Muslim neighbors

About 1 in 100 American adults is Muslim. If you only watched the news, you might guess it was 40. That’s the thing about headlines. They don’t count houses. They count clicks.

Islam means “submission,” in the sense of giving your life over to God. A Muslim is someone who does that. Muslims worship the one God, called Allah in Arabic. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word for God.

The five pillars

Most Muslims describe five core practices, called the five pillars.

• Shahada. Saying and believing that there is no god but God, and Muhammad is God’s prophet.
• Salat. Prayer five times a day, at set times through the day, usually facing Mecca.
• Zakat. Giving a portion of your savings each year to help people in need.
• Sawm. Fasting from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan. The sick, the elderly, travelers, and pregnant or nursing women are excused.
• Hajj. A pilgrimage to Mecca, once in a lifetime, for those who are healthy enough and can afford it.

How strictly people keep these varies. In Pew’s 2017 survey, 42% of American Muslims said they pray all five prayers daily, and about 80% said they fast during Ramadan.

The mosque

A mosque, or masjid, is a Muslim house of prayer. The big gathering is the midday prayer on Friday. People take off their shoes before the prayer hall and pray in rows. Many mosques also run weekend schools and food drives, and some hold open houses for curious neighbors.

Who American Muslims are

This is where the stereotype falls apart. Pew found American Muslims were about 41% white (a group that, in census terms, includes most Middle Eastern and North African Americans), 28% Asian, 20% Black and 8% Hispanic. About 58% were immigrants. The rest were born here.

Black Muslims have deep roots in this country. Some enslaved Africans were Muslim. Today about one in five American Muslims is Black, and Pew found about half of Black Muslims are converts.

Sunni and Shia

Most Muslims worldwide are Sunni. A smaller share are Shia. The split goes back to an early disagreement over who should lead the community after Muhammad. In Pew’s survey, 55% of American Muslims said they were Sunni, 16% Shia, and others named no particular branch at all.

What many Muslim neighbors wish you knew

The Qur’an says God made people into nations and tribes so they might come to know one another (Qur’an 49:13, summarized). Many Muslims will tell you that’s the whole idea of a neighborhood.

Most American Muslims spend their days doing what everybody else does: working, raising kids, finding parking. A woman in a headscarf is usually not making a statement at you. She’s going to the grocery store.

Try it on

Think of the last Muslim you saw in a headline. Now think of one you know by name. Which one shaped your opinion more?