Anti-Muslim sentiment became widespread in American society following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. This phenomenon is the result of a very well-coordinated effort by a small network of anti-Muslim organizations. They have not only succeeded in the mass media, but have also increasingly influenced counterterrorism policies.
However, amidst the anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States, the Muslim population in Uncle Sam's country of origin has increased.
Islam is the third largest religion in the United States after Christianity and Judaism. According to a study by Pew Research in 2010, Muslims in the United States make up 0,9 percent of the total US population.
However, new estimates for 2016 reveal that there will be 3,3 million Muslims living in the United States, or about one percent of the total population of the United States.
Edward E Curtis, in Muslims in America: A Short History (2009) explains that the growth in the number of Muslims in the United States is driven by the high birth rate of the immigrant community of Arab and South Asian descent. About 72 percent of US Muslims are immigrants or second generation.
If you refer to history, the factor of the increasing Muslim population was triggered, among others, by the migration of thousands of Muslims from the former Ottoman and Mughal Sultanates to the United States in the 1880s to 1914. The Muslim population of the United States experienced a dramatic increase in the 20th century.
American Muslims come from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds. Some are born in the United States or from other countries. Reporting from colostate.edu, American Muslims consist of African-Americans, Indo-Pakistani, Arabs, Africans, Turks and Southeast Asians. Their domiciles are spread across the United States with the largest concentration in California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and Maryland. (source: Republika)
