Islam in America

The first significant waves of immigration of Muslims to North America came through three centuries of the slave trade. In the midst of brutal treatment and forced conversion to Christianity, many African Muslims preserved their religious identities...

For America's first Muslims, prayer took place in private homes or rented public spaces which grew into Islamic associations. As Muslims began to establish roots in America, their communities started to build American earliest mosques in Maine, North...

Prominent African American Muslim leaders and organizations include Noble Drew Ali (founder of the Moorish Science Temple), Ahmadiyyah missionaries from India, and the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America led by Elijah Muhammad. Some of these groups are...

The number of Muslim immigrants in the United States increased after World War II and again after the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 eliminated the previous quota system based on national origins. Efforts at unity were illustrated by the...

The history of the Nation of Islam continued in the mid-1960s under the leadership of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. Mohammed focused on reforming the organization with an emphasis on orthodox Islam and interracial and interreligious collaborations. Other...

Increasing internal diversity of Muslims in the United States after 1965 led to the creation of national organizations such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Shi’a Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities (NASIMCO). Since then...