The historiography of the United States has frequently marginalized the presence of Muslims, relegating Islam to the status of a late-20th-century arrival or a foreign importation. However, a rigorous examination of the historical record, ranging from Spanish colonial archives to antebellum plantation ledgers and 21st-century civil rights litigation, reveals a radically different narrative. Muslims have been present in the Americas since the earliest epochs of European exploration, predating the founding of the United States and the drafting of the Constitution. This presence has been characterized by a complex interplay of suppression, resistance, adaptation, and profound cultural influence.

This report offers an exhaustive analysis of the Muslim American experience, tracing its trajectory from the enslaved West Africans of the 16th century to the diverse, politically active demographic of 2025. It examines the distinct lineages of indigenous African American Islam and immigrant Muslim communities, the socio-political catalysts of the 20th century, the cultural Islamization of American art forms, and the legal and existential challenges posed by the post-9/11 security state and the geopolitical tensions of the 2020s. By synthesizing demographic data, historical biographies, and legal precedents, this analysis demonstrates that the history of Islam in America is not merely a sub-genre of immigration studies but a foundational element of the American project itself.

Pre-Colonial and Colonial Presence: The Enslaved and the Explorers (1522–1865)

The Conquistadors and the Myth of Absence

Conventional narratives often locate the arrival of Islam in the U.S. with the waves of immigration in the late 19th century. However, the first Muslims arrived not as immigrants but as explorers and enslaved individuals under the Spanish Empire. The earliest documented presence dates to the 16th century, entwined with the Spanish conquest of the New World.

In 1522, arguably the first recorded slave revolt in the Americas occurred on the island of Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic/Haiti). This uprising was led by enslaved Wolof Muslims from the Senegambia region who attacked their Spanish masters on Christmas Day.¹ The revolt was significant enough to prompt Charles V of Spain to issue a royal decree banning the transportation of “slaves suspected of Islamic leanings” to the Americas, fearing their radical ideology and military experience would destabilize the colonies.¹ This early legislation indicates that the colonial powers were acutely aware of Islam as a distinct and potentially resistant force within the enslaved population.

Despite these bans, Muslims continued to arrive. The most prominent early figure is Estevanico (Mustafa Azemmouri), a Moroccan man born in Azemmour around 1500.² Enslaved by the Portuguese and later sold to a Spanish nobleman, Estevanico was a key member of the ill-fated Narváez expedition in 1528.⁴ Surviving a shipwreck near Galveston, Texas, he became one of the first individuals from the Old World to explore the American Southwest, traversing present-day Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.² Estevanico was not merely a servant; historical accounts describe him as a gifted linguist and diplomat who acted as the primary intermediary with Indigenous tribes, often traveling ahead of the Spanish survivors and heralded as a healer.² His eventual death at the Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh in 1539 marked the end of a journey that fundamentally mapped the North American continent, cementing a Muslim presence at the very dawn of non-Indigenous history in the region.²

The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Literacy as Resistance

The demographic weight of early American Islam arrived in the holds of slave ships. Historians estimate that between 10% and 30% of the enslaved Africans brought to the United States were Muslim, originating largely from the Senegambia region, Futa Toro, and Futa Jallon.⁴ Unlike the popular conception of enslaved Africans as arriving with a “blank slate” of culture, these individuals often came from highly literate, cosmopolitan societies with established universities and legal systems.⁸

Literacy became a primary tool of resistance for enslaved Muslims. In a society where anti-literacy laws prohibited teaching enslaved people to read English, many Muslim Africans maintained literacy in Arabic.⁸ This ability allowed them to communicate, preserve their identities, and leave behind a written record that challenges the historical erasure of their intellect.

Omar ibn Said represents a paramount example of this intellectual resistance. Born in Futa Toro (modern Senegal) to a wealthy family, Said was a scholar who was enslaved and brought to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1807.⁷ Although he ostensibly converted to Christianity and attended church, his autobiography—written in Arabic in 1831—reveals a subtext of theological defiance.¹¹ Said famously began his memoir with Surah Al-Mulk (The Dominion), a Qur’anic chapter asserting that all dominion belongs to God.¹¹ By placing this text at the forefront of his life story, Said subtly negated the property rights of his masters, asserting a higher spiritual authority that his white observers, who often mistook his writings for the Lord’s Prayer, failed to comprehend.⁸

Ayuba Suleyman Diallo (Job Ben Solomon) offers another case of Muslim exceptionalism in the colonial era. Born around 1701 in Senegal, Diallo was a member of the prominent Fulbe clerical elite. Captured in 1731 and brought to Maryland, his literacy and aristocratic demeanor attracted the attention of Thomas Bluett.⁴ Through a series of fortunate events facilitated by his ability to write in Arabic, Diallo was taken to England, where he was celebrated as a scholar, had his portrait painted, and eventually secured his freedom and return to Africa.¹⁰ His story, while exceptional, underscores the presence of Islamic aristocracy within the enslaved population.

Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, known as the “Prince Among Slaves,” followed a similar but more protracted trajectory. A military commander from Futa Jallon captured in 1788, Rahman spent 40 years enslaved in Mississippi.⁴ His campaign for freedom involved the U.S. State Department and the Sultan of Morocco. Although he strategically used Christian rhetoric to gain support from the American Colonization Society, Rahman reverted openly to Islam upon his return to Africa in 1828, dying shortly after reaching Liberia.⁴

Mamadou Yarrow, another key figure, negotiated his freedom after 45 years of enslavement. He became a financier and homeowner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and was famously painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1819.¹³ Yarrow’s life as a practicing Muslim and property owner in the nation’s capital during the early republic disrupts the narrative that Muslims were exclusively enslaved laborers.

Communal Survival: The Sapelo Island Legacy

While many enslaved Muslims practiced in secret, isolated communities managed to practice openly. Bilali Muhammad, enslaved on Sapelo Island, Georgia, served as a head driver and led a community of approximately 80 Muslim men.¹⁴ Bilali is credited with writing the “Bilali Document,” a 13-page Arabic manuscript on Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) based on the Risala of Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, which remains one of the earliest Islamic texts produced in the United States.¹⁶

The isolation of the Georgia Sea Islands allowed for a unique cultural retention known as Gullah-Geechee, within which Islamic practices survived. Bilali’s descendants continued to use Islamic names, faced East for prayer, and used tasbih (prayer beads) well into the 20th century.¹⁰ Oral histories from descendants like Cornelia Bailey confirm that while the theological specifics of Islam may have faded over generations, the cultural and spiritual lineage remained intact, proving that the “death of Islam” among enslaved Africans was not immediate or total.¹⁶

Muslims in the Civil War

The involvement of Muslims in the American Civil War further embeds the community in U.S. history. An analysis of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System reveals nearly 300 names associated with Islam, such as “Mahomet,” “Hassan,” and “Ali,” primarily within Union muster rolls.¹⁸

Two notable figures exemplify this service:

• Nicholas Said: Born in Bornu (modern-day Nigeria/Chad), Said was a world traveler and linguist who, after arriving in the U.S., enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), fighting for the Union.²⁰
• Muhammad Kahn: An immigrant from Afghanistan who arrived in 1861 and fought for the Union Army, leaving behind a pension file that documents his service.²⁰

Additionally, the Union’s diplomatic relations involved Muslim powers; Tunisia sent a letter to the U.S. government in 1864 urging the end of slavery, a document cited by abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner.²⁰ This transnational connection highlights that the moral debates of the Civil War were observed and influenced by the broader Muslim world.

The First Wave: Immigration and Institutional Roots (1870s–1940s)

The Levantine Wave and the Peddling Economy

Following the Civil War, the United States experienced its first significant wave of voluntary Muslim immigration, occurring roughly between 1878 and 1924.⁴ These immigrants originated primarily from “Greater Syria,” a region of the Ottoman Empire encompassing modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.²³

Contrary to contemporary stereotypes of wealthy Arab immigrants, this first wave consisted largely of laborers and peddlers.²⁴ The peddling economy was a vital engine of social mobility; immigrants would traverse the rural Midwest and South, selling dry goods and notions to isolated farm communities.²⁴ This itinerant trade allowed them to learn English, accumulate capital, and eventually establish brick-and-mortar general stores.²⁵

This demographic settled heavily in the industrial Midwest. The Ford Motor Company in Detroit became a major hub, as Henry Ford employed significant numbers of Muslims (alongside African Americans) who were willing to endure the arduous conditions of the assembly lines.⁴ This economic opportunity laid the foundation for Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, to become centers of Arab-American life.

“Hi Jolly” and the Frontier

In the American West, the Muslim presence took a different form. In 1856, the U.S. Army experimented with using camels for transport in the Southwest desert. To manage the animals, they hired camel drivers from the Ottoman Empire, the most famous of whom was Hajji Ali, known to Americans as “Hi Jolly”.²⁷ Although the Camel Corps experiment was eventually abandoned, Hajji Jolly remained in the West, becoming a legendary figure in Arizona folklore and prospecting.²⁷ His grave in Quartzsite, Arizona, marked by a pyramid and camel silhouette, remains a testament to the Muslim contribution to the frontier era.

The First Mosques: Prairie Islam

As immigrant communities stabilized, they began to build institutions. The religious landscape of the early 20th century included the first purpose-built mosques, challenging the assumption that Islamic architecture is alien to the American rural landscape.

• Ross, North Dakota (1929): A community of Syrian and Lebanese farmers built the first documented mosque in the U.S. on the desolate prairies of North Dakota.²⁷ Although the original structure eventually fell into ruin as the community dwindled or assimilated, it marks the earliest attempt at establishing a permanent Islamic house of worship.²⁹
• The Mother Mosque of America (1934): Located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this structure is the longest-standing purpose-built mosque in the United States.²⁹ Built by immigrants from the Ottoman Empire during the height of the Great Depression, the “Moslem Temple” (as it was then known) served as a religious and cultural sanctuary.²⁸ Its survival and restoration in the 1990s underscore the deep roots of Islam in the American heartland.³²

Alexander Russell Webb and White Converts

While Islam was taking root among immigrants, it also began to attract White American intellectuals. Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (1846–1916), a journalist and former U.S. Consul to the Philippines, converted to Islam in 1888.³³ Webb is considered the earliest prominent Anglo-American convert. He represented Islam at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, delivering lectures defending the faith against Orientalist misconceptions.³³

Webb established the “American Moslem Brotherhood” and founded The Moslem World newspaper in New York, aiming to present Islam as a rational, modern faith compatible with Victorian American values.³⁴ Although his movement struggled financially and did not result in mass conversions, his work established an intellectual lineage of “indigenous” white Islam that sought to reconcile the faith with Western modernity.³⁶

Seamen and Coastal Enclaves

Simultaneously, transient communities of Muslim seamen from Yemen, Bengal, and Somalia established networks in port cities like New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans.¹⁰ In Harlem and Brooklyn, these sailors often interacted with the African American community, leading to intermarriages and the establishment of early multi-racial enclaves. Ibrahim Choudry, a Bengali activist and former seaman, was instrumental in this era, establishing the Pakistan League and petitioning for a club for Indian seamen in New York, which served as a de facto community center and prayer space.¹⁰

Table 1: Early Islamic Institutions in the U.S.

The Great Migration and the Rise of Black Internationalism (1910s–1950s)

The early 20th century witnessed a profound religious awakening among African Americans known as the “Great Migration,” where millions moved from the segregated South to the industrial North. In this crucible of urbanization and racial oppression, many African Americans began to look toward Islam not as a new religion, but as a reclaimed heritage—a return to an identity stolen by slavery.

The Moorish Science Temple of America

Founded by Noble Drew Ali (born Timothy Drew) in Newark, New Jersey, in 1913, the Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA) was the first mass movement to combine Islamic symbols with Black Nationalism.³⁷ Ali taught that African Americans were not “Negroes” (a term he associated with slavery) but “Moors” descended from the ancient Moabites of Morocco.⁴²

The MSTA issued identity cards to members, appending the suffixes “Bey” or “El” to their surnames.⁴¹ This was a radical act of self-definition in Jim Crow America, providing members with a sense of nationality and divine dignity. While the MSTA’s theology—centered on Ali’s Circle 7 Koran—was distinct from orthodox Islam, it introduced Islamic terminology, the fez, and the concept of prayer facing East to thousands of African Americans.⁴²

The Ahmadiyya Movement and Multi-Racial Islam

In 1920, Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, a missionary of the Ahmadiyya movement from India, arrived in the United States.⁴⁴ Unlike immigrant communities that remained insular, the Ahmadiyya actively proselytized, particularly among African Americans. Sadiq was detained at Ellis Island but successfully argued for his entry, setting a precedent for religious preaching.⁴⁴

Establishing his headquarters in Chicago, Sadiq founded The Moslem Sunrise, the longest-running Muslim publication in the U.S..³⁸ The Ahmadiyya message of racial equality resonated deeply with Black Americans. Sadiq famously stated that Islam recognized no color line, a revolutionary concept in 1920s America.⁴⁵ The movement boasted some of the earliest multi-racial congregations, including converts like Florence (Frankie) Watts, who was featured in The Moslem Sunrise.⁴⁵

The Ahmadiyya also provided a rigorous intellectual defense of Islam and facilitated the conversion of many jazz musicians, embedding the faith into the cultural avant-garde.⁴⁶ Notable figures like Madame Rahatullah served as active female preachers, highlighting the movement’s relatively progressive stance on women’s involvement compared to contemporary norms.³⁸

Sheikh Daoud Faisal and the State Street Mosque

While heterodox movements grew, orthodox Sunni Islam also found a foothold in the inner cities. Sheikh Daoud Ahmed Faisal, a Grenadian immigrant, established the Islamic Mission of America (State Street Mosque) in Brooklyn in 1939.⁴⁰ Unlike the MSTA or NOI, Sheikh Daoud preached traditional Sunni Islam, emphasizing the unity of the Ummah and adherence to the Five Pillars. The State Street Mosque became a critical hub for connecting African American converts with immigrant Muslims, particularly sailors and diplomats, and served as a bridge between the Black American experience and global Islam.¹⁰

The Nation of Islam and the Sunni Transition (1930–1975)

The Rise of the Nation of Islam (NOI)

The most significant development in African American Islam began in Detroit in 1930 with the appearance of Wallace Fard Muhammad. Fard preached a unique synthesis of Islam and Black Nationalism, identifying himself as the Messiah and teaching that the Black man was the “original man” while white people were “devils” created by a scientist named Yakub.³⁹ This theology, while heretical to orthodox Islam, offered a potent theodicy for the suffering of Black Americans under white supremacy.

Upon Fard’s disappearance in 1934, his disciple Elijah Muhammad assumed leadership. Under Elijah, the NOI grew into a disciplined, economically self-sufficient nation within a nation.³⁹ The NOI emphasized sobriety, hard work, and separation from white society.

Clara Muhammad, Elijah’s wife, was the backbone of the movement’s internal structure. During Elijah’s incarceration for draft evasion in the 1940s, Clara managed the organization and was instrumental in establishing the University of Islam schools, which provided an alternative education system free from the racism of public schools.⁴⁹ She also formalized the Muslim Girls Training (MGT) curriculum, which, while reinforcing traditional gender roles, also empowered women as the primary educators and moral guardians of the community.⁵¹

Malcolm X: The Bridge

Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) emerged in the 1950s as the NOI’s most charismatic spokesman. His critique of American racism electrified the Black masses. However, his pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca in 1964 precipitated a spiritual and political evolution. Witnessing Muslims of all races worshiping together, Malcolm rejected the NOI’s racial theology and embraced Sunni Islam, adopting the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.³⁷

His assassination in 1965 cut short his mission, but his autobiography became a seminal text, guiding future generations of African Americans toward orthodox Islam and cementing the link between the Black freedom struggle and the global Islamic community.⁵² His widow, Dr. Betty Shabazz, played a crucial role in preserving his legacy while advancing her own career as an educator and administrator at Medgar Evers College, symbolizing the resilience of Muslim women in the face of tragedy.⁵³

The Great Transition: Warith Deen Mohammed

The death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975 triggered one of the most massive religious transformations in U.S. history. His son, Warith Deen Mohammed, succeeded him and systematically dismantled the NOI’s racialist theology.³⁹ He rejected the divinity of Fard, opened the community to all races, and aligned the movement with mainstream Sunni Islam.⁵²

Imam W.D. Mohammed encouraged civic engagement, American patriotism, and military service, redefining the community’s relationship with the U.S. state.⁵⁷ This shift brought hundreds of thousands of African Americans into the fold of global Islam. While Louis Farrakhan split in 1977 to resurrect the NOI with its original teachings, the majority followed W.D. Mohammed, forming the largest indigenous Sunni community in the country, often referred to as “Bilalians”.⁵⁶

The Dar-ul-Islam Movement

Parallel to the NOI, the Dar-ul-Islam movement emerged in 1962 in Brooklyn. Founded by African American Sunnis (some former State Street Mosque members), “The Dar” sought to practice orthodox Islam while maintaining a militant Black identity and independence from immigrant influence.⁴⁰ They established a network of over 40 mosques, a business organization (Dar-ul-Miska), and a highly effective prison ministry system.⁶⁰ The Dar was pivotal in spreading Sunni Islam in urban centers and contributed significantly to the cultural aesthetic of Black Muslims in the 1970s.⁴⁰

Post-1965 Immigration and Institution Building

The Hart-Celler Act: A Demographic Revolution

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act) fundamentally altered the American Muslim landscape. By abolishing the racist national origin quotas of 1924, the Act opened the doors to immigration from the Non-Western world.⁶¹ This triggered a massive influx of Muslims from South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh) and the Arab world (Egypt, Palestine, Iraq), as well as Iran and Africa.⁶¹

The “Brain Drain” and Class Stratification

Unlike the uneducated laborers of the first wave, the post-1965 immigrants were disproportionately highly skilled professionals—doctors, engineers, and scientists—driven by the U.S. demand for specialized labor (the “Brain Drain”) and political instability in their home countries.⁶¹ This created a distinct class divide within the American Muslim community. While African American Muslims often organized in economically marginalized urban centers, the new immigrants settled in suburbs and established affluent, professional institutions.⁶⁴

Building the Infrastructure

This era saw the rapid professionalization of Muslim organizations.

• Muslim Students Association (MSA): Founded in 1963 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the MSA became the training ground for a generation of leaders.⁶⁵
• Islamic Society of North America (ISNA): Evolving from the MSA in 1982, ISNA became the largest umbrella organization for Sunni Muslims, hosting massive annual conventions and standardizing religious services.⁶⁵
• Political Advocacy: The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) was founded in 1988 (originally as a PAC of the Islamic Center of Southern California) to engage in direct political lobbying.⁶⁶ The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) followed in 1994, focusing on civil rights defense and media relations.⁶⁸

These institutions initially reflected the priorities of the immigrant elite but gradually sought to bridge the gap with the African American community, a process accelerated by external threats.

Cultural Integration: Islam in the American Arts

The Five Percent Nation and Hip Hop

In the late 20th century, Islam—specifically the heterodox theology of the Five Percent Nation (Nation of Gods and Earths)—became a dominant force in American youth culture through Hip Hop. Founded by Clarence 13X (Allah the Father) in Harlem in 1964 after he left the NOI, the Five Percenters taught that the Black man is God (Allah) and that the population is divided into the 5% (who know the truth), the 10% (elites who deceive), and the 85% (the ignorant masses).⁶⁹

The movement’s “Supreme Mathematics” and “Supreme Alphabets”—a system of numerology and coded language—became the lexicon of New York Hip Hop during the 1980s and 90s.⁶⁹

• Rakim Allah: Widely regarded as one of the greatest emcees of all time, Rakim infused his lyrics with Five Percent philosophy (“I take 7 emcees put ’em in a line…”), effectively broadcasting the ideology to millions.⁷¹
• Wu-Tang Clan: The group’s entire mythology was built on Five Percent geography, renaming Staten Island as “Shaolin” and Harlem as “Mecca”.⁷³ Members like RZA and Ghostface Killah frequently referenced “knowledge of self” and Islamic dietary laws.⁷⁵
• Busta Rhymes and Brand Nubian: Acts like Brand Nubian explicitly preached Five Percent doctrine in tracks like “All for One”.⁷¹

This cultural osmosis normalized Islamic terms like “peace” (from “Peace be upon you”), “cipher,” and “dropping science” in the American vernacular, making Islam a recognizable element of “cool” for a generation of youth.⁷⁴

Architecture and Literature

The cultural footprint extended to the built environment. Architects like Gulzar Haider designed the ISNA headquarters in Plainfield, Indiana, blending Islamic geometry with American materials to create a distinct “Muslim American” architectural language.⁶⁵ Literature also played a role, from Webb’s early newspapers to the contemporary works of scholars and poets who articulate the nuance of the Muslim experience.

The Post-9/11 Era: Civil Rights, Surveillance, and Identity (2001–2016)

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, marked a cataclysmic shift for Muslim Americans. The community moved from relative obscurity to the center of national security debates, facing collective guilt and state-sponsored scrutiny.

The Security State: NSEERS and Surveillance

The government response to 9/11 institutionalized religious profiling. The USA PATRIOT Act expanded surveillance powers, but the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), implemented in 2002, was the most targeted tool.⁷⁹ NSEERS required male non-citizens from 25 predominantly Muslim countries to register with the government, be fingerprinted, and report regularly.⁸⁰

• Impact: Over 83,000 men registered; 13,000 were placed in deportation proceedings.
• Result: Zero terrorism convictions resulted from the program.⁸¹
• Termination: The program was suspended in 2011 and finally dismantled by the Obama administration in 2016 to prevent its use by the incoming Trump administration.⁸¹

At the local level, the NYPD operated a secretive “Demographics Unit” (with CIA assistance) that mapped Muslim communities in New York and New Jersey, designating entire mosques as “terrorism enterprises” and using informants to infiltrate student groups (MSAs) and businesses. This created a climate of fear where political and religious speech was chilled.

Legal Defense and Supreme Court Cases

Muslim Americans responded with aggressive litigation.

• FBI v. Fazaga (2022): A landmark case where three Muslim men (Yassir Fazaga, Ali Uddin Malik, Yasser Abdelrahim) sued the FBI for religious discrimination regarding a surveillance operation in Southern California mosques. The case challenged the government’s use of the “state secrets privilege” to dismiss claims of unconstitutional spying. While the Supreme Court ruled on procedural grounds regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the case highlighted the community’s determination to challenge the security state.⁸³
• Tanvir v. Tanzin (2020): The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Muslim men who were placed on the No-Fly List for refusing to become FBI informants could sue federal agents for monetary damages under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).⁸⁴

Women in Leadership: Breaking Barriers

The post-9/11 era also saw Muslim women taking the helm of major institutions, challenging internal patriarchy and external stereotypes.

• Dr. Ingrid Mattson: In 2006, Mattson became the first woman, the first convert, and the first non-immigrant to be elected president of ISNA. Her leadership signaled a shift towards an indigenous, female-led future for the organization.⁸⁵
• Dr. Amina Wadud: A theologian who sparked a global controversy in 2005 by leading a mixed-gender Friday prayer in New York. While criticized by traditionalists who viewed it as a violation of Islamic law (which generally restricts women from leading men in prayer), her action forced a global conversation on gender equity (“Gender Jihad”) within the mosque.⁸⁷

The Trump Era, The Muslim Ban, and Political Mobilization (2017–2020)

The “Muslim Ban”

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 brought anti-Muslim rhetoric to the executive branch. On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769 (popularly known as the “Muslim Ban”), suspending entry from seven Muslim-majority nations.⁹⁰

• Reaction: The order sparked immediate, massive protests at airports nationwide, with lawyers providing pro bono assistance to detained travelers.⁹¹
• Legal Battle: The ban went through three iterations (1.0, 2.0, 3.0) as courts struck it down. Ultimately, in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), the Supreme Court upheld the third version (Proclamation 9645), ruling it was within the President’s authority over immigration, despite evidence of religious animus.⁸⁴
• Termination: President Biden revoked the bans on his first day in office in 2021.⁹²

Rise of the “Squad”

Paradoxically, this era of hostility coincided with unprecedented political success. In 2018, Ilhan Omar (MN) and Rashida Tlaib (MI) became the first Muslim women elected to Congress.⁹³ Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, and Omar, a Somali refugee, brought issues of foreign policy, Islamophobia, and Palestinian rights to the forefront of the Democratic agenda, joining André Carson (elected 2008) and Keith Ellison (the first Muslim congressman, elected 2006).⁹³

Contemporary Landscape: Demographics and Crisis (2020–2024)

Demographics: Diversity and Growth

As of 2024, the Muslim American population is estimated at 3.5 to 4.5 million.⁴ Pew Research projects that Muslims will become the second-largest religious group in the U.S. by 2040.⁹⁵

• Racial Makeup: It is the most diverse religious community: ~28% Asian, ~20% Black, ~14% White, ~8% Latino.⁹⁶
• Latino Muslims: The fastest-growing segment, increasing from 1% in 2000 to roughly 8-9% in 2024.⁹⁷ This growth is reshaping the cultural expression of Islam, blending “Andalusian” heritage with American practice.⁹⁸
• Youth: It is the youngest religious group, with 26% between the ages of 18 and 24.⁹⁹

The 2023-2024 Civil Rights Crisis

The period from late 2023 through 2024 has been defined by the domestic repercussions of the Israel-Gaza war. The polarization of American society regarding the conflict has led to a resurgence of Islamophobia reminiscent of 2001.

Record Hate Crimes:

In 2024, CAIR released a civil rights report titled “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate,” documenting 8,061 complaints in 2023—a 56% increase from the previous year and the highest number in the organization’s 30-year history.100

• Wadea Al-Fayoume: In October 2023, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed 26 times by his landlord in Plainfield, Illinois. The attacker reportedly yelled, “You Muslims must die!”.¹⁰¹
• Vermont Shooting: In November 2023, three Palestinian college students (Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, Tahseen Ali Ahmad) were shot in Burlington, Vermont, while wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic. Hisham Awartani was paralyzed from the chest down.¹⁰³

Viewpoint Discrimination:

A distinct trend in 2024 has been “viewpoint discrimination.” Unlike traditional religious discrimination, Muslims (and allies) are increasingly targeted for their political speech regarding Palestine. CAIR noted a 71.5% surge in law enforcement encounters and a sharp rise in employment discrimination (15.4% of cases) related to activism.105 College campuses have become flashpoints, with students facing doxxing, suspension, and arrest for pro-Palestine protests.105

Political Shifts:

This alienation has had electoral consequences. The “Abandon Biden” movement emerged in 2024, with significant polling data (ISPU 2025 Poll) indicating a shift of Muslim voters away from the Democratic ticket due to the administration’s support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza.107 Simultaneously, President Trump’s campaign rhetoric in 2024 included promises to reinstate and expand travel bans to include refugees from Gaza and other regions, creating a “double bind” for Muslim voters.108

Table 2: Demographic Snapshot (2020-2024 Estimates)

The history of Muslims in the United States is a testament to the indomitable nature of faith and identity. It is a narrative that disrupts the simplistic binary of “East vs. West,” revealing that Islam has been an American religion since the very beginning. From the Arabic prayers of Omar ibn Said in the antebellum South to the jazz-infused spirituality of the Ahmadiyya, and from the militant discipline of the Nation of Islam to the legislative battles fought by Rashida Tlaib, Muslims have been active architects of the American experience.

The current moment, characterized by the rapid growth of Latino Islam alongside a violent resurgence of anti-Muslim hate, suggests that the story is far from over. As the community navigates the complexities of the 2020s—balancing rising political power with vulnerability to state and social violence—it continues to redefine what it means to be American. The history of Islam in the U.S. is not merely a journey of arrival, but a continuous struggle for the fulfilment of the American promise of liberty and justice for all.