Islam in America

Islam in America

In the early part of this century, waves of immigrants from various parts of the Muslim world, most notably Palestine, Lebanon and what is now Pakistan appeared on these shores. These people were mostly illiterate, unskilled Arabs who found work in the auto factories of Detroit. Then, beginning in the '50s, the picture changed drastically. An influx of Muslim professionals, many of them physicians, finding conditions in their homelands inhospitable, settled in this country after completing their studies. Great numbers of Muslim students from all parts of the world also began to arrive in this country. This was the period which saw the formation of the early Muslim communities and mosques in such places as Detroit, Ann Arbor, Gary (Indiana), Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Sacramento and the like. Visiting scholars and missionary groups from the Middle East and the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent also began to arrive. And Islam began, in a very slow manner, to gain adherents among white Americans. Until the last several decades of the 20th century, then, most Muslims have chosen to come to the U.S. for purposes of economic betterment or education, with some emigrating after World War I because of political turmoil. But political turmoil in their home countries has been a primary motive for much of the recent Muslim arrival in America. According to the website for Muslim life in America http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/muslimlife/ there was a recent survey that said there are 1,209 mosques in America, well over half founded in the last 20 years. Between 17 and 30 percent of American Muslims are converts to the faith.

According to the "The Mosque in America: A National Portrait." Islam in America is now wider, deeper and more diverse than ever in its history, and Muslims are trying to bring their faith, politics and culture to America. Islam has found a large ethic diversity finding that there is a mix of South Asians, African Americans, Arabs and other groups that have been born in America and chose to worship together unlike Judaism and Christianity that tend to stay within their own ethnic groups. Islam has growing 25% in North America since 1989 (http://www.30-days.net/statics/statusa3.htm ) which makes it the fastest growing religion in America coming in second to the largest only to Christianity.

Since the Sep 11th terrorist attacks there have been a lot of people that have