Islam in Houston

As of 2012, the city of Houston has the largest Muslim population in Texas and the largest Muslim population in the Southern United States. That year, Kate Shellnut of the ''Houston Chronicle'' wrote that "Some estimate that Muslims make up 1.2 percent of the city's population."Shellnutt, Kate.
U.S. sees rise of Islamic centers
" ''Houston Chronicle''. March 8, 2012. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. As of 2012 the estimated population of Muslims in Houston was around 63,000. As of today, there are over 209 mosques and storefront religious centers, with the largest being the ''Al-Noor'' Mosque (Mosque of Light) of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH).Badr, p
193

In 2007 Barbara Karkabi of the ''Houston Chronicle'' wrote that the Sunni and Shia Muslims "generally enjoy good relations in Houston."Karkabi, Barbara.
The two faces of Islam

Archive
. ''Houston Chronicle''. February 24, 2007. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. The University of Houston has separate student organizations for Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, the mostly-Sunni Muslim Students Association and the Shia Association of Muslim Students.

As of 1990 the ISGH served as the main Sunni mosque system in Houston,Fischer and Abedi, p
269
as in that year it had multiple branches there, and as of 2000, most Sunni mosques in the city are a part of the ISGH.

Culturally, ISGH and the Al-Noor Islamic Society have different views on when to start Ramadan. The former uses the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) of starting it with the first sighting of the moon in North America while the latter strictly uses the first sighting of the moon in the local Houston area.

History

In the 1950s a group of Muslims began meeting at a barbershop. This group established Masjid Al-Islam, now the Masjid Warithuddeen Mohammed.

In the 1970s a three-bedroom house in northern Houston was the only mosque in the city, and it served 30 families. Those families pooled funds and purchased a plot of land in late 1980 so a mosque could be built there; the plot was near two major arteries. At first the mosque was in a , three bedroom double-wide trailer, purchased for $43,000 ($ when accounting for inflation).Badr, p
193194
Five families donated money to pay for the down payment, with each family paying $1,500 ($ when accounting for inflation). Public fundraising dinners and anonymous donations provided the funds for the construction of the permanent ''Al-Noor'' mosque.Badr, p
194
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In 1987 the Al-Noor Society was established.


. Al-noor Islamic Society of Greater Houston. Retrieved on May 3, 2014.

The Alavi Foundation, a charitable Islamic foundation headquartered in New York City, purchased the property that would become the Islamic Education Center (IEC) for $1.1 million in 1988.Mendoza, Moises, Mary Flood and Lindsay Wise.
Muslims decry move to seize Houston mosque
" ''Houston Chronicle''. November 13, 2009. Retrieved on October 4, 2010.

By 2000 some Muslim Iranians who were opposed to fundamentalism in the mosques began attending Zoroastrian events.Rustomji, p
249

In 2009 the Federal Government of the United States attempted to seize over $500 million in assets from the Alavi Foundation, accusing the foundation of being a front for the Government of Iran. The IEC, including Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning