Islam in Washington, D.C.

Last updated
Islamic Center of Washington, 2016. Islamic Center, Washington, D.C LCCN2011630761.tif
Islamic Center of Washington, 2016.

Islam in Washington, D.C. is the third largest religion, after Christianity and Judaism. As of 2014, Muslims were 2% of Greater Washington's population was Muslim. [1] Around 50,000 Muslims live in DC. DC's Muslim history dates to the early 1600s, when the first Muslim residents were enslaved and formerly enslaved African Americans. [2] DC is home to seven mosques, including some of the oldest mosques in the United States. A copy of the Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson is held at the Library of Congress. [3]

Contents

History

Yarrow Mamout, a formerly enslaved Fulani Muslim property owner and entrepreneur, is one of the earliest known Muslim residents in DC history. [4]

The Islamic Center of Washington, founded in 1952, is the oldest mosque in DC. At its dedication ceremony, President Dwight Eisenhower described it as among the "most beautiful buildings in Washington". The second oldest mosque in DC is the Masjid Muhammad, which began in 1960 as Nation of Islam Temple 4 and was founded with help from Malcolm X. Since 1975, the mosque has been affiliated with mainstream Sunni Islam. Masjid Muhammad is the oldest mosque in DC founded by African American descendants of slaves. [5]

In 2006, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress. He was sworn in on a copy of Thomas Jefferson's Quran, which caused controversy among right-wing pundits. [6] [7]

In a 2010 survey of religious congregations in Washington, D.C., the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies found that 0.6% of congregants belonged to a Muslim congregation. [8]

Some members of DC's Muslim community identify as LGBT. Daayiee Abdullah, an imam based in DC, is one of the few openly LGBT imams in the world. Imam Abdullah worked for many years to create a LGBT-inclusive mosque in DC. In 2011, Imam Abdullah created Masjid Nur Al-Isslaah (Light of Reform Mosque), which was held at a library in DC. He also runs the Mecca Institute, an online progressive Muslim organization. [9] [10]

Mosques

See also

Related Research Articles

A mosque or masjid is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (salah) are performed, including outdoor courtyards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medina</span> City in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia

Medina, officially Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is the capital of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. One of the most sacred cities in Islam, the estimated population as of 2020 is 1,488,782, making it the fifth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2 (227 sq mi), of which 293 km2 (113 sq mi) constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces and older dormant volcanoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in the United States</span> Presence of the religion of Islam in the United States of America

Islam is the third largest religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity and Judaism, equaling Buddhism and Hinduism percentage wise. A 2017 study estimated that 3.45 million Muslim Americans live in the United States, about 1.1 percent of the total U.S. population. In 2017, 20 states which were mostly in the South and Midwest reported Islam being the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census found there to be 4.45 million Muslim Americans in the country, making up 1.3% of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warith Deen Mohammed</span> African-American Muslim leader (1933–2008)

Warith Deen Mohammed, also known as W. Deen Mohammed, Imam W. Deen Muhammad and Imam Warith Deen, was an African-American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revivalist, and Islamic thinker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Jamaica</span> Religion in Jamaica

Jamaica is a predominantly Christian country, with Islam being a minority religion. Due to the secular nature of Jamaica's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiest sites in Islam</span> Sites of great importance in Islam

The holiest sites in Islam are predominantly located in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant. While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms three cities as having the highest degree of holiness, in descending order: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Mecca's Al-Masjid al-Haram, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem are all revered by Muslims as sites of great importance.

The Masjid al-Qiblatayn, also spelt Masjid al-Qiblatain, is a mosque in Medina believed by Muslims to be the place where the final Islamic prophet, Muhammad, received the command to change the Qibla from Jerusalem to Mecca. The mosque was built by Sawad ibn Ghanam ibn Ka'ab during the year 2 AH and is one of the few mosques in the world to have contained two mihrabs in different directions.

Masjid As-Sabur is the oldest mosque, and the pioneering Muslim organization, in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Ayyub</span> Imam, Qari and Islamic scholar in al-Medina, Saudi Arabia

Muhammad Ayyub ibn Muhammad Yusuf ibn Sulaiman `Umar was a Saudi Arabian Imam, Qari, and Islamic scholar known for his recitation of the Quran. He was an Imam of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia. He was also a faculty member of the Department of Tafsir in the Faculty of the Holy Qur'an and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and a member of the Scholarly Committee of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. His death occurred on 16 April 2016.

The American Society of Muslims was a predominantly African-American association of Muslims which was the direct descendant of the original Nation of Islam. It was created by Warith Deen Mohammed after he assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad. Imam W. Deen Mohammed changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the "World Community of Islam in the West" in 1976, then the "American Muslim Mission" in 1981, and finally the "American Society of Muslims".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiest sites in Shia Islam</span>

Both Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims agree on the three holiest sites in Islam being, respectively, the Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca; the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, in Medina; and the Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiest sites in Sunni Islam</span>

Both Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims agree on the three Holiest sites in Islam being, respectively, the Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca; the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, in Medina; and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem.

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is His last Messenger.

Daayiee Abdullah is an American Imam based in Washington, D.C. Abdullah is said to be one of five openly gay Imams in the world. Abdullah was a member of and spiritual advisor of the Al-Fatiha Foundation until it closed in 2011. As a Muslim leader, Abdullah's homosexuality has caused controversy due to the traditionally upheld beliefs about male homosexuality in Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masjid al-Haram</span> Islams holiest mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is a mosque enclosing the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is a site of pilgrimage in the Hajj, which every Muslim must do at least once in their lives if able, and is also the main phase for the ʿUmrah, the lesser pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. The rites of both pilgrimages include circumambulating the Kaaba within the mosque. The Great Mosque includes other important significant sites, including the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in New York City</span>

Islam is the third most widely professed religion in New York City, after Christianity and Judaism. A 2018 study estimated that there are over 750,000 Muslims living in New York City, the largest population of Muslims by city in the United States. Approximately 9% of New York City residents are Muslim, constituting 22.3% of American Muslims, with 1.5 million Muslims in the greater New York metropolitan area, representing the largest metropolitan Muslim population in the Americas.—and the most ethnically diverse Muslim population of any city in the world.

Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Sabil, was born in the city of Bukayriyah in the Al-Qassim Province. He was the imam and preacher of the Masjid al-Haram for forty-four years in general, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, and a member of the Islamic Fiqh Assembly, and the head of the Al-Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabawi affairs, and the head of the Al-Haram Committee in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is one of the hostages who survived the incident of the Juhayman armed group storming the Great Mosque of Mecca, when the sabil was the imam, led the people in the Fajr prayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Virginia</span> Islam religion in Virginia, US

There are an estimated 200,000 Muslims in Virginia in the United States as of 2008, according to the American Religious Identification Survey. As of 2014, Virginia has the fourth highest Islamic population concentration in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "Adults in the Washington, DC metro area". Pew Research Center . Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  2. ↑ "Takbir! Allahu Akbar: Photographs of African American Muslims in Washington, D.C." Anacostia Community Museum . Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  3. ↑ "Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur'an". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  4. ↑ King, Colbert I. (February 13, 2015). "Yarrow Mamout, the slave who became a Georgetown financier". Washington Post. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  5. ↑ "The 7 Oldest Mosques in America". The History Channel . Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  6. ↑ "Qur'an". Monticello . Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  7. ↑ "The complicated history of Thomas Jefferson's Koran". Washington Post . Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  8. ↑ "The Association of Religion Data Archives | Maps & Reports". Association of Religion Data Archives . Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  9. ↑ "In a survey of American Muslims, 0% identified as lesbian or gay. Here's the story behind that statistic". CNN . Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  10. ↑ "Affirming mosques help gay Muslims reconcile faith, sexuality". NBC News . Retrieved 2023-12-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.