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Islam In America

The Mother Mosque of America, once known as The Rose of Fraternity Lodge, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is said to be the first permanent structure to be built specifically to serve as a mosque in the United States. Construction was completed on February 15, 1934. When a larger local mosque, the Islamic Center of Cedar…

Among Black Muslims, two names stand out: Wallace D. Fard and Robert Poole. Even if you’re familiar with the history of this indigenous Islamic religion, you may not recognize them — both were better known under different monikers: Wali Fard and Elijah Muhammad. Robert (or Elijah) Poole was a laborer in Georgia before migrating north…

The shipments of human cargo in the mid-16th century (via the efforts of Sir John Hawkins) disembarked on Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico rather than on the North American mainland. The first black slaves to arrive in what is now the United States were 20 Negroes sold from a Dutch man-of-war to the settlers…

The 49th annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America takes place over Labor Day weekend in Washington, D.C. “One Nation Under God, Striving for the Common Good” is the theme for the event, set for August 31 through September 3, 2012, in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW,…

Well, sure, there’s Mecca. Let’s compile a list of the rest! Some (say, Medina) are obvious, others not so much. When you name the place, give some reasons why it should be on the list. For ideas, check out this list from Budget Travel magazine: 10 Most Sacred Spots on Earth.

Among Black Muslims, two names stand out: Wallace D. Fard and Robert Poole. Even if you’re familiar with the history of this indigenous Islamic religion, you may not recognize them — both were better known under different monikers: Wali Fard and Elijah Muhammad. Wallace D. “Wali” Fard (1893?-1934?) is a somewhat mysterious character. Elijah Muhammad…

Two overarching stories can be told of Islam in America: that of traditional Islam as practiced in Muslim-majority countries and that of indigenous Islam, whose practitioners are popularly known as Black Muslims. These two threads began to intertwine in the 1970s as some Black Muslims turned to the beliefs and practices of traditional Islam even…

No: Islam did not arrive for the first time in North America in the mid-20th Century. It’s likely that the first Muslims to set foot in the Western Hemisphere arrived in 1492 on one of the three ships captained by Christopher Columbus. Why? The reasons lie in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. For more…
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