Mosques in America growing at exponential rate

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
3/4/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Islamic houses of worship continue to be built

Mosques, Islamic houses of worship, have become an increasingly common sight in post - 9/11 America. Congressional hearings on radicalization and campaigns against their construction projects have all failed to slow the tide. Nine hundred mosques have been built in the U.S. since the year 2000. According to recent surveys, fewer Muslims see America as "hostile" to Islam today.

In the previous survey, conducted a year before 9/11, a majority of mosque leaders, or 54 percent thought America was hostile toward Islam. Today, only a quarter of those surveyed said they feel that way.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The nation's largest Islamic groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America and the Islamic Circle of America responded to a survey that asked hundreds of mosque leaders about the demographics, along with their theological and political leanings of their congregation.

A survey has revealed 2,106 mosques in the United States, mostly located in or around big cities, with New York state and California alone having 503 mosques.

As more Americans have moved to the suburbs, so has the growth of new mosques. While most U.S. mosques have historically been established by South Asian immigrants, the study found that newer groups such as Somalis, Iraqis, West Africans and Bosnians have began to establish their own mosques since 2000.

"The continued growth of the community is amazing," Ihsan Bagby, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky says. Bagby was the primary researcher of the study. "It's remarkable the amount of mosques that have been built in the last 10 years. It's kind of counter-intuitive to factors working against them."

Bagby and his colleagues counted Sunni and Shiite mosques, which represent the two main Islamic denominations. Other Muslim groups, such as those on university campuses, do not have permanent spaces, so only those with a physical building or permanent room that they control were counted. Mosques also had to hold services on Fridays to be included in the survey, as Friday is the main Islamic congregational prayer day.

More than 98 percent of mosque leaders surveyed believed that Muslims should be involved in American society, while 91 percent said that Muslims should be involved in politics. The survey also found that 87 percent of mosque leaders disagree that radicalism is increasing among young Muslims.

The majority of Mosque leader, about 56 percent said they believe in a flexible interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah, or the way the Islamic prophet Muhammad practiced the religion that isn't always literal and takes into account modern life.

In the previous survey, conducted a year before 9/11, a majority of mosque leaders, or 54 percent thought America was hostile toward Islam. Today, only a quarter of those surveyed said they feel that way.

Below are some findings of "The American Mosque 2011: Basic Characteristics of the American Mosque, Attitudes of Mosque Leaders."

* The average number membership of an American mosque was 1,248 in 2011, which counts Muslims who at least pray for Eid-al-Fitr, one of two major holidays, at the mosque. That's down from 1,625 in 2000 and is likely because of a growth in the number of mosques.

* The total number of mosque participants or "mosqued Muslims" has increased from 2 million in 2000 to over 2.6 million Muslims in 2011. In his study, Bagby writes that "if there are 2.6 million Muslims who pray the Eid prayer, then the total Muslim population should be closer to estimates of up to 7 million." That contrasts with other surveys, such as a 2010 one by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which said there were 2.6 million Muslims in the country. A Pew report from last year said there were 2.75 million Muslims.

* Seventy-six percent of mosques were established since 1980.

* Shiite mosques are growing. Around 44 percent of all Shiite mosques were established in the 1990s. Approximately 7 percent of mosques identified themselves as Shiite and 37 percent of those are in the West, especially California. Most Shiites at American mosques are South Asians, Arabs and Iranians.

* A minority of mosques (3 percent) have just one ethnic group that attends. South Asians, Arab-Americans and African-Americans are dominant ethnic groups among mosque members, but significant numbers of Somalis, West Africans and Iraqis now worship at mosques nationwide.

* The number of mosques in urban areas is decreasing, while the number of mosques in suburban areas is increasing. In 2011, 28 percent of mosques were located in suburbs, up from 16 percent in 2000.

* The conversion rate per mosque has remained steady over the past two decades. In 2011, the average number of converts per mosque was 15.3. In 2000 the average was 16.3 converts per mosque.

* The average Friday prayer attendance was 353 compared to 292 in 2000.

� 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, U.S., survey, construction

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1 - 9 of 9 Comments

Truth Seeker
5 months ago
This is a very encouraging article.
People have decided to find the truth and God is helping them.
Rev. David
1 year ago
Mr. Everett Mann, please allow me to correct some misimpressions you may have received and are now unknowingly passing on without sufficient knowledge. Middle Eastern Christians and Jews had many reasons theological and political, many quite valid, for not being more receptive to Muhammad. The Copts, for example, rightly viewed Arabizing Muslims as invaders and occupiers. There was a great deal of presumption easily regarded as arrogance in the nature, tone, and execution of what Muhammad believed to be a divine mission. Keep in mind that Islam became very powerful very quickly and was in the position of dominance within a very short space of time, so the victim role in Muslim populated lands was quickly assumed mainly by Christians, Zoroastrians, and Jews, not the other way around. Today, Vatican-sponsored dialogs with representatives from the Islamic world necessarily places a high premium on reciprocity, given the worldwide persecution of Christians and other minorities where Muslims live in great numbers. Some of the Muslim dialog partners, enlightened men who refused to overreact to common misinterpretations of Pope Benedict XVI's Regensberg address and came to his defense, are quite sympathetic to the Pope's call for fairness with regard to freedom of worship but their hands are tied because of the institutional strength of nearly 14 centuries of Islamic jurisprudence in support of Sharia Law, which has always and intentionally served the purpose of pressuring non-Muslims to convert via a multitude coercive and discriminatory measures. Finally, Mr. Mann, you owe it to yourself to learn what Christianity is about if you are going to criticize it and appear educated since anyone who thinks that Christianity is about fear & manipulation (pre-Axial Age religion)or that it can be reduced to ethics at its best (post-Axial Age religion apart from the revolutionary Christ event) cannot be said to have even an elementary grasp of the nature of Christianity, only run-of-the-mill human religiosity apart from grace. I recommend that you begin with CS Lewis' Mere Christianity and Peter Kreeft's Christianity for Modern Pagans: PASCAL's Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained. BTW, your "left behind" comment suggests that you may have been exposed, perhaps even overexposed, to what are merely fundamentalist variants of Christianity (I'd be cynical, too, if my understanding of Christianity were conditioned by fundamentalism or other marginal expressions); please do yourself a favor and discover the heart of the Christian tradition and its riches. You will be stunned by the splendor of truth and the beauty of faith if you'll let go of old prejudices to see with new eyes.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
Robert Burford, okay, sorry about that. But I still get the feeling from your comment that you think Muslims in general "will take care of the widows but kill a homosexual or unwed mother."
everett mann
1 year ago
Tess, You can hardly blame middle eastern countries for banning Christian facilities as their experiences with Christians from the very early days have not been good.

As for being fearful and scared, that is nature of religion in general isn't it? keep em guessing whether or not they are going to get into heaven. It's no longer enough that you do good deeds and help your fellow humans. You now must hate certain people and be friends with certain others else you will be left behind.
Robert Burford
1 year ago
Bulbajer. I used Hamas as an example of how Islam support grows. The method is the same the specific movement is not. Not all followers of Islam are supporters of Hamas. The point of the article was how Islam supporters have grown. Much like the how widows were taken care of in the early church.
Tess
1 year ago
Its good to see that our Muslime Brothers and sisters are doing so well in this free country. How free is a muslim county, for example Saudi Arabia - in allowing Christians to bulit a church. How fearful they are. Are they scared that if they allow christains to built a church in there, Christanity will take over the so called Holy land of muslims. They are fearful and scared. May the freedom that they enjoy in all the christain countries to practise their faith keep them humble and open their eyes.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
Robert Burford, what makes you think that Hamas represents Islam as a whole? There are a lot of Muslims who believe the things you attribute to them, but there are also a lot who don't.
Robert Burford
1 year ago
Islam has gained ground in this country and the Caribbean and South America because they follow the message in Matthew where they fed me when I am hungry and clothed me when I am naked. Of course they only take part of the message to heart. They will take care of widows but kill a homosexual or unwed mother. They do the carrot and stick trick to get someone to join. With the false promise of heavenly reward and the promise to take care of their family. This is the method that Hamas uses in the middle east to get support for their causes.They would have no power if oil prices were not so high. So the more oil we use we increase their economic power, just like the more illegal drugs we use supports the cartels.No big comment or environmental cause, but stop and think what the consequences of your actions may be.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
"Mosques, Islamist houses of worship..." WOW. Perhaps you mean "Islamic" instead of "Islamist"? Islam is a religion. Islamism is an ideology. The rest of the article is good though. I'm glad to see that our Muslim brothers and sisters are doing so well in this free country.

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