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Since residents are not required to state their nationality on census forms, it is difficult to know exactly how many actually reside here is extremely difficult to measure.
Others claim that no scientific count of Muslims in the U.S. has been done, but that the larger figures should be considered accurate.[60] Some journalists have also alleged that the higher numbers have been inflated for political purposes.[61] On the other hand, some Muslim groups blame Islamophobia and the fact that many Muslims identify themselves as Muslims, but do not attend mosques for the lower estimates.[62]
The history of the voluntary immigration of Muslims to the U.S. actually seriously began about 1880. Â The migration can be divided into two phases-from 1880 to World War I and from World War I to the present.
From the 1880s to 1914, several thousand Muslims immigrated to the United States from the Ottoman Empire, and from parts of South Asia; they did not form distinctive settlements, and probably most assimilated into the wider society [1].
The earliest documented case of a Muslim to come to the United States is Dutchman Anthony Janszoon van Salee, who came to New Amsterdam around 1630 and was referred to as 'Turk'. [2][3] The oldest Muslim community to establish in the country was the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in 1921, which pre-dates Nation of Islam.[4][5]
Once very small, the Muslim population of the US increased greatly in the twentieth century, with much of the growth driven by rising immigration and widespread conversion.[6] In 2005, more people from Islamic countries became legal permanent United States residents — nearly 96,000 — than in any year in the previous two decades.[7][8]
Recent immigrant Muslims make up the majority of the total Muslim population. South Asians Muslims from India and Pakistan and Arabs make up the biggest group of Muslims in America at 60-65% of the population.
Native-born American Muslims are mainly African Americans who make up a quarter of the total Muslim population. Many of these have converted to Islam during the last seventy years. Conversion to Islam in prison,[9] and in large urban areas[10] has also contributed to its growth over the years. American Muslims come from various backgrounds, and are one of the most racially diverse religious group in the United States according to a 2009 Gallup poll.[11]
A Pew report released in 2009 noted that nearly six-in-ten American adults see Muslims as being subject to discrimination, more than Mormons, Atheists, or Jews.[12]
According to a 2007 religious survey, 72% of Muslims believe religion is very important, which is higher in comparison to the overall population of the United States at 59%. The frequency of receiving answers to prayers among Muslims was, 31% at least once a week and 12% once or twice a month.[63] Nearly a quarter of the Muslims are converts to Islam (23%), mainly native-born. Of the total who have converted, 59% are African American and 34% white. Previous religions of those converted was Protestantism (67%), Roman Catholicism (10%) and 15% no religion.
Mosques are usually explicitly Sunni or Shia. There are 1,209 mosques in the United States and the nation's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of America, is in Dearborn, Michigan. It caters mainly to the Shi'a Muslim congregation; however, all Muslims may attend this mosque. It was rebuilt in 2005 to accommodate over 3,000 people for the increasing Muslim population in the region.[64][65]
In many areas, a mosque may be dominated by whatever group of immigrants is the largest. Sometimes the Friday sermons, or khutbas, are given in languages like Urdu or Arabic along with English. Areas with large Muslim populations may support a number of mosques serving different immigrant groups or varieties of belief within Sunni or Shi'a traditions.
At present, many mosques are served by imams who immigrate from overseas, as only these imams have certificates from Muslim seminaries. [66]Â
 In recent years,the influence of the Wahhabi movement in the US has caused concern. Â
Too many people, including atheists fail to appreciate just how different and varied Muslims can be.  There are things one can say that apply to all or most Muslims just as with Christianity ;  but there are far more things one can say that apply only to some or a few Muslims. Â
That is especially true when it comes to Muslim extremism because Wahhabi Islam, the primary religious movement behind extremist Islam, includes beliefs and doctrines not found anywhere else in the Muslim world.
The official sect currently practiced in Saudi Arabia and rooted in its royal family, it is the religion of Osama Bin Laden and his followers.
Modern Islamic extremism and terrorism simply cannot be explained or understood without looking at the history and influence of Wahhibi Islam. Â It is important from an ethical and an academic perspective to understand what Wahhabi Islam teaches, what's so dangerous about it, and why those teachings differ from other branches of Islam.
And that will be the subject of tomorrow's post.Â
Thanks to the following sources for this information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States
https://atheism.about.com/od/islamicsects/a/wahhabi.htm
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