Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Laleh Bakhtiar, Encyclopedia of Islamic 

Law: A Compendium of the Major Schools (Chicago: 

ABC International Group, 1996), 165–202; F. E. Peters, 

The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy 

Places (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 

1994), 129–134.

unbeliever

  See 

apostasy

; 

kafir

.

United Arab Emirates

  See g

ulf

 s

tates

.

United States

The history of Islam in the United States goes 

back to the 18th century, but significant growth of 

the community does not begin until the late 19th 

century. Immigration increased throughout the 

20th century, until the Muslim community became 

the fastest growing religious community (both by 

immigration and conversion) in the United States 

today. Current census figures of Muslims in America 

are difficult to estimate. Negative media exposure 

to sectarian African-American Muslim communi-

ties since the civil rights era and to immigrant and 

expatriate Muslim communities since September 

11th have made many Muslims reluctant to reveal 

religious information in census surveys. Census 

figures assessing the size of the Muslim community 

in the United States vary greatly, starting as low 

as 3 to 4 million and others ranging as high as 6 

million to 7 million. The greatest concentrations 

(by virtue of the number of 

mosqUes

) are located 

in California, New York, and Michigan, followed 

by Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, and Florida. 

In addition to those Muslims who are actively reli-

gious and practice to varying degrees, there are also 

those who may best be identified as “cultural” or 

“secular” Muslims, reflecting the modern evolution 

of i

slam

 as an ethnic or cultural identity but not as 

a belief or practice.

The earliest Muslim immigrants came to the 

United States beginning in the late 19th century 

from the predominantly Arabic-speaking Middle 

East (l

ebanon

, s

yria

, J

ordan

, Palestinian Author-

ity, and i

srael

), becoming small merchants and 

factory laborers with the strongest settlement in 

New York and the Midwest. Muslim immigra-

tion declined during the periods of World War 

I and II (1914–18, 1939–45), but continued to 

grow in between and afterward. Changes in U.S.