Mosque construction in the U.S. up 74 percent in past decade

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
9/8/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

New York City ranks as Number One in mosque construction

The number of mosques in the United States has grown by 74 percent in the past 11 years, up from 1,209 in 2001 to a substantial 2,106 in 2011. The statistics was compiled and released by Faith Communities Today, affiliated with the Hartford Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research earlier this year.

The Islamic Society of Vermont is the only official mosque listed for the entire state of Vermont.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The survey found that mosque construction has typically been in larger metropolitan U.S. areas. The 10 states with the largest number of mosques are New York, with 257, California with 246, Texas with 166, Florida with 118, Illinois with 109, New Jersey with 109, Pennsylvania with 99, Michigan with 77, Georgia with 69 and Virginia with 62.

The state of Vermont has the least number of mosques, with only one located in the entire state.

In terms of metropolitan areas, Greater New York City again led with 192 mosques. Southern California has 120, Greater Chicago has 90, Greater Philadelphia has 63 and Greater Detroit's 63 mosques rounded out the top five metropolitan areas for mosque population.

The survey was the first of two reports on American mosques released this year.

The first survey, "Basic Characteristics of the American Mosque, Attitudes of Mosque Leaders" includes data on the growth of mosques in the U.S. and attitudes of their leaders.

One surprise finding of the survey was a decrease in the number of mosque leaders who thought American society is hostile to Islam, from 54 percent in 2000 to 25 percent in 2011.

The "American mosque is a remarkably young institution," with 76 percent of all mosques being established since 1980.

In a second survey, "Activities, Administration and Vitality of the American Mosque" was released in May of this year and focused on "mosque activities, administration and vitality."

The survey listed all mosques in America and included a telephone interview with a mosque leader or imam, president or board member from a large sample of mosques. The mosque count was conducted from February to July 2010, and the mosque leader interviews were conducted from August 2010 to November 2011.

Of the 2,106 mosques listed, a random sample of 727 mosques was selected, and 524 interviews were then completed, which means that the margin of error for the survey is within the range of plus or minus five percent.

FACT announced in the second survey that a third survey would be issued on women in the mosque.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Mosques, mosque construction, U.S., survey, attitudes

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1 - 10 of 13 Comments

vance
8 months ago
Our country is making a huge mistake allowing these individuals in this country. Yes, I am well aware of the Constitution but these people are not Buddhists or Hindus who are tolerant of other beliefs and faiths. They don't call for the death of Non-Believers. Muslims have been sworn enemies of Christians and Jews since Mohammad. The European Nations are now paying the price for allowing them in their countries. Islam has ZERO tolerance for other faiths and beliefs. They do not assimilate into societies where they live. They insist on being separate from the rest of society where they reside. They have already treated us to their terrorism. They only promise more to come. These are a steady supply of domestic enemies of our country.
Shiva
8 months ago
Iftikhar Ahmad states

"Muslim schools provide an education in accordance with the Muslim beliefs and values, such as providing single-sex schooling after puberty. They are thus a response to the danger of absorption into the dominant culture."

The goes on to complain that

"A growing number of young Pakistanis feel they are â€˜second class citizens and will remain so. They are addressed as outsiders â€“ as â€˜immigrant, Paki or Muslimâ€™ and increasingly shut out or discriminated against."

The uncomfortable truth is, muslim are not permitted to integrate

Regardless of sect, legal school, nationality, or political status, Muslim jurists from Arab countries have concluded as to the proper status and role of Muslim emigrants to the West. To ban or ignore mass Muslim migration to the West would only alienate immigrants, they found. Muslim jurists concentrated instead on constructing a legal-religious framework to maintain emigrants' Muslim identities while using the diaspora in the service of Islam.

Their judgment called upon Muslim immigrants in the West to place religious identity above national and ethnic identities and to promote the interests of a global Muslim nation. The jurists' consensus involved five points: First, a greater Islamic nation exists of which Muslims are members wherever they live. Second, while living in a non-Muslim society is undesirable, it might be legal on an individual basis if the immigrant acts as a model Muslim. Third, it is the duty of a Muslim in the West to reaffirm his religious identity and to distance himself from anything contrary to Islam. Hence, he should help establish and patronize mosques, Muslim schools, cultural centers, and shops. Fourth, Muslims in the West should champion the cause of the Muslim nation in the political as well as the religious sphere, for there should be no distinction between the two. Lastly, Muslims in the West should spread Islam in the declining, spiritual void of Western societies.
John
8 months ago
Islam is very hard headed. The only way to deal with Islam and make Muslims respect you is to let them know that they cannot do whatever they wish when it comes to killing and violence in the name of Islam. When they try that Muslim Rampage garbage the way we see it in Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Chad, and they manage to kill a few dozen---we need to fight back or else they will do whatever they please.
DarthJ
8 months ago
"While not a UK subject myself, I lament the fact that Islamic schools graduate students who reject the fact of Darwinian evolution by natural selection."

Islam is opposed to Catholic principles, while young earth, 6-day creation has traditionally been upheld by the Church (even recently Pope Benedict extended his blessing to a symposium on the errors of evolution). Evolution is no "fact." check out the Kolbe Center for more information, or the Bellarmine Report. For Islam's many faults, look up the site Jihadwatch.
Neil
8 months ago
Islam is destroying America.
GW
8 months ago
So what? Worried about mosque construction? How many Mormon churches are there in the US now? How many 10 years ago? How many Catholics have converted to Mormonism? How many have converted to Islam? Which is the bigger threat?

Neither. The threat is our own paranoia.
Outremer
8 months ago
This is why we need to drastically reduce immigration for the next several generations. Islam is incompatible with democracy, even though most Muslims do embrace it at first. But eventually, look at what happened to Theo Van Gogh for publishing the Mohammed facial depiction.
Juneau Alaska
8 months ago
Iftikhar Ahmad, whatever your claims of "Western media and politicians" propagating against Islamic schools, the fact remains that State-sponsored faith schools like you have in the UK is an utterly foreign concept in the US and, Constitutionally forbidden I might add. While not a UK subject myself, I lament the fact that Islamic schools graduate students who reject the fact of Darwinian evolution by natural selection. That is a disgrace. -Cheers! Mike
DarthJ
8 months ago
A very interesting post, Iftikhar Ahmad. You propose that the native English people be driven out of their own country, supplanted by a culture radically different from their own. This is nothing more than murder of a nation- you want access to this first world country, but refuse to assimilate. A state funded Moslem school, which, as you say, would have "no place for a
non-Muslim child or a teacher," would only speed up the process of a Moslem takeover in Britain.
Iftikhar Ahmad
8 months ago
A civilisation is measured not by the rights it grants its majority but the privileges it allows its minorities.

Muslim community not only needs Mosques but also state funded Muslim schools for their bilingual children. They need to learn and be well versed in standard English to follow the national Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. They also need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural heritage and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit.

A good school is not just a knowledge factory or a conveyor belt for churning out exam passes - it is a community, a family. A community is held together by common values and principles.

It is a common saying that British schooling is upholding British values of integration, respect, tolerance and equality. But all minority groups find British schooling is the home of institutional racism and British teachers are chicken racist. This is one of the many reason why they would like to see their children attending their own schools with their own teachers. Muslim community started setting up school in the 80s and I set up the first Muslim school in 1981 and now there are 166 Muslim schools and only 11 are state funded. Sikh and Hindu communities have set up their own schools. Now Black community is thinking of setting up schools with their own teachers.

Muslim families are as entitled as any other religious group to schools that nurture their children's faith. Muslim pupils should be educated in Muslim schools because the current system is marginalising them. Teaching Muslim children in a Muslim school would remove the "problem of them being exposed" to values that conflict with Islamic faith. Muslim pupils are disadvantaged and marginalised in the city's state schools because the cultural heritage of the curriculum is "European and Christian".

Muslim schools provide an education in accordance with the Muslim beliefs and values, such as providing single-sex schooling after puberty. They are thus a response to the danger of absorption into the dominant culture.

There is already a divided education system in all inner cities because of the demographics of the population. This has been the situation for 15 to 20 years. If this was so important why has nothing been done before?

A growing number of British-born Muslims and especially Pakistanis are suffering from psychological problems and apathy and are either turning to crime or radical Islam. Majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan.

A growing number of young Pakistanis feel they are ‘second class citizens and will remain so. They are addressed as outsiders – as ‘immigrant, Paki or Muslim’ and increasingly shut out or discriminated against. The hardening of attitudes towards Muslims in British society is also having an effect.

I have been campaigning for state funded Muslim schools for the last 35 years
because British schooling is the home of
institutional racism and British teachers are chicken racists. British
teachers are not role models for Muslim children during their developmental
periods.

I set up the first Muslim school in London in 1981 and now there are about
170 Muslim schools and only 12 are state funded. I would like to see each
and every Muslim child in a state funded Muslim school with bilingual Muslim
teachers as role model. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a
teacher in a Muslim school.

Western media and politicians have been trying their best to propagate
against Muslim schools. Muslim schools are even called Osama bin Laden Academies by a Teaching Union. Only less than 5% of Muslim children attend Muslim
schools while more than 95% are in state schools to be mis-educated and
de-educated by non-Muslim monolingual teachers.

The demand for state funded Muslim schools is in accordance with the law of
the land. Muslim community is not asking for any favour. Muslim community
pays all sorts of taxes and is less burden on social services.

Church leaders say it is no longer "appropriate" for them to run Sacred
Heart RC Primary School which has just six Christian pupils. The school in
Blackburn, Lancs, could be handed to the nearby Masjid-e-Tauheedul mosque.

Harry Devonport of Blackburn with Darwen Council Children's Services, said
the decision to abandon the school was made by the Diocese of Salford.
Diocese education director Geraldine Bradbury said: "We have never
experienced a change to this extent before. We would not be serving the
local community by insisting that we run the school. It brings things like
having a Catholic head teacher and devoting 10% of the timetable to RE.
"It would be wrong of us to insist on putting a school community through
that."

There are hundreds of state and church schools where Muslim children are in
majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be opted out as Muslim
Academies. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role
models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a
non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.
IA
London School of Islamics Trust
htttp://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

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