This is an alphabetical listing of notable mosques in the United States (Arabic: Masjid, Spanish: Mezquita), including Islamic places of worship that do not qualify as traditional mosques.
Number of mosques per million residents in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia as of 2020
A mosque, also called "masjid" in Arabic, is defined as any place where Muslims pray facing Mecca, 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 memoir to have prayed in the forest of Kent Island, Maryland, where he was brought during 1731–33.[1]
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. A Muslim cemetery still existed there in 1996.[2][3]
However, the first purpose-built mosque building was most likely the Highland Park Mosque in Detroit, Michigan, 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, Shia and Ahmadi Muslims, was funded by Muhammad Karoub, a real estate developer.[1][4]
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, 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, was built in 1934 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[5]
In 1994, the Islamic Center of Yuba City, in California, 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 Pakistan who immigrated to the area c. 1902. Its story, including its rebuilding, is told in David Washburn's 2012 documentary An American Mosque.[6]
Growth in the 21st century
Estimated proportion of Muslim Americans in each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 U.S. Religion Census
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.[1] By 2000, there were 1,209 U.S. mosques, which rose to 2,106 in 2010, an increase of 74%.[7] Also, the number of mosques in America has grown to 2,769 in 2020.[8]
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 and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, found that the U.S. states with the most mosques were New York with 257, California with 246, and Texas with 166.[7]
Since 2014, there has been a building boom for mosques.[9]
Established in a former segregated high school for African American students. A dedicated mosque, community center, and private PK-12 Islamic school.[10]
First purpose built mosque in Little Rock. A new larger mosque, community center, and Islamic school are currently under construction 6.2mi (10.0km) northwest of the original mosque.[12]
The congregation was founded in 1952. The current mosque dates to the late 1970s.[15] One of the largest mosques in the United States.[citation needed]
Established in a residential building and a pair of trailers in 1987. A dedicated mosque, community center, and Islamic school were constructed on the site between 2001 and 2010.[19]
Completed in 1994 at cost of $1.8 million and thousands of hours of sweat equity, including community members descended from Pakistani who immigrated to the area in c. 1902. It was then burnt by arson, in the first hate-crime destroying a mosque in the United States. The case received little attention at the time, but is subject of 2015 documentary An American Mosque produced by David Washburn.[6]
First women-led Muslim house of worship. Offers monthly khutbas (sermons) to women and children (including boys 12 and under) of any Islamic denomination.[22][23]
Its building purchased in 1991 was formerly a bank.[30]
As the largest mosque in Bridgeport area, it was subject of questions in 2010 regarding any possible association of Faisal Shahzad, the May 1, 2010 Times Square bomber who lived in Bridgeport). Demonstrators from as far away as Texas confronted the mosque in protests in August 2010.[31][32][33][34][35][36][37]
The Al-Farooq Masjid was established in 1980 as The Atlanta Mosque, a nonprofit, non-political, religious organization. Later due to a name conflict with another organization, its name was changed to Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta.
Masjid Al-Mu’minun is one of the most recognized religious buildings in the city of Atlanta, and a vast number of people from different cultures and backgrounds visit the Masjid on a daily basis. Al-Mu’minun is nationally known for advocacy of Muslims and Islamic Issues. The Masjid congregation and staff have been the subject of numerous religious programs and news features in recent years
Also known as the Jamaica Muslim Center, includes a Mosque, a school, a place for religious gathering, and eating facilities, and is one of the largest multi-purpose Muslim establishments in the U.S. Located in a Bangladeshi-American neighborhood.
Formerly known as Mosque No. 7 where Malcolm X preached in a storefront until he split from Elijah Muhammad and left the Nation of Islam in 1964. Destroyed in a bombing in 1965, after Malcolm X's assassination. Successor to the Sunni Muslim mosque that was named Muslim Mosque, Inc., which was started by Malcolm X after Malcolm X split from Elijah Muhammad in 1964. The mosque is located at 102 West 116th Street.
Proposed mosque, also known as the "Ground Zero mosque", a plan that became subject of controversy in 2010. Currently a museum, not a mosque, is planned. But in September 2011, a temporary 4,000-square-foot (370m2) Islamic center opened in renovated space at the site.[51]
Masjid King Khalid was the first and only Masjid in the US that was built from a donation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to a private baptist University.[53]
The original mosque at the site was built in 1929 by immigrants from what is now Lebanon and Syria. A modest replacement mosque was built in 2005, although it was built for historical purposes and is rarely used.[54]
Building built by the Syrian Lebanese immigrants in 1953. First Masjid (Mosque) built from the ground up in the State of Ohio and City of Toledo. Formerly the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. Purchased in 2010 by Toledo Masjid of Al-Islam under the leadership of Imam Ibrahim S. Abdul-Rahim. Masjid Al-Islam is the name of many Masajid established by followers of Imam W.D. Mohammed of the Mosque Cares Ministry. Once called The American Muslim Mission.
Founded in 1988, originally by Muslim students from the University of Pennsylvania; now independent; located in the building of the former Commodore Theatre, a cinema built in the Moorish (Spanish colonial) architectural style in 1928
One of the largest mosques in the United States established in 1991 with 3,000 weekly worshippers. The mosque holds an event every Sunday for those wanting to learn more about Islam. [60]
The Islamic Society of Denton (ISD) is a non-profit religious organization founded to serve the Greater Denton area community. The Masjid (Mosque) was built, primarily, by residents and students attending both the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. ISD opened in 15 August 1981, making it the first Masjid built in Texas.
All Dulles Area Muslim Society is a mosque in the United States, located in Sterling, VA and serving 5000 Muslim families. ADAMS offers a wide variety of services.
A mosque, also called a masjid, is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.
Islam is the third largest religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity (63%) and Judaism (2%), and equaling the shares of Buddhism and Hinduism. A 2017 study estimated that 1.1% of the population of the United States are Muslim. In 2017, twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census found there to be 4.45 million Muslim Americans, or roughly 1.3% of the population.
The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. MAS describes itself as a grassroots Islamic movement. It has more than 50 chapters across the United States.
Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the ninth largest mosque in the world in terms of worshipper capacity. Built to commemorate Indonesian independence, this national mosque of Indonesia was named "Istiqlal", an Arabic word for "independence". The mosque was opened to the public on 22 February 1978. Within Jakarta, the mosque is positioned next to Merdeka Square and the Jakarta Cathedral (Catholic) and also of the Immanuel Church (Reformed).
Masjid As-Sabur is the oldest mosque, and the pioneering Muslim organization, in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis (IFGSTL) is an Islamic organization composed of two mosques. The first mosque, Masjid Bilal, is located in midtown St. Louis, on W Pine Blvd, next to the campus of Saint Louis University. The second and larger mosque, Daar-Ul-Islam, is located in Ballwin, Missouri, at 517 Weidman Road, and includes an Islamic funeral home with 5 cemeteries and social services including job training and English classes. A donation charity known as Baitulmal that provides donated items and food to those in need is also hosted by IFGSTL.
Masjid Annur Islam Center in Sacramento, California is the largest mosque in the greater Sacramento area of Northern California.
Masjid DarusSalam is a mosque in Lombard, Illinois, completed in 2013. The mosque is home to the DarusSalam Seminary, a national project which aims to educate the Islamic community in the traditional Islamic sciences.
Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the pilgrimage sites associated with the Hajj, which every Muslim must perform at least once in their lives if able. It is also the main site for the performance of 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, such as the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.
Islam is practiced by several Muslim American groups in Metro Detroit.
The East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) is a mosque located in Plano, Texas. The current building of the masjid opened in July 2015. The current Imam is Nadim Bashir, and the current resident scholar is Yasir Qadhi. The mosque is one of many mosques in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) is a Muslim community center located in Catonsville, Baltimore County, Maryland, consisting of Masjid Al-Rahmah, Al-Rahmah School, and several other services. The society was founded in 1969 by three Muslim physicians and is known for then-President Barack Obama's visit on February 3, 2016. As of 2019, the society serves around 3,000 people.
There is a significant population of American Muslims in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Dallas-Fort Worth is home to sixty-two Sunni mosques. According to AbdelRahman Murphy, a Chicago-born, Irving-based Islamic teacher and Muslim community leader, other U.S.-based Muslims now refer to Dallas as the "Medina of America". Not only is Dallas Masjid Al Islam the oldest Muslim community in the DFW area, it established the first mosque in the city of Dallas and established the first Muslim school in the DFW area. As of 2021, many major Muslim organizations and charities have headquarters or operations in DFW, mostly located in Richardson, Texas such as: ICNA Dallas, Muslim American Society, Muslim Legal Fund of America, Helping Hands for Relief & Development, Sabrina Memorial Foundation, Islamic Relief USA, CAIR-Texas, and MA’RUF. There are also several institutions of research and higher education such as: Qalam Institute (Carrollton), ISRA Foundation (Plano), Bayyina Academy (Euless), and The Islamic Seminary of America (Richardson). -
The King Fahad Mosque is a mosque located in Culver City, California in Los Angeles County, US. The mosque has a capacity of 2,000 worshippers and a 72-foot high (22 m) minaret. The complex on about 77,500 square feet (7,200 m2) of land contains other facilities including a lecture and meeting hall and classrooms.
There are around 70,000 Muslims in Maryland in the United States as of December 1992, according to the American Muslim Council. This is the tenth highest number of Muslims of all U.S. states, representing 1.4% of the Muslim population in the country, as well as 1.4% of the total population of Maryland, at the time of the report.
Masjid Al-Jamia is a Sunni mosque in West Philadelphia. It was founded in 1988 by members of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Pennsylvania . Eight years later, the mosque became independent from the Penn MSA and, around 2009, acquired ownership of the building. Located at 4228 Walnut Street, in a historic building formerly occupied by the Commodore Theatre, the mosque currently serves a large and diverse Muslim population in the neighborhood. The mosque's name itself signals its importance to the community, as the Arabic etymology suggests. In Arabic, Masjid Al-Jamia means “the congregational mosque”, typically where Muslims meet for Friday prayers.
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.
↑ The mosque was sold to the city of Highland Park in 1926, who then sold it to a fraternal organization. "Highland Park Muslim Mosque". detroit1701.org. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
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