Islam and Muslims in the United States

Muslims are not new to America but came here along with early European explorers and settlers.

America’s founding fathers, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, explicitly referenced Muslims.

They viewed them as potential citizens with rights and obligations no different from other Americans. Muslim immigrants and converts have helped build America with countless other groups.

This little-known history is an integral part of this country’s larger narrative and history.

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When Did Muslims Come to America?

However, the first significant migration of Muslims to America is indisputable. In three centuries of the slave trade, an estimated 10 to 50 percent of the 10 million Africans brought to these shores against their will were Muslims. 

However, historical records indicate that many enslaved African Muslims strove to preserve their religious and cultural heritage even after conversion.

Much of this history remains to be recovered. Historical documents, including oral records of the great-great-grandchildren of enslaved people and slave narratives and diaries, indicate that some of the earliest Muslims in America performed daily salah (prayer), observed the fast of Ramadan, and recited and read the Quran.

Oral traditions and historical records celebrate the life of Bilalia Fula, enslaved on the Sea Islands of Georgia.

According to a scholar of these traditions, Dr. Allen Austen, Bilalia Fula was multilingual and a heroic fighter during the War of 1812.

He saved many lives during a hurricane in 1824. Bilalia lived as a Muslim and was buried with his prayer rug and Quran.

He named many of his children Muslim names, and ethnographic interviews with those who knew the family indicated that they performed daily prayers.

Who Are American Muslims Today?

Muslim Americans are a diverse and growing population, currently estimated at 3.45 million people of all ages, including 2.15 million adults.

The U.S. Muslim community is made up heavily of immigrants and the children of immigrants worldwide.

On average, Muslim Americans are considerably younger than the overall U.S. population. 

At their educational attainment levels, Muslims closely resemble the general public. About three-in-ten (31%) U.S. Muslims are college graduates, including 11% with a postgraduate degree. On average, Muslim immigrants are more highly educated than U.S.-born Muslims.

Financially, Muslims are about as likely as Americans to have a household income over $100,000. At the same time, they are more likely than Americans, in general, to have an income under $30,000.

The survey also found that Muslims are three times as likely as other Americans to be unemployed and looking for work.

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How Do American Muslims Participate in American Public Life?

Muslim Americans have contributed to all areas of public life, including public service. Over the last two decades, many Muslim Americans have answered the call to serve as elected officials, political appointees, or career civil and foreign service officers.

Also, many American Muslims are physicians, engineers, lawyers, academics, and other professionals. There are also American Muslim celebrities and public servants who contribute to this country.

Many Islamic centers and institutions create programs serving the American Muslim community and the wider public.

American Muslims share the same values of family, education, and dedication to hard work as other American families. In short, American Muslims and the organizations they create are part of the fabric of American public life.

7 Oldest Mosques in the United States:

1- THE BROOKLYN MOSLEM MOSQUE, NEW YORK CITY

America’s oldest surviving mosque sits on a quiet road in Washington Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. The two-story late-19th-century building is covered in vertical, white wooden slats.

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2- AL SADIQ MOSQUE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

America’s oldest mosque was established by a missionary of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, in 1922. It was part of the mission’s new U.S. headquarters in Chicago.

3- AMERICAN MOSLEM SOCIETY, DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

In the 1980s, the mosque made headlines for becoming the first in America to be permitted to publicly broadcast the adhan (call to prayer) using speakers.

Today, the mosque sits in a vast purpose-built building that covers an area of approximately 48,000 square feet and integrates a madrasah (Islamic school) and medical center.

4- NORTH DAKOTA MOSQUE, ROSS, NORTH DAKOTA

The North Dakota Mosque is located in a remote spot in the northwestern corner of the state close to the Canadian border. The nearest town has a population of around 50 people.

5- THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON DC

The oldest mosque in the U.S. capital was founded by diplomats and local Muslims who set up the Washington Mosque Foundation in 1944.

They then appointed Italian architect Mario Rossi to build the mosque because of his experience working on them in Egypt. Rossi based his design on the country’s classical Mamluk architectural style.

6- MOTHER MOSQUE, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA

Known as America’s Mother Mosque, this is another monument to early American Muslims who migrated from Greater Syria. Built in 1934, the mosque has been known as the Rose of Fraternity Lodge and the Moslem Temple.

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7- MASJID MUHAMMAD, WASHINGTON DC

The first mosque built in the capital by descendants of enslaved African Americans and African Muslims, Masjid Muhammad’s origins date back to the 1930s.

The current building, which started life as a Nation of Islam (NOI) temple, opened in 1960 with the support of a critical fundraiser and global Muslim icon Malcolm X (later known as Hajj Malik Shabazz).

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So, as we mentioned before, Islam has a long history in America, going back to the earliest days of the country’s founding.

In the past two-plus centuries, Islam and Muslim Americans have been intertwined in American history.

That story is not well-known, partly because the Muslim population of the US has often been relatively small; Islam still appears in ways that most Americans might find surprising.

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