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 territori ...

(

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

: ''Masjid'',

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Mezquita''), including Islamic places of worship that do not qualify as traditional mosques.

History of mosques in the United States

, also called masjid in

, 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 city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

, not necessarily a building. By that meaning, there were mosques in the United States by 1731 or earlier. Job ben Solomon (1701–1773), an African-American Muslim kidnapped into slavery, was documented by his

slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans, particularly in the Americas. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as s ...

memoir to have prayed in the forest of

Kent Island Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sep ...

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 Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Po ...

that was founded in 1915 by Albanian Muslims. A Muslim cemetery still existed there in 1996. However, the first purpose-built mosque building was most likely the Highland Park Mosque 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 t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, opened in 1921. The mosque was located near the famous

Highland Park Ford Plant The Highland Park Ford Plant is a former Ford Motor Company factory located at 91 Manchester Avenue (at Woodward Avenue) in Highland Park, Michigan. It was the second American production facility for the Model T automobile and the first facto ...

, which employed "hundreds of Arab American men". This mosque, which included Sunni, Shia and Ahmadi Muslims, was funded by Muhammad Karoub, a real estate developer. The earliest mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Community is the Al-Sadiq 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 ...

, was built in 1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1994, the Islamic Center of Yuba City, in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, 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 Sweat equity is a non-monetary benefit that a company's stakeholders give in labor and time, rather than a monetary contribution, that benefit the company. Sweat equity is rewarded in the form of sweat equity shares. These are shares given out by a ...

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

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 *

Mosques

History of mosques in the United States

Growth in the 21st century

Notable individual mosques

See also

References

External links