America's largest Muslim civil
liberties advocacy organizations. It is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri,
with two regional offices in New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. AMPAC a
bipartisan political platform for Muslim Americans to participate in political
races. AMPAC presents an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the
American public, and seeks to empower the American Muslim community and
encourage its social and political activism. On September 11, 2013, AMPAC
organized the Million Muslim March which took place at the National Mall in
Washington, D.C.[146][147]
Charity[edit]
In addition to the organizations listed above, other
Muslim organizations in the United States serve more specific needs. For
example, some organizations focus almost exclusively on charity work. As a
response to a crackdown on Muslim charity organizations working overseas such as
the Holy Land Foundation, more Muslims have begun to focus their charity
efforts within the United States.
Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) is one of the
leading Muslim charity organizations in the United States. According to the
Inner-City Muslim Action Network, IMAN seeks "to utilize the tremendous
possibilities and opportunities that are present in the community to build a
dynamic and vibrant alternative to the difficult conditions of inner city
life." IMAN sees understanding Islam as part of a larger process to
empower individuals and communities to work for the betterment of
humanity.[148]
Islamic Relief USA is the American branch of Islamic
Relief Worldwide, an international relief and development organization. Their
stated goal is "to alleviate the suffering, hunger, illiteracy and
diseases worldwide without regard to color, race or creed." They focus of
development projects; emergency relief projects, such as providing aid to
victims of Hurricane Katrina; orphans projects; and seasonal projects, such as
food distributions during the month of Ramadan. They provide aid
internationally and in the United States.[149]
Project Downtown is a non profit organization originated
in Miami Fl. From what started as two men giving away a few sandwiches eventually
turned into an array of chapters all over the United States giving away
thousands of packets of food, hygiene bags, clothes, and other necessities of
life to those who cannot afford it. The motto of Project Downtown is “We feed
you for the sake of God alone, no reward do we seek, nor thanks.” (Quran 76:9)
Museums[edit]
There are two museums dedicated to the history of Islamic
culture in the U.S. and abroad. The International Museum of Muslim Cultures in
Jackson, Mississippi opened in early 2001.[150] America's Islamic Heritage
Museum in Washington, DC opened on April 30, 2011.[151]
Views[edit]
American populace's views on Islam[edit]
A nationwide survey conducted in 2003 by the Pew Research
Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported that the
percentage of Americans with an unfavorable view of Islam increased by one
percentage point between 2002 and 2003 to 34%, and then by another two
percentage points in 2005 to 36%. At the same time the percentage responding
that Islam was more likely than other religion to encourage violence fell from
44% in July 2003 to 36% in July 2005.[152]
July 2007 Newsweek survey of non-Muslim Americans[153]
Statement Agree Disagree
Muslims in the United States are as
loyal to the U.S. as they are to Islam 40% 32%
Muslims do not condone violence 63%
Qur'an does not condone violence 40% 28%
Muslim culture does not glorify
suicide 41%
Concern about Islamic radicals 54%
Support wiretapping by FBI 52%
American Muslims more "peaceable"
than non-American ones 52% 7%
Muslims are unfairly targeted by
law enforcement 38% 52%
Oppose mass detentions of Muslims 60% 25%
Believe most are immigrants 52%
Would allow son or daughter to date
a Muslim 64%
Muslim students should be allowed
to wear headscarves 69% 23%
Would vote for a qualified Muslim
for political office 45% 45%
The July 2005 Pew survey also showed that 59% of American
adults view Islam as "very different from their religion," down one
percentage point from 2003. In the same survey 55% had a favorable opinion of
Muslim Americans, up four percentage points from 51% in July 2003.[152] A
December 2004 Cornell University survey shows that 47% of Americans believe
that the Islamic religion is more likely than others to encourage violence
among its believers.[154]
A CBS April 2006 poll showed that, in terms of
faiths[155]
58% of Americans have favorable attitudes toward
Protestantism/Other Christians
48% favorable toward Catholicism
47% favorable toward Judaism
31% favorable toward Christian fundamentalism
20% favorable toward Mormonism
19% favorable toward Islam
8% favorable toward Scientology
The Pew survey shows that, in terms of adherents[152]
77% of Americans have favorable opinions of Jews
73% favorable of Catholics
57% favorable of "evangelical Christians"
55% favorable of Muslims
35% favorable of Atheists
A 2011 Gallup poll found that 56% of Protestants, 63% of
Catholics, and 70% of Jews believed that American Muslims had no sympathy for
Al Qaeda.[156]
American Muslims' views of the United States[edit]
PEW's poll of views on American Society[157]
Statement U.S.
Muslim General
public
Agree that one can get
ahead with hard work 71% 64%
Rate their community as
"excellent" or "good" 72% 82%
Excellent or good
personal financial situation 42% 49%
Satisfied with the
state of the U.S. 38% 32%
In a 2007 survey titled Muslim Americans: Middle Class
and Mostly Mainstream, the Pew Research Center found Muslim Americans to be
"largely integrated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to
many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the
world."[157]
47% of respondents said they considered themselves
Muslims first and Americans second. However, this was compared to 81% of
British Muslims and 69% of German Muslims, when asked the equivalent question.
A similar disparity exists in income, the percentage of American Muslims living
in poverty is 2% higher than the general population, compared to an 18%
disparity for French Muslims and 29% difference for Spanish Muslims.[157]
Politically, American Muslims were both pro-larger
government and socially conservative. For example, 70% of respondents preferred
a bigger government providing more services, while 61% stated that
homosexuality should be discouraged by society. Despite their social
conservatism, 71% of American Muslims expressed a preference for the Democratic
Party.[157] The Pew Research survey also showed that nearly three quarters of
respondents believed that American society rewards them for hard work
regardless of their religious background.[158]
The same poll also reported that 40% of U.S. Muslims
believe that Arab Muslims carried out the 9/11 attacks. Another 28% don't
believe it and 32% said they had no opinion. Among 28% who doubted that Arab
Muslims were behind the conspiracy, one-fourth of those claim the U.S.
government or President George W. Bush was responsible. Only 26% of American
Muslims believe the U.S.-led war on terror is a sincere effort to root out
international terrorism. Only 5% of those surveyed had a "very
favorable" or "somewhat favorable" view of the terrorist group
Al-Qaeda. Only 35% of American Muslims stated that the decision for military
action in Afghanistan was the right one and just 12% supported the use of
military force in Iraq.[157]
In 2011, a Gallup poll found that 93% of Muslim Americans
considered themselves loyal to the United States.[159]
American Muslim life after the September 11, 2001
attacks[edit]
President George W. Bush inside the Islamic Center of
Washington, D.C.
Muslim children in New York City supporting Park51.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, America saw an
increase in the number of hate crimes committed against people who were
perceived to be Muslim, particularly those of Middle Eastern and South Asian
descent. More than 20 acts of discrimination and violence were documented in
the post 9/11 era by the U.S. Department of Justice.[160] Some of these acts
were against Muslims living in America. Other acts were against those accused
of being Muslims, such as Sikhs, and people of Arabian and South-Asian
backgrounds[160] A publication in Journal of Applied Social Psychology found
evidence that the number of anti-Muslim attacks in America in 2001 increased
from 354 to 1,501 following 9/11.[161] The same year, the Arab American
Institute reported an increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes ranging from
discrimination and destruction of private property to violent threats and
assaults, some of which resulted in deaths.[162][163][164]
In a 2007 survey, 53% of American Muslims reported that
it was more difficult to be a Muslim after the 9/11 attacks. Asked to name the
most important problem facing them, the options named by more than ten percent
of American Muslims were discrimination (19%), being viewed as a terrorist
(15%), public's ignorance about Islam (13%), and stereotyping (12%). 54%
believe that the U.S. government's anti-terrorism activities single out
Muslims. 76% of surveyed Muslim Americans stated that they are very or somewhat
concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism around the world, while 61%
express a similar concern about the possibility of Islamic extremism in the
United States.[157]
On a small number of occasions Muslim women who wore
distinctive hijab were harassed, causing some Muslim women to stay at home,
while others temporarily abandoned the practice. In November 2009 Amal
Abusumayah, a mother of four young girls, had her hijab pulled following
derogatory comments while grocery shopping.[165] In 2006, one California woman
was shot dead as she walked her child to school; she was wearing a headscarf and
relatives and Muslim leaders believe that the killing was religiously
motivated.[166][167] While 51% of American Muslims express worry that women
wearing hijab will be treated poorly, 44% of American Muslim women who always
wear hijab express a similar concern.[157]
In 2011, The Learning Channel (TLC) broadcast a
television series, All-American Muslim, depicting the lives of different
American Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan.[168]
Controversy[edit]
Some Muslim Americans have been criticized because of perceived
conflicts between their religious beliefs and mainstream American value
systems. Muslim cab drivers in Minneapolis, Minnesota have been criticized for
refusing passengers for carrying alcoholic beverages or dogs. The
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport authority has threatened to revoke
the operating authority of any driver caught discriminating in this
manner.[169] There are reported incidents in which Muslim cashiers have refused
to sell pork products to their clientele.[170]
Public institutions in the U.S. have also drawn fire for
accommodating Islam at the expense of taxpayers. The University of
Michigan–Dearborn and a public college in Minnesota have been criticized for
accommodating Islamic prayer rituals by constructing footbaths for Muslim
students using tax-payers' money. Critics claim this special accommodation,
which is made only to satisfy Muslims' needs, is a violation of Constitutional
provisions separating church and state.[171] Along the same constitutional
lines, a San Diego public elementary school is being criticized for making
special accommodations specifically for American Muslims by adding Arabic to
its curriculum and giving breaks for Muslim prayers. Since these exceptions
have not been made for any religious group in the past, some critics see this
as an endorsement of Islam.[172]
The first American Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison,
created controversy when he compared President George W. Bush's actions after
the September 11, 2001 attacks to Adolf Hitler's actions after the Nazi-sparked
Reichstag fire, saying that Bush was exploiting the aftermath of 9/11 for
political gain, as Hitler had exploited the Reichstag fire to suspend
constitutional liberties.[173] The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and
the Anti-Defamation League condemned Ellison's remarks. The congressman later
retracted the statement, saying that it was "inappropriate" for him
to have made the comparison.[174]
At Columbus Manor School, a suburban Chicago elementary
school with a student body nearly half Muslim Arab American, school board
officials have considered eliminating holiday celebrations after Muslim parents
complained that their culture's holidays were not included. Local parent
Elizabeth Zahdan said broader inclusion, not elimination, was the group's goal.
"I only wanted them modified to represent everyone," the Chicago
Sun-Times quoted her as saying. "Now the kids are not being educated about
other people."[175] However, the district's superintendent, Tom Smyth,
said too much school time was being taken to celebrate holidays already, and he
sent a directive to his principals requesting that they "tone down"
activities unrelated to the curriculum, such as holiday parties.
Based on data from a 2006 poll by the Pew Research
Center, this graph records the distribution of feelings of U.S. Muslims on the
topic of suicide bombings, separated by age group.
Terrorism that involved Muslim perpetrators began in the
United States with the 1993 shootings at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia,
followed by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. The latest
was the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings in Massachusetts. After the
September 11 attacks and the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001, there was
concern about the potential radicalization of American Muslims. A 2007 Pew poll
reported that 15% of American Muslims under the age of 30 supported suicide
bombings against civilian targets in at least some circumstances, on the other
hand 11% said it could be "rarely justified." Among those over the
age of 30, just 6% expressed their support for the same. (9% of Muslims over 30
and 5% under 30 chose not to answer).[157] A March 2010 Bipartisan Policy
Center paper points out an increasing number of American Muslims are playing
high-level operational roles in al-Qaeda and aligned groups, as well as a larger
numbers of American Muslims who are attaching themselves to these
groups.[176][not in citation given][irrelevant citation]
More than 80% of all convictions tied to international
terrorist groups and homegrown terrorism since 9/11 involve defendants driven
by a radical Islamist agenda, a review of Department of Justice statistics
shows.[177] Between 2001 and the end of 2009, there were 46 publicly reported
incidents of "domestic radicalization and recruitment to jihadist
terrorism" that involved at least 125 people between 2001 and the end of
2009. There had been an average of six cases per year since 2001, but that rose
to 13 in 2009.[178]
While the seeming increase in cases may be alarming, half
"involve single individuals, while the rest represent ‘tiny conspiracies,’
" according to Congressional testimony.[179] Furthermore, a 2012 study by
the University of North Carolina indicated that the yearly number of cases of
alleged plots by Muslim-Americans appears to be declining. The total of 20 indictments
for terrorism in 2011 is down from 26 in 2010 and 47 in 2009 (the total since
9/11 is 193). The number of Muslim-Americans indicted for support of terrorism
also fell, from 27 individuals in 2010 to just eight in 2011 (the total since
9/11 stands at 462).[180][181] Also in apparent decline is the number of actual
attacks: Of the 20 suspects indicted for terrorism, only one was charged with
carrying out a terrorist act. This number is down from the six individuals
charged with attacks in 2010. The study’s author concludes that the
"limited scale of Muslim-American terrorism in 2011 runs counter to the
fears that many Americans shared in the days and months after 9/11, that
domestic Muslim-American terrorism would escalate."[181]
Concern could also be expressed because of the number of
Muslim-Americans among terrorism suspects: Though Muslims represent about 1% of
the American population, they constitute defendants in 186 of the 228 cases DOJ
lists.[177] However, they also are significantly represented among those who
tip authorities off to alleged plots: Muslim-Americans have given 52 of the 140
documented tips regarding individuals involved in violent terrorist plots since
9/11.[180][181]
Extremism in the United States[edit]
Main article: Jihadist extremism in the United States
At least one American not of recent immigrant background,
John Walker Lindh, has been imprisoned, convicted on charges of working with
the Taliban and carrying weapons against American soldiers. He had converted to
Islam while in the United States, moved to Yemen to study Arabic, and then went
to Pakistan, where he was recruited by the Taliban.
Another American that was not of recent immigrant
background, José Padilla (prisoner), of Puerto Rican decent and the first
Hispanic-American to be imprisoned and convicted on suspicion of plotting a
radiological bomb ("dirty bomb") attack. He was detained as a
material witness until June 9, 2002, when President George W. Bush designated
him an enemy combatant and, arguing that he was not entitled to trial in
civilian courts, had him transferred to a military prison. He had converted to
Islam while serving his last jail sentence in prison, and went to Pakistan
where he was recruited into Al-Qaeda.
The Future of Islamic religion in the United States
Published on June 16th, 2014 by DDHK News | Category:
World of Islam
Muslims in amerikaDDHK News, United States - Islam is the
fastest growing religion in America today. Many in the American media calls
Islam a religion of the future of America.
VOA Indonesian Site preach, one of the Indonesian Muslim
leaders in the United States, Imam Mohamad Joban, share the experience of
living as a Muslim in America in the discussion of religious life in the
cultural center @ america, Jakarta, Friday (13/6).
"A lot of the media in America that says that Islam
is the fastest spreading religion in America. Islam is the religion of the
future in America, "said Imam Joban.
"Islam teaches cleanliness, but where we get a lot
more hygiene? In Islamic countries or even in America? Islam also teaches us
tolerance, here as a preacher, I went to college, prisons and churches here all
completely free, no blocking, "he explained.
According to him, Islam will grow and thrive in a country
that guarantees its citizens to freely choose a religion as it is in America.
Additionally, according to Imam Joban, many Americans who
decided to convert to Islam, because Muslims are their behavior in accordance
with the value of religious orders.
"So many Americans are converting to Islam because
they met with Muslim values such as walking Koran," he said.
Imam Mohamad Joban is Imam Masjid Ar Rahmah in Redmond,
Washington. Currently he is the Chairman of the Council for Fatwa Priests in
the United States and also a spiritual director for the prisoners in the Prison
Department of the State of Washington.
Muhammad Ali, who teaches Islamic Studies at the
University of California, Riverside, provide an explanation based on his
experience in this discussion. "America is different from Indonesia. In
America, the state should not support or prohibit a religion. With the neutral
state of the community is growing, so American society is among the most
religious in the west are generally more religious even when compared to many
countries in Europe, "said Ali.
Another factor that makes thinks increasing number of
Muslims is because America is a country that is open to newcomers. "Then
the crowd bondonglah Muslims from the Middle East, Spain, Morocco, Egypt, South
Asia, India, Pakistan, including Indonesia. The presence of these immigrants
had enormous influence, "he added.
This is supported also by the profile of Muslims, who are
mostly middle-class and educated, so that the effect would be even greater.
"Most Muslims in America are not marginal ones, meaning that they are
educated, work in certain institutions with hefty incomes," said Mohammed
Ali, Lecturer of Islamic Studies at the University of California, Riverside.
Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Christian Bauer, the
opportunity to say religion is an important part of American culture, because
most Americans are devout believers. But the fact that many do not know is 20
of the 50 states in the United States second largest religion is Islam.
The latest data in 2011 said that currently there are
2016 mosques in America and California became the region with the largest
number of mosques in America. (VOA)
80 thousand Americans to Islam Each Year
Dr. Fadel Solomon Director General of the Foundation
Bridging To The introduction of Islam in the United States asserts that every
year 80 thousand people in America to embrace Islam.
This statement appears in a television interview on Nile
Culture Channel, Fadel said: "These figures are documented in Islamic
centers in America and American mosques, as well documented by official studies
centers America but not exposed, Solomon said: not running one week only, but
there are some Americans who embrace Islam.
He added: There is a welcome who have never imagined
before for Islam in America.
Former Chairman of the House of Representatives a few
days ago has been warned of a broad attack against the Islamic culture and the
culture of American civilization.
Increased hostility:
This phenomenon comes amid growing hostility to Islam of
several groups of American society that is influenced by the ideas of the
extreme right.
This hostility has grown after the announcement of the
construction of the Islamic center at the site of the September 11 attacks and
the approval of the President of America's decision.
Most of the Muslims in America reveals the fear of
attacks on their current attacks on September 11th this year because it
coincides with Eid. (Fani / voa-islam.com) (Continue)
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