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Muslims & Islam: Lesson 3
Who Are U.S. Muslims And What Do They Believe?
Muslims make up a small but growing share of the U.S. population – about one percent, according to best estimates. Three nationally representative surveys have been made of Muslims in the U.S. in 2007, 2011, and 2017, finding that: (1) Muslim adults are racially diverse, (2) they are similar to U.S. Christians in terms of worship attendance, and (3) supportive of the Democratic Party in their politics.
A Majority Are Immigrants, Hailing From A Wide Variety Of Countries
Roughly six-in-ten U.S. Muslim adults were born outside the U.S., with origins in at least 75 countries around the world. An additional 18 percent are the children of at least one immigrant.
The most common region of origin for Muslim immigrants to the U.S. is South Asia, where one-in-five Muslim Americans were born, including nine percent who were born in Pakistan alone. An additional 13 percent of U.S. Muslims were born elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region (including Iran), 14 percent in the Middle East or North Africa, and five percent in sub-Saharan Africa.
Not All Are Highly Observant, And Most Are Open To Multiple Interpretations Of Islam
On balance, Muslims in the U.S. are less religious than Muslims in some parts of the world (such as the Middle East, Africa and South Asia) but more religious than Muslims in other parts (like Southern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia).
A 2017 survey found that about two-thirds of U.S. Muslims said religion is very important in their lives, very similar to the share of U.S. Christians who say the same. Both Muslim and Christian Americans also reported attending religious services at comparable rates: Roughly four-in-ten said they do so weekly. A similar share of Muslim Americans (42 percent) said they pray all five salah daily, while nearly twice as many (80 percent) reported fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Large majorities said that believing in God and loving the Prophet Muhammad are essential to what being Muslim means to them. (A 2014 Religious Landscape Study found that 84 percent of U.S. Muslims believe in God with absolute certainty, while an additional 12 percent are fairly certain; just one percent say they do not believe in God.)
But many Muslim Americans also are open to alternative understandings of their religion, with 64 percent saying there is more than one true way to interpret Islam, and 52 percent saying traditional understandings of Islam need to be reinterpreted to reflect contemporary issues. Religious beliefs and rituals also are not the only manifestations of their Muslim identity. About two-thirds said that working for justice and equality in society and working to protect the environment are essential to being Muslim.
Discrimination Is A Common Experience
Muslims report facing a variety of challenges in U.S. society. The 2017 survey found that three-quarters of Muslim adults said their group faces a lot of discrimination. Half of Muslim Americans said it has gotten harder to be Muslim in the U.S. in recent years. And about half reported experiencing recent incidents of discrimination themselves – ranging from being treated with suspicion because of their religion (32 percent) to being singled out by airport security (18 percent) or being physically threatened or attacked (6 percent). The share who report such experiences in surveys has risen since 2007, and the FBI also has reported rising numbers of hate crimes against Muslims.
Muslims Are Mostly Democrats And Feel Negativity From The GOP
U.S.Muslims have a chilly relationship with the Republican Party. In 2017, large majorities viewed President Trump as unfriendly toward Muslims and said he made them feel “worried.” Most also said the Republican Party overall is unfriendly toward Muslims. And two-thirds of U.S. Muslims identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party as of 2017, while just 13 percent were Republicans or leaned toward the GOP – figures that have remained largely stable across all three surveys.
They Are Satisfied With Their Lives And Proud To Be Americans.
The feelings and experiences of Muslim Americans are not all negative. In that same survey, about half said someone recently had expressed support for them because they are Muslim, and a similar share described the American people as a whole as generally friendly toward Muslims.
Overall, large majorities of Muslims said they are proud to be Americans, they are satisfied with their lives in America, and they believe that most people who want to get ahead can make it in America if they are willing to work hard – one way to describe the American dream.
Although more than half are immigrants, the vast majority of Muslim American adults (82 percent) are now U.S. citizens.
Muslim Americans Are Very Concerned About Extremism In The Name Of Islam
The survey asked Muslim Americans — as well as the U.S. general public -– whether it is ever justifiable to target and kill civilians to further a political, social or religious cause. U.S. Muslims were more likely than U.S. adults overall to say that this type of violence is never acceptable (76 percent vs. 59 percent), while similar shares of Muslims and all U.S. adults said that targeting civilians is often or sometimes justified (12 percent vs. 14 percent).
U.S. Muslims also were more likely than Americans overall to say they are very concerned about extremism in the name of Islam around the world: Two-thirds said this, compared with half of all U.S. adults.
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Up Next: Lesson 4
How are Muslims viewed in the West?
There is limited knowledge of Muslims and Islam among non-Muslims in Western nations, and varying degrees of acceptance toward Muslims in these societies.
The Institute for the Study of Islam (ISI) is a nonpartisan fact-think-tank. Discerning-Islam.org is a current project of ISI. As a neutral source of data and analysis, ISI does not take or make policy positions.
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MUSLIMS & ISLAM: LESSON 3
3000 – 002
https://discerning-Islam.org
04/2022
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