Contemporary Muslim Life
The tragic events of 9/11, the subsequent backlash against American Muslims and the rise of stereotypes, snap judgments and politicized Islamophobia have challenged the American Muslim community in ways never experienced before. Some people initially responded by withdrawing and growing more isolated, keeping their heads down and moderating or even hiding their Muslim identities. Many, however, refused to live in the shadow of 9/11 and, in the last ten years, we have witnessed the blossoming of a vibrant diversity among American Muslims, especially with Muslim Millennials and Generations Y and Z. Today, American Muslims represent the most diverse religious community in America.
Demographic Background on Muslims in America Today
Islam is the third most populous religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity (63%) and Judaism (2%), and equaling the shares of Buddhism and Hinduism. A 2017 PEW Research study estimated that 1.1% (or 3.45 million Americans) of the population of the United States are Muslim. In 2017, twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census estimated that there are 4.45 million Muslims in the United States, or roughly 1.3% of the population Islam is the third most populous religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity (63%) and Judaism (2%), and equaling the shares of Buddhism and Hinduism. A 2017 PEW Research study estimated that twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census estimated that there are 4.45 million Muslims in the United States, or roughly 1.3% of the population. (Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, U.S. Religion Census 2020). The report estimates an annual growth of the Muslim population by about 100,000 people per year.
This population includes roughly 2.78 million adults. Muslims in the U.S. are made up of US born persons, and immigrants and their children from diverse origins. They trend younger than the overall U.S. population.
Education & Income
According to the PEW report, education levels among Muslims mirror the rest of the U.S. About 31% are college graduates, 11% with graduate degrees. Muslim immigrants are more highly educated than indigenous Muslims. Income levels are also in line with the national averages. At both ends of the spectrum—those with annual incomes over $100,000 and those under $30,000—are as likely as other American residents.
Highlights of Prominent Communities in the U.S.
The U.S. Muslim community (fifth largest, 2.8%) is largely made up of immigrants and their children. Although not newcomers to this land — an estimated one-third of enslaved Africans transported to the New World were likely Muslim and Black Muslims continue to represent 20% of the community — almost three-quarters of U.S. Muslims are immigrants and their children. As such, it is not surprising to see that the counties with 35 or more Muslim congregations correspond with counties with the highest numbers of immigrants in the nation (see Table 3); of the 10 counties with the highest numbers of Muslim congregations, seven are in the top ten counties in the nation in terms of total number of foreign-born residents. The U.S. Muslim community is largely made up of immigrants and their children. Not all Muslims are newcomers— an estimated 5% of enslaved people transported to the New World from Africa were likely Muslim, and Black Muslims continue to represent 20% of the community. Still, almost three-quarters of U.S. Muslims are immigrants and their children. Dates of immigration by Muslims range from before 1970 (2%), to 1970-1999 (35%), and after 2000 (56%).
As such, it is not surprising to see that the counties with 35 or more Muslim congregations correspond with counties with the highest numbers of immigrants in the nation (see Table 3); of the 10 counties with the highest numbers of Muslim congregations, seven are in the top ten counties in the nation in terms of total number of foreign-born residents (US Religion Census 2020, p. 77).
See chart of immigrant 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation immigrants. While 73% of Americans are U.S. natives whose parents are second-generation residents, only 24% of Muslims are natives with native-born parents.
The global diversity of Muslims’ origins is striking; no one country of origin is the source of more than 15% of immigrant Muslims. The most prominent region of origin is South Asia at 35%, with 23% from other Asian regions, 25% are from the Southwest Asias/North African region (SWANA), an alternate designation for “the Middle East”. Nine percent are from sub-Saharan Africa, 4% from European nations, and 4% from Latin America or elsewhere in the Americas. (SEE Chart of origins for further breakdown). Dates of immigration by Muslims range from before 1970 (2%), from 1970-1999 (35%), and after 2000 (56%). On the other hand, 82% of U.S. Muslim adults are citizens, with 69% being naturalized citizens. Among all U.S. Muslims, only 18% are non-citizens, as are 31% of foreign-born Muslims.
The racial profile of Muslim Americans is complicated by the history of immigration and citizenship. On the one hand, Arabs and others from the Middle East fell under the Asian Exclusion Act of 1917, denying entry of workers from nearly all of Asia as a “barred zone”; it built upon the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and targeted Indian workers. Another facet of US law was the denial of naturalization based on ideas of race. A Georgia appeals case--Dow vs. the United States in 1915—determined that Syrian immigrants would be classified as “white” and could be naturalized citizens. This ruling was extended by the U.S. government in 1977, and included in the “white” classification Europeans, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) immigrants. An effort among Arab American organizations to gain a special classification for the MENA gained support in Office of Management and Budget policy in 2014, but was thwarted in 2018 under the Trump administration. Efforts continue today at the state and federal levels (U.S. Department of State, “The Story of Arab Americans’ Beginning in America – and the Quest for Fair Representation” April 2021 report). According to the Harvard Pluralism Project, Muslim immigration to the U.S. increased after World War II, and again after the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 eliminated the national quota system. The 1965 date is reflected in trend lines on Muslim infrastructure of all types (Harvard Pluralism Project, “New Immigration and the First Organizations,” 2020).
As a result of this history, 41% of U.S. Muslims are classified as white, 20% are categorized as Black, 28% as Asian, and 8% as Hispanic, with 3% belonging to other groups. This differs from the overly broad self-characterization of Muslims as “Asian,” or as Arab, Persian, or Middle Eastern. Half of Muslims tracing their heritage to three generations in the U.S. are Black. Increasingly, like other groups in the U.S., Muslims are likely to identify as multi-racial.
Muslim American adults trend younger than the overall population, 35% belonging to the 18-29 year old cohort; 60% are between 18 and 39 years old. Only 14% of Muslim adults are over 55 years old, in comparison with 36% of the U.S. population as a whole. Like all U.S. adults, over half (53%) of Muslim adults are married, with foreign-born Muslims at 70% married. While harder to determine accurately, the PEW report states that “the vast majority” of married U.S. Muslims are married to a Muslim spouse. Divorce rates are 7%, vs. 10% among the general public. Birth rates are somewhat higher, with Muslim Americans between 40 and 59 years old raising 2.4 children vs. 2.1 for all U.S. adults.
Development of American Muslim Institutions
Introduction
The American Muslim Pathways project has already highlighted both outstanding individuals and the development of organized manifestations of Islam's presence in North America. Since 1950, and particularly after the change in immigration laws in 1965, organizations such as mosques, schools, national organizations and institutions for purposes of meeting Islamic religious needs have developed and reached out to mainstream American institutions in the civic, economic, and political spaces. For an overview, learn more by visiting here.
Education stimulated the growth of Muslim organizations in the United States. Indigenous American Muslim organizations focused on self-help initiatives , businesses, and schools, and most currently address the needs of urban populations nationwide through the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN).
Immigrants who came to study at American universities sought solidarity and connection across ethnic and post-independence national belonging cohorts, leading them to establish the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. & Canada in 1963, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Now known as MSA National, the organization has chapters in colleges and universities as well as high schools, serving Muslim students’ unity and meeting their religious needs for prayer spaces and navigating university life. After graduation, as many immigrant Muslims married and established careers, the MSA experience led to the establishment of professional organizations for medical professionals, social scientists (now including Islamic studies scholars), lawyers, scientists and engineers (formerly AMSE, now AMSET). These organizations are featured in the volume An American Muslim Journey: Fifty Years of Association of Muslim Scientists, Engineers and Technology Professionals (Yunus and Mahfuz, 2020).
Among the many other organizations that address needs and interact with government and civic institutions are IFANCA which establishes standards for halal foods, the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR on civil rights, and a host of others.
Founding Mosques
Among the defining characteristics of the Muslim community in North America is the founding of places of prayer (in Arabic language ma-SA-jid). The English word mosque, or masjid (pl. masajid) has come through its Spanish and French linguistic corruptions. From the founding of any community building or household, a place and direction of prayer are determined. It can be as simple as a piece of cloth, rug, or mat to designate a clean surface, to an architecturally elaborate building. In the United States, immigrant communities rented rooms, borrowed space in churches, and strove to construct purpose-built mosques according to their means.
The first national survey of US mosques was conducted in 1994, with updates in 2000, 2010, and 2020 by Dr. Ihsan Bagby, publication of which was sponsored by various institutions, most recently the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and the Islamic Society of North America, among others (see introduction for the complete list).
A list of 2769 mosques was compiled using internet data, culling past surveys, direct mail and phone surveys. In addition to a count, a sampling of questionnaire responses provided fine-grained data on type, founding, leadership, attendance and demographic composition, in addition to information on programs for children and adults.
Among other interesting findings is the steady increase in the Muslim population, driving a 31% increase in mosque development since 2010. In 2020, 37% of those were purpose-built mosques, indicating a hefty investment in fundraising and the effort to obtain zoning permits, often in the face of opposition, as reported by 28% of respondents. Count per state ranges from 2 or 3 mosques to a high of over 300 each in California and New York. While the report indicates that large metropolitan areas have the most mosques, the 2020 survey showed that mosques are being built in old and newer suburbs, and declining in downtown areas and smaller towns. Mosque development reflects the regional distribution of Muslim communities across the United States, with 30% in the Northeast, 31% in the South, 22% in the Midwest, and 17% in the West. Where that growth occurs, there was also an increase in purpose-built mosques versus rental or purchase of existing buildings.
An important focus among all religious institutions in the US is youth participation. The age breakdown of the Muslim community in the US is 54% aged 18-34, who are, however, 29% of mosque attendees. The largest group are aged 35-65. Attendance by children 1-17 is harder to measure, but is estimated at 17%. Weekend schools for children are a prominent aspect of mosque programming, and many also have youth programs and staff.
The study includes information on budgets, salaries, and mosque governance, the majority of which include shared governance among the imam and an elected board.
Muslim Educational Institutions
It is not surprising that educational institutions have developed formally and informally alongside the growth of the Muslim community in the United States. From the education of children in mosques to K-12 schools, the founding of post-secondary and graduate education has proceeded during the past half century, and accelerated in the last 30 years.
The 2000 and 2020 mosque surveys by Dr. Ihsan Bagby reported on educational activities, noting that 83% of mosques hold classes on Islamic studies, and 76% have weekend schools for children and youth. One fourth of mosques (27%) have programs for Qur’an memorization, with the goal of learning the entire Qur’an by heart in accordance with proper recitation traditions. Contrary to hasty assumptions in the media about Muslims’ schooling, the vast majority (close to 99%) of American Muslim children attend mainstream public or private schools, where they receive little or no information about Islam—and nothing substantial until middle school world history programs. Weekend schools therefore provide the opportunity for socializing with their peers and receiving information that equips them to navigate their lives in school and community in a positive manner.
One of the major challenges for these programs is the teaching corps, which are largely volunteers. Other issues are curriculum and teaching resources. While Muslim publishers and booksellers now offer a wide variety of leveled programs, time constraints of a short weekend program require choices on how much basic information to impart, and how to make it relevant to students’ experience and enjoyable. Qur’an memorization (hafiz) is part of it all, but hafiz programs for the committed are usually separate from less ambitious classes. Children need initiation into the basics of Islamic worship, but also need to be introduced to the stories of the prophets and prominent Muslims in history. Most importantly, living as a minority population AND as a global Muslim requires that children be exposed to a broader spectrum of Islamic knowledge. The choices that children make about everything from their clothing to their eating habits, to their places as exemplars in American civic life require far more than rote learning on the mechanics of practicing worship rituals.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) convened a gathering of educators on the topic of weekend schools and published its proceedings. Efforts to support teachers need to be very decentralized because of the diversity of settings and communities served. Top-down efforts to standardize learning are probably futile, and a creative diversity of approaches is most likely to achieve these programs’ goals. Islamic organizations such as ISNA and ICNA frequently feature sessions on weekend schools, and each mosque grapples with its own issues among the leadership and volunteer or paid staff.
Full-time K-12 Muslim Schools
Full-time Muslim schools for K-12 education originated in the 1930s with the Nation of Islam movement. They were called University of Islam, and were later renamed Clara Muhammad Schools in 1978, after the wife of Elijah Muhammad. There was little data on Muslim schools until a 1989 report by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) entitled "In-Depth Study of Full-Time Islamic Schools in North America: Results and Data Analysis", according to which there were about 50 schools in North America, including the Caribbean region. The Council on Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) was the ISNA office entrusted with education matters.
Alongside the development of community mosques, schools experienced a surge of development in the 1990s, but their diffuse nature made it difficult to gather information on their existence and status. In parallel, publishers and booksellers such as Iqra’ International Educational Foundation were developing systematic K-12 materials for Islamic Studies, Arabic language, and related subjects suitable for use in both weekend and full-time schools.
The Islamic Schools League of America (ISLA) and its listserv Islamic Educators Communication Network (IECN) were founded to connect Muslim educators and schools. Under the volunteer leadership of Karen Keyworth and Judi Amri, efforts were made to develop accurate data on the number, location, status, and governance of Muslim schools, with implications for their social integration. The educators who joined include homeschooling parents and their organizations such as the Muslim Homeschool Network (MHN), teachers, education advocates, and school principals. Through the IECN and volunteer efforts by phone, mail and legwork, they began to accumulate data on a voluntary basis across the late 1990s. With increased negative attention on Islamic education following the 9/11 attacks, wild accusations about the mission and curriculum, as well as exaggerated estimates of 400 full-time Muslim schools began to circulate, making it essential to counter with accurate information. Keyworth and Amri, with scant funding, produced and published their findings validating the existence of about 200 schools, most K-6 or K-8, with a variety of governance models attached to mosques or independent. Many were small, and a few large and well-funded as in California, New York, Illinois, and Michigan. An updated version of Keyworth’s ISLA study was finally published in 2011 as Islamic schools of the United States: Data-Based Profiles by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), which identified 235 full-time Islamic/Muslim schools, and provided extensive data on teachers, physical plant, governance, and students.*
A contribution to ISLA’s effort with the IECN listserv was to invite schools to be members of the Directory of Islamic Schools, to self-report their existence and update it in an online database that allowed schools to recruit students, teachers, and school officers through job postings and school websites. As an outgrowth of the database, the ISLA launched its ISLA Database Project in November 2021 to bridge the information gaps with a dynamic tool.
Today, there are approximately 320 Muslim full-time schools that serve more than 50,000 students, according to the current Directory of Islamic Schools. Most employ a combination of mainstream K-12 curriculum and Islamic/Arabic studies, and many are accredited with private school associations, like other private secular and religious schools in the United States. CISNA itself has initiated an accreditation program, offers professional development, and teacher resources.
Islamic/Muslim schools have gradually established a presence in academic literature. Muslim educators have produced theses and dissertations, such as Nadim Memon’s “From Protest to Praxis: A History of Islamic Schools in North America”; he has gone on to produce a number of books and journal articles. Project MAPS (Muslims in the American Public Square) produced a volume with the contributions of prominent scholars and educators Educating the Muslims of America (Haddad, Senzai, and Smith, Oxford, 2009). This volume explores issues of identity formation, curriculum integration, Islamic studies institutions where Muslims connecting with the global heritage of Islamic learning. Today, a Google Scholar search on Islamic schools in North America produces 670 thousand citations.
Muslim Post-Secondary Institutions
Educational development in the Muslim community has recently reached the post-secondary level. These efforts include undergraduate and graduate programs, and both brick-and-mortar and online institutions. Among the most prominent are the American Islamic College in Chicago and Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. Both are independently accredited to provide undergraduate and masters degrees. American Open University, in Alexandria, Virginia includes degree programs beyond Islamic studies and has accreditation from overseas universities and education ministries. California Islamic University, Mishkah University, Respect Graduate School, Guidance College, and International Open University have a variety of degree programs, and are either seeking accreditation or have received accreditation through such foreign entities. Bayan Islamic Graduate School is currently affiliated with the Chicago Theological Seminary and its degrees are accredited by this affiliation, and offers masters degrees in Islamic Studies, Islamic Theology, Islamic Education, Leadership, and Chaplaincy as well as a doctoral program in ministry. The Islamic Seminary of America, founded in Connecticut and now based in Texas, has a similar mission and programs, and is seeking accreditation.
The main thrust of most of these institutions, which employ prominent Muslim scholars in the Islamic disciplines and pedagogy, is to provide access to Muslims living in the United States to the tradition of Islamic scholarship, and to train Muslims in various service professions such as chaplains, counselors, teachers/school administrators, and imams, with attention to the needs of Muslim Americans. Some of these programs are seeking accreditation as soon as possible. In the interim, they are accredited through association with an existing degree-granting post-secondary institutions.
The proliferation of online and in-person post-secondary institutions founded by Muslims to meet the need for knowledge acquisition and professional as well as continuing education is impressive considering the level of expertise and funding needed to sustain these institutions. Recognition by their national and international affiliates attests to the integrity and value of these degree programs. One can expect further development of independent Islamic universities that offer a wider variety of degree programs.
Faith-based Medical Clinics in Muslim Communities
A study conducted by Nabil Khan and Lance Laird of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston University School of Medicine, utilizing a national directory of clinics, was published by American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP). The study was also covered in a 2019 issue of Foreign Policy. The study looked at the services provided by more than 70 free medical clinics in 22 states, all of which were founded and staffed by Muslim medical professionals in the U.S. According to the 2018 study Muslim Community-Based Health Organizations in the United States, these institutions served about 50,000 mostly non-Muslim uninsured patients during the year of the study.
This nation-wide level of service is not surprising. Muslim health professionals are widely dispersed across the United States and so are the Free Clinics they have founded. A nationally broadcast 2022 PBS Documentary, "The Great Muslim American Road Trip", helped demonstrate this by visiting communities lending their medical expertise in Joplin, Missouri and San Bernardino, California, at Al-Shifa Clinic. American Muslim citizens from Muslim-majority nations made up 4.5% of the workforce of physicians in the U.S. in 2019, though Muslims make up only about 1% of the U.S. population. (Source: JAMA Netw Open. 2020. See Boulet JR, Duvivier RJ, Pinsky WW., "Prevalence of International Medical Graduates from Muslim-Majority Nations in the US Physician Workforce from 2009 to 2019.")
Muslim Charities
Giving charity, one of the five pillars of Islam, is an obligation for every Muslim. The annual requirement, called zakat, amounts to 2.5% of the value of an individual or family’s assets that reach a certain amount beyond their needs, minus liabilities. Everyone is free to distribute these funds, in certain selected categories, as they see fit. In addition, Muslims may find any opportunity for voluntary charity, or sadaqa. Those who lack the wealth to contribute financially may perform charity by donating their time and other means to help the needy.
Mosques often maintain funds to help the needy in their congregations or in the adjacent community. Many immigrant Muslims send funds to communities or family members in their native lands. In the past few decades, Muslim charitable organizations have developed to meet both domestic and international needs for clothing, food, housing, medical and education, as well as relief in natural disasters and the devastation caused by war. Several prominent Muslim charities are used by those who would donate to such causes at home and abroad. A list of ten prominent organizations was assembled in 2024 by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA), which included its own efforts, and named Muslim Aid USA, Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), Zakat Foundation of America, Pure Hands, Penny Appeal, Transparent Hands, Helping Hands for Relief & Development (HHRD), Bait-ul-Maal USA, and United Muslim Relief (UMR). In addition to those, LaunchGood is another initiative in which individual donors can choose from appeals posted to the site.
Among other findings, the study asserts that the bulk of Muslim donations go to alleviating poverty, both internationally and domestically. This represents a shift and maturing in the community, the report maintains, indicating an awareness of problems related to poverty in the U.S. Nonetheless, significant amounts of charity go to meet international crises such as the Gaza conflict, earthquake relief, and refugee facilities, Muslims being the single most prominent source of displacement in the world today.
Islamophobia is an issue affecting Muslim charities. A study by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), entitled Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity published in 2009 illuminates the effect of the War on Terror after September 11, 2001, and subsequent politicized efforts to discredit and shut down charities through raids, arrests, lawsuits, surveillance, and intimidation of donors, contrasting these with the faith-based obligation of giving. The 141-page report exhaustively details these trends and major incidents, and the ACLU’s efforts to defend charities from Islamophobic attacks and efforts to smear them.
Prison Services & Chaplaincy
It is well known that the history of Islam in America involves numerous conversions to Islam that took place during incarceration. Malcolm X is only the most prominent of these. Islam, in fact, is the fastest-growing religion in U.S. prisons. It is estimated that 80% of religious conversions in prison are to Islam. On the other hand, the prison population is estimated to be 18% Muslim, despite the group’s 1% share of U.S. population.
Muslim organizations for prison outreach thus have two goals. On the one hand, efforts to educate about Islam with accurate information are essential, and on the other, official prison chaplains to minister to the needs of incarcerated Muslims are necessary too. Prisoner rights initiatives from the 1960s by inmates led various state and federal system administrators to gradually recognize the freedom of religion and attendant constitutional rights and needs—dietary, spiritual, educational and with regard to attire and wearing of beards, for example.
Another important effort of prison ministries and outreach is to support Muslim inmates upon release, helping them to find jobs, housing, and reuniting with family members. Muslim chaplaincy training and degree programs have sprung up in post-secondary institutions. Legal aid funds, inmate advocacy and re-integration programs are too numerous to mention. With the rates of incarceration abnormally high in the U.S., it is not surprising that major Muslim organizations, mosques, and specialized groups have prison support initiatives supported by charitable giving. These efforts have been widely and often favorably covered in the media, though Islamophobic fear-mongering about radicalization through such programs has also found a place in the discourse.