List Of Mosques In The United States
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This is an alphabetical listing of notable
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: ''Masjid'', Spanish: ''Mezquita''), including Islamic places of worship that do not qualify as traditional mosques.


History of mosques in the United States

A
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
, also called masjid in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, is defined as any place that Muslims pray facing
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, not necessarily a building. By that meaning, there were mosques in the United States by 1731 or earlier.
Job ben Solomon Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (17011773), also known as Job Ben Solomon, was a prominent Fulani Muslim prince from West Africa who was kidnapped to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade, having previously sold slaves himself. Born in Bundu, Sene ...
(1701–1773), an African-American Muslim kidnapped into slavery, was documented by his slave narrative memoir to have prayed in the forest of Kent Island,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, where he was brought during 1731–33. Some sources assert that what is likely the first American mosque building was a mosque in Biddeford, Maine that was founded in 1915 by
Albanian Muslims Turco-Albanian ( el, Τουρκαλβανοί, ''Tourk-alvanoi'') is an ethnographic, religious, and derogatory term used by Greeks for Muslim Albanians from 1715 and thereafter.Millas, Iraklis (2006). "Tourkokratia: History and the image of Turks ...
. A Muslim cemetery still existed there in 1996. However, the first purpose-built mosque building was most likely the
Highland Park Mosque The Highland Park Mosque was one of the first mosques built in the United States, located in Highland Park, Michigan, Highland Park, Michigan. It opened in 1921 but closed a few years later. Background Mohammed Karoub immigrated to the United St ...
in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, opened in 1921. The mosque was located near the famous Highland Park Ford Plant, which employed "hundreds of Arab American men". This mosque, which included
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
,
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
and
Ahmadi Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
Muslims, was funded by Muhammad Karoub, a real estate developer. The earliest mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Community is the
Al-Sadiq Mosque The Al Sadiq Mosque (or Wabash Mosque) was commissioned in 1922 in the Bronzeville neighborhood in city of Chicago. The Al-Sadiq Mosque is one of America's earliest built mosques and the oldest standing mosque in the country today. This mosque ...
, a two story building purchased by Mufti Muhammad Sadiq in 1922 in the Bronzeville neighborhood of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, the original building was torn down and a purpose built mosque was constructed at the site in 1990s. However, the first "purpose-built" mosque, the
Mother Mosque of America The Mother Mosque of America, once known as The Rose of Fraternity Lodge, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, is the oldest standing purpose-built mosque in the United States, having been completed in 1934. The Al-Sadiq Mosque in Chicago and th ...
, was built in 1934 in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...
. In 1994, the Islamic Center of Yuba City, in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, was destroyed by fire set in a hate-crime, the first mosque destroyed by a hate crime in U.S. history. It had just been completed at the cost of $1.8 million plus sweat equity of the Muslims of its rural community, including descendants of Pakistani who immigrated to the area 1902. Its story, including its rebuilding, is told in David Washburn's 2012 documentary '' An American Mosque''.


Growth in the 21st century

It has been estimated that there were somewhat more than 100 mosques in the U.S. in 1970, but immigration of more than a million Muslims since then led to hundreds more being built. By 2000, there were 1,209 U.S. mosques, which rose to 2,106 in 2010, an increase of 74%. Also, the number of mosques in America has grown to 2,769 in 2020.A research on the growth and development of American mosques in 2020
Retrieved 8 March 2023
A 2011 study, ''The American Mosque 2011'', sponsored by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, as well as the nation's largest Islamic civic and religious groups, including the
Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a nonprofit organization based in Plainfield, Indiana. It provides a number of programs and services to the Muslim community and broader society. ISNA holds an annual convention which is generally re ...
and the
Council on American-Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
, found that the U.S. states with the most mosques were New York with 257, California with 246, and Texas with 166. Since 2014, a building boom for mosques has been going on.


Notable individual mosques


See also

* Islam in the United States *
Lists of mosques Lists of mosques cover mosques, places of worship for Muslims. The lists include the most famous, largest and oldest mosques, and mosques mentioned in the Quran, as well as lists of mosques in each region and country of the world. The major region ...
(worldwide) ** List of mosques in Canada ** List of mosques in Brazil **
List of mosques in Mexico This is a list of notable mosques in Mexico (Arabic: ''Masjid'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Mezquita''), including Islamic places of worship that do not qualify as traditional mosques. As of 2018, there are more than 10 established mosques in ...
**
List of mosques in the Americas This is a list of notable mosques and Islamic centres in the Americas, meaning individual buildings and congregations and administration, including notable current and former examples. This list is sorted alphabetically by country and building na ...
(Latin & South America) * List of the oldest mosques in the world * Religious buildings and structures in the United States


References


External links


Mosques and Centers
by U.S. state, a directory of addresses & phone numbers, at BLDUSA.COM (a commercial business links directory)
Mosques and Islamic Centers in Greater Chicago
at the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)
Lecture: Brief history of Islam in America
YouTube video
The History of Islam in America – By Sulayman Nyang
YouTube video
Islam in America
YouTube video {{Mosques in the United States, state=collapsed *
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...