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New York: The
number of American mosques has increased dramatically in the last
decade despite post-9/11 protests aimed at Muslim houses of
worship, according to a report released this week. The new Islamic centers serve Muslims who moved into the suburbs and newer
immigrants from Africa, Iraq and elsewhere.
Researchers conducting the national count found 2,106 Islamic
centers, compared with 1,209 in 2000 and 962 in 1994. About
one-quarter of the centers were built in 2000-11, as the community
faced intense scrutiny by government officials and a suspicious
public. In 2010, protest against an Islamic center near ground
zero erupted into a national debate over Islam, extremism and
religious freedom. Anti-mosque demonstrations spread to Tennessee,
California and other states.
Ihsan Bagby, a professor at the University of Kentucky and the
lead author of the report, said the findings show that Muslims are
carving out a place for themselves despite the backlash.
“This is a growing, healthy Muslim community that is
well-integrated into America,” Bagby said. “I think that is the
best message we can send to the world and the Muslim world in
particular.”
The report, “The American Mosque 2011,” is based on mailing lists,
websites and interviews with community leaders, a survey and
interviews with 524 mosque leaders. The research is of interest
given the limited scholarship on Muslim houses of worship, which
include a wide range of religious traditions, nationalities and
languages.
Researchers defined a mosque as a Muslim organisation that holds
Friday congregational prayers, conducts other Islamic activities
and has operational control of its building. Buildings such as
hospitals and schools that have space for Friday prayer were not
included. Chapters of the Muslim Student Association at colleges
and universities were included only if they had space off-campus
or had oversight of the building where prayer was held.
Almost all the mosques are in cities, but those in suburbs rose
from 16 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2011. The Northeast once
had the most mosques, but Islamic centers are now concentrated in
the South and West, the study found. New York still has the most
Islamic centers — 257 — followed by 246 in California and 166 in
Texas. Florida is fourth with 118. The shift follows the general
pattern of population movement to the South and West.
The study found the ethnic makeup of mosque participants largely
unchanged from 2000. South Asians represent about one-third of
participants, and Arabs and African-Americans make up about
one-quarter each. Bagby found a slight increase in the percentage
of Muslims from West Africa and Somalia. An influx of Iraqi and
Iranian refugees is behind a jump in the number of Shiite mosques
since the 1990s. Shiites still represent a very small percentage
of U.S. Muslims.
The study’s authors did not ask specifics of how each community
funded mosque construction.
Estimates of the total U.S. Muslim population have become an issue
as Muslims seek a voice in public life. The Pew Research Center
estimated last year that the U.S. Muslim community encompassed
2.75 million people, or nearly 1 percent of the population. The
2011 mosque study is part of the Faith Communities Today
partnership, which researches the more than 300,000 houses of
worship in the U.S. Sponsors include the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, the Hartford Institute for Religion
Research, and the Islamic Society of North America.
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