The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on or about Aug. 22, and the fasting and abstaining and feasting that accompany the observance are among the most prominent markers of North America’s growing Muslim population. But few may realize how diverse the Muslim community is.

In fact, many Americans have been playing catch-up when it comes to learning about Islam, even though it is the world’s second-largest faith and an increasingly visible part of the civic and racial-ethnic makeup of the United States and Canada.

One especially notable but often overlooked characteristic of Islam is its ethnic, cultural and racial diversity. Ramadan offers a chance for reporters to explore that diversity by looking at how disparate communities of Muslims differ in their observance of the holiday, how they have adapted to the North American setting and how much they come together over shared traditions.

This edition of ReligionLink provides an overview of a world religion whose diversity is on full display in the Islamic community in the United States.

NOTE: Islam follows a lunar calendar, and the start of Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the new moon. Because that sighting can vary from place to place, there are ongoing debates about the official start of the holiday. The Fiqh Council of North America hopes to establish a firm date beforehand (Aug. 22 this year), but that effort has met with some opposition. Check with your local Muslim leaders for when they will mark the start of Ramadan.

Background and issues

As a more nuanced view of American Islam emerges, its diversity is becoming apparent. There are immigrants from a variety of world cultures who have come to the U.S. in the past 40 years, plus young second-generation American Muslims and African-American Muslims, who include converts and those born to the faith. All have a religion and a country — the U.S. — in common. After that, group identifications begin to shuffle and mix. An extensive 2009 Gallup analysis measured demographics and attitudes of American Muslims, showing that more than one-third are African-American. America’s two Muslim congressional representatives, Keith Ellison of Minnesota and André Carson of Indiana, are African-American Muslims; both are converts to the faith.

Experts don’t agree on how many Muslims live in this country – estimates range from a little more than 1 million to 7 million, with the best estimates trending toward a lower figure. Getting a handle on Muslims’ race or ethnicity is equally challenging.

Surveys and studies of American Muslims are relatively new and few in number. The U.S. Census doesn’t ask about religious affiliation, and unlike a number of other religions, Islam doesn’t count its own believers. So issues related to demographics are debatable, political and newsworthy. Moreover, because the Muslim population varies by areas, this national story has many local variants.

Scholars agree that the three largest groups of American Muslims are African-American, Asian origin and Middle Eastern origin. That diversity is also reflected in global statistics that show 20 percent of the world’s Muslims live in Arab countries. Most Muslims live in Africa and Asia. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country by population, and Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have more than 100 million adherents each. There are also significant Muslim communities in China, and in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, as well as in Western Europe. Turkey and Iran are the largest non-Arab Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East. (Iranians are Persians.) Egypt and Nigeria have the largest Muslim communities in Africa.

In the United States, two recent and authoritative surveys – the Gallup survey released in 2009 and one done in 2007 by the Pew Research Center – differ greatly on some points regarding Muslim demographics. In particular, they differ on their calculation of the African-American proportion of American Muslims. Pew’s analysis of its data offers a portrait of middle-class, mainstream Muslims; Gallup’s analysis shows that American Muslims experience stress and are least likely among groups to see themselves as thriving. How are these ethnic groupings and socioeconomic interpretations applicable to Muslims in your area?

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS

There is some tension between African-American Muslims, who form a sizable group within American Islam, and immigrant or first-generation Muslims. African-Americans disproportionately experience poverty, while immigrant and first-generation American Muslims in middle-class professions are less likely to have that experience. Do these socioeconomic differences affect the Muslim population in your area? How is this relationship evolving over time?

One of several reasons for the marked presence of Islam among African-Americans is prison conversion. Some adopt the religion while incarcerated, and some experts believe this is fueling the growth of Islam in this country. Check with agencies that deal with ex-convicts as well as any local prison chaplains to find out their assessments.

America’s two Muslim congressmen are both African-American, converts to the faith and from the Midwest. In addition, the oldest mosque in America is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One of America’s vital centers of Islam is Dearborn, Mich., where immigrants working in the auto industry settled. Midwest-based journalists might particularly want to explore the historic relationship between Islam and America’s heartland and how that affects contemporary American Islam.

NATION of ISLAM

The relationship between the Nation of Islam and mainstream Islam among African-Americans is complex. No one knows the exact numbers, but Nation of Islam members are a minority of African-American Muslims; most Muslims do not regard Nation of Islam teachings as orthodox Islam. ReligionLink’s April 16, 2007, tip on African-Americans and Islam provides background for a story about the evolution of American Islam.

SUFISM

Sufism is another way to understand diversity within Islam. Sufism is the mystical tradition within Islam; America’s most popular poet is the 13th-century Sufi mystic Rumi. While Sufism is traditional, it has also gained some traction within America today among those attracted to mystical and meditative practices; some Sufi groups in America do not even regard themselves as Muslim but rather as universalist. In addition, parts of Africa have been home to Sufism, making it part of the original religious heritage of African-Americans. This angle on African-Americans and Islam is particularly fresh. If your area has Sufi practitioners, explore their demographic characteristics and theological underpinnings.

Demographic studies and surveys

The Gallup Center for Muslim Studies’ “Muslim Americans: A National Portrait” provides demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Muslim Americans and measures attitudes (updated as of March 2009).

The American Religious Identification Survey 2008, released in March 2009, put the Muslim population at 1.3 million, or .6 percent of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in February 2008) reported demographics, beliefs and practices and social and political views.

A Pew Research Center report, “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” (May 2007) estimated a Muslim population of 2.35 million.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ report “The Mosque in America: A National Portrait” (April 2001) broke ground with its focus on American Muslim congregational life.

Organizations

The Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, part of Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, is the country’s oldest center for such study. With a history that traces back to 1893, the center focuses on research, teaching, publication and public discourse. Its faculty includes director Ingrid Mattson (who is also president of the Islamic Society of North America), Mahmoud Ayoub, the Rev. Steven Blackburn and Yahya Michot. The center posts basic facts about Islam, which journalists may find helpful. Contact 860-509-9534.

The Muslim Alliance in North America is especially concerned with issues affecting indigenous Muslims. Siraj Wahhaj is the amir, or head, of the group. Contact in Lexington, Ky., 859-296-0206.

Other resources

For a comprehensive listing of groups and sources, see ReligionLink’s source guide to Islam, which lists U.S. experts on Islam and Muslim organizations.

Also see ReligionLink’s guide “Covering Islam 101” and “African-Americans and Islam: Growth and change.”

Read media coverage on the widely reported 2009 Gallup study on American Muslims.

Read a brief history of Islam in America, written by religion scholar Thomas Tweed for teachers, that emphasizes the historic diversity of Islam.

National sources

• Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., undertook a yearlong “anthropological journey” across America with a team of students studying American diversity. The journey has been documented via blog. Media contact is Jon Hussey at American University, 202-885-5935, hussey@american.edu.
• Ihsan Bagby is an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky and one of the authors of the 2001 research report “The Mosque in America.” Contact 859-257-9638.
• Edward E. Curtis IV is an associate professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author of Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam: 1960-1975 (2006) and editor of The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States (2008). Contact 317-278-1683, ecurtis4@iupui.edu.
• Alan Godlas is an associate professor in the religion department at the University of Georgia and one of the country’s experts on Sufism. Contact 706-542-5356, godlas@uga.edu.
• Sherman Jackson is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and author of Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the
  Third Resurrection. Contact 734-763-4671, sajackso@umich.edu.
• Lawrence Mamiya is professor of religion on the Paschall-Davis Chair in the religion department at Vassar College. He is an expert on African-American religion and Islam
  among African-Americans and is working on a book project on the history and sociology of African-American Muslim movements. Contact 845-437-5522.
• Dalia Mogahed is a senior analyst and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. She also directs the Muslim West Facts Project, which
  disseminates research findings about Muslim and Western opinions and relationships,
  and was recently appointed to President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Gallup senior analysts Ahmed Younis and Magali Rheault can also speak about the work of the center. Contact them through Jason Bough at 202-715-3147, Jason_bough@gallup.com
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a university professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University and one of the foremost scholars of Islamic spirituality; he is also a Sufi. Contact 202-994-5704.
• Sulayman Nyang is
  a professor of African studies at Howard University. He teaches and has written extensively about Islam and was the co-principal investigator for the research project Muslims in the American Public Square. Contact 202-238-2311.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Kecia Ali is an assistant professor of religion at Boston University. Her specialty is women and gender in classical and contemporary Islam. Contact 617-353-4465, ka@bu.edu.
• The Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, part of Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, is the country’s oldest center for such study. The center focuses on research, teaching, publication and public discourse. Center director is Ingrid Mattson, who is also president of the Islamic Society of North America. Contact 860-509-9534.

IN THE EAST

• Muhammad Shamsi Ali is imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. He is Indonesian. Contact 212-722-5234.
• Zaheer Ali is a doctoral student at Columbia University researching 20th-century African-American history and religion; he is project manager for Columbia’s Malcolm X Project. Contact through the project, 212-854-1489, or at mail@zaheerali.com.
• The All Dulles Area Muslim Society serves 5,000 families and has seven branches in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. The imam is Muhammad Magid. Contact 703-433-1325.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Jamillah Karim is assistant professor in the department of philosophy and religious studies at Spelman College in Atlanta. She was reared in an African-American Muslim community. Her expertise is on race, gender and Islam; younger Muslims in the U.S.; and connections and tensions among African-American Muslims and immigrant Muslims in the U.S. Contact 404-270-5524, JKarim@spelman.edu.
• Omid Safi is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a columnist for Beliefnet and is often quoted as an expert on progressive Islam. He co-chairs the Study of Islam section of the American Academy of Religion. Contact 919-962-4890, omid@email.unc.edu.

IN THE SOUTH

• The Islamic Center of Mississippi in Starkville serves a diverse group. Contact 662-323-6559.
• The King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas includes professors in a variety of disciplines. Joel Gordon is the director as of
  July 1, 2009. Contact 479-575-4157.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Marcia Hermansen is director of the Islamic World Studies Program and a professor in the theology department at Loyola University Chicago. She is an expert on Islamic spirituality and Sufism. Contact 773-508-2345, mherman@luc.edu.
• The Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Mich., claims to be the largest mosque in the U.S. It is a Shiite mosque, and its congregation is predominantly Arab. Contact Imam Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, 313-593-0000, imamqazwini@icofa.com.
• Tariq Malhance is president of the Muslim Community Center, located in Chicago with an education center in Morton Grove. Contact 773-725-9047.
• Aminah B. McCloud is a professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago and director of the Islamic World Studies Program. Contact 773-325-1290, amccloud@depaul.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Shahed Amanullah is founder and editor in chief of altmuslim, a Web site with contributors from across the globe writing on Muslim life, politics and culture. Contact him in Austin, Texas, 650-248-6135.
• The Institute of Interfaith Dialog, founded by Turkish Muslim Fethullah Gulen, is based in Houston and has chapters throughout the South and Southwest. Contact 713-974-4443.
• Yusuf Ziya Kavakci is the Turkish-born imam of the Islamic Association of North Texas. Contact 972-231-5698.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Karen Isaksen Leonard is an anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine. Her publications include Muslims in the United States: The State of Research. Contact 949-824-7602, kbleonar@uci.edu.
• Imam Zaid Shakir is an African-American who converted to Islam during his service in the Air Force. He has a master’s degree in political science and received classical scholarly training in the Muslim world. He is a writer, speaker, teacher and activist, having founded several Muslim organizations in the eastern U.S. before becoming a resident scholar at Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, Calif., which calls him a leader in an emerging indigenous American Muslim tradition. Read his blog at New Islamic Directions. Contact through the institute, 510-548-1979.
• Muzammil Siddiqi leads the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove, Calif. He also chairs the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. Contact him at ISOC, 714-531-1722; contact the council at 714-239-6473.