Mosque numbers up by 25 percent

Christian Century, May 16, 2001 by John Dart

Although the number of U.S. Muslims remains uncertain, a new study has counted more than 1,200 mosques across the country--a 25 percent gain over the last six years.

The survey results, part of the larger Faith Communities Today (FACT) project at Hartford Seminary, found that 33 percent of those affiliated with U.S. mosques are of South Asian origin (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.), 30 percent are African-American and 25 percent are from the Arabic-speaking world.

"One of the most significant findings in this survey is that mosques are quite ethnically diverse," said lead researcher Ihsan Bagby, who teaches at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He said 93 percent of all mosques are attended by more than one ethnic group.

Most of the mosques--often called either an "Islamic center" or a masjid, the Arabic word for mosque--were established in the last two decades. Thirty percent were founded in the 1990s and 32 percent date from the 1980s, the study said. Nearly all mosques use English as the primary language, or one of the main languages, for sermons at the midday Friday prayers.

Like the FACT studies on churches, the mosque survey released April 26 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked about outreach activities. A majority of mosques reported that over the previous 12 months members had visited a school or church to talk about Islam, took part in an interfaith dialogue, contacted news media and talked to a political leader.

"Mosques are not only centers for spirituality, they are now bases for political and social mobilization," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the CAIR advocacy group.

More than 80 percent of the approximately 400 respondents, who were said to be a representative sample, agreed with a statement that Muslims should be involved in American institutions and participate in the political process. In the majority of mosques, the leader is a part-time volunteer. In most mosques with a board, women are allowed to serve as members, the study's sponsors said. Attendance at communal prayers is overwhelmingly male, however.

Researchers estimated that some 1,625 Muslims are associated with the average mosque in some way, thus giving a figure of nearly 2 million U.S. Muslims linked, however occasionally, to organized religious life.

From that figure, the new study said that a total U.S. Muslim population of 6 to 7 million is "reasonable," but the Los Angeles Times reported that Bagby acknowledged that that assertion was based on "guesswork."

John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, told the New York Times that until more data are gathered, "it's reasonable to talk about 4 to 6 million" as the figure for American Muslims. But with large families and continued immigration, Islam will inevitably pass Judaism as the second-largest religion in America in coming years, he said.