IN FRATERNAM MEAM: MUSLIMS IN AMERICA

IN FRATERNAM MEAM

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

MUSLIMS IN AMERICA

Islamic Centers or Mosque in America

1. San Francisco, California -- 36
2. San Jose, California ------- 37
3. Los Angeles, California ---- 86
4. Seattle, Washington -------- 20
5. Toronto, Canada------------- 75
6. Chicago, Illinois ---------- 74
7. Detroit, Michicagn---------- 82
8. Montreal, Canada ----------- 42
9. Mississaugua --------------- 46
10.Boston, Massachusettes------ 27
11.New York, New York --------- 128
12.Newark, New Jersey --------- 52
13.Washington , D.C.----------- 70
14.Atlanta, Georgia ----------- 33
15.Houston, Texas ------------- 30

Since September 11, 2001, when Islamist
terrorists attacked the U.S.a big spotlight
-- or a galaxy of small ones-- has been
shining on Muslims. Yet all this light
has not helped illuminate a simingly
simple question:
How many Muslims live in the U.S.?

Getting a reliable head count in the U.S.
is difficult because federal law prohibits
the Census Bureau from asking questions
about religion. Without comprehensive tally,
social scientists uses surveys. One study by
the Council on American-Islamic Relations
indentified 1,209 mosques -- including
Far-al-Islam's eductaion center in New Mexico
-- estimated the average attendance , then
calculated a national total.Using this method,
the council estimates that there are six million
to seven million Muslims in the U.S. Most academics,
though, put the population closer to two to three
million.

In Canada, where the census does track religious
affiliation, there are 579,600 muslim, or
2 percent of the population.)

Whatever the figure, the U.S. undoudbtedly has one
of the world's most ethnically diverse Muslim
communities. Most Islamic immigrants from South
Asia and the Middle East and the Muslim from birth,
whereas most African-American Muslims are converts
or "reverts"-- the spiritual descendants of Africans
whose Islamic roots were severed long ago by the slave trade.

Althoug this diversity creates some tensions, it also
presents historic opportunites, says Muqtedar Khan,
an Indian immigrant and author of

American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom.

African-American Muslims tends to focus on domestic
issues such as racisom and economic justice, Khan says,
while immigrants care more about life back home.
Yet despite the differences, "the American Muslim community
believes that it has a Divine Mission" --
to show that Islamic values are relevant to modern life.
If Muslims do that, he says, they can influence the West and
"reshapes the destiny of traditions of Muslim societies"

EThnic Composition of the Muslim Community in the U.S.

African -------------- 7 percent
African-American ----- 20 percent
Middle Eastern Arab--- 26 percent (37% Lebanese)
South Asian ---------- 34 percent (56% Pakistani)
Other ---------------- 12 percent
Unknown -------------- 1 percent

(abstracted from GEOGRAPHICA/Geography of Everyday Life by:Alan Mairson)

posted by infraternam meam @ 1:01 AM

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