Islam in the Americas

Islam in the Americas is a minority religion in all of the countries and territories of the Americas. Only about 1% of the people in North America and 0.1% of those in Latin America and the Caribbean follow Islam.

Suriname has the highest percentage of Muslims, with about 13.9% of its people being Muslim. However, the United States has the largest number of Muslims, with around 3.45 million people, making up about 1.1% of the U.S. population.

Most Muslims in the Caribbean came from the Indian subcontinent as workers after slavery ended. In Suriname, some Muslims also came from what is now Indonesia. In the United States, many Muslims have roots in white Arabs from the Middle East. In South America, many Muslims are from upper-class families who moved from places like Lebanon and Syria, known as the Levant.

Population by country

The number of Muslims is different in each country in the Americas. In 2010, a Pew Research Center estimate showed the percentage of Muslims in each American country.

Immigrant Muslims in America

During the time when Spain and Portugal ruled the Americas, only Catholic Christianity was allowed. Islam and other religions were not permitted. Some of the first Muslims to come to America were Wolof slaves from Senegal who arrived in Hispaniola in 1522. But soon after, rules were made to stop more Muslims from coming in because they were seen as Moors. Still, some African slaves brought with them bits of Islamic traditions and beliefs.

Over time, more Muslims came to America. First, African Muslims arrived as slaves. Later, when laws made it easier for people from many countries to move to the United States, more Muslims came too. In recent years, new immigrants and many African Americans choosing Islam have helped grow the Muslim community in America. Today, it is estimated that there are close to four million Muslims in the United States. Most of these are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. In 1991, over 100,000 people came to the United States from places like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and India, many of whom were Muslim.

Islamic worship traditions

Shias in the Americas

Main article: Shia Islam in the Americas

Shia Muslims make up about 15-20% of all Muslims in the Americas, which means there are nearly 786,000 to 2,500,000 Shia Muslims in the U.S. alone. These Muslims come from many different places, such as South Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and East Africa.

The Shia Muslim community in America has been active and has created several groups, like the Islamic Center of America and NASIMCO. The first Shia Muslims moved to the United States from Lebanon and Syria about 180 years ago, settling in cities such as Detroit, Michigan, Ross in California, and North Dakota.

Other traditions

Main articles: Ahmadiyya in the United States and Ahmadiyya in Canada