 JUMP
TO: |
 |
| • |
|
| • |
|
| • |
|
| • |
|
| • |
|
| • |
|
|
|
|
| Converts |
| |
As one of the fastest-growing
religions in the U.S., Islam is attracting large numbers of
converts in this country. While the largest percentage of
converts are African Americans, Muslim converts span all racial,
ethnic and gender groups.
A
survey of U.S. mosques found that those mosques
had a combined total of about 20,000 converts to Islam in
2000. Of these, about 13,000 were men and 7,000 were women.
Nearly 14,000 were African Americans, 4,000 were white, and
about 1,200 were Latino. There were no statistics on Asian
Americans. The study, “The Mosque in America: A National
Portrait,” was conducted by the Hartford Seminary’s
Hartford Institute for Religious Research and cosponsored
by four Muslim American organizations.
The number of converts from the study is considered conservative
because it does not take into account people who convert to
Islam but do not associate with a mosque. However, one place
outside mosques where converts are numerous is in U.S. prison.
Inmates are converting to Islam in record numbers, according
to many experts. About 30,000 prisoners convert each year,
according to Jane I. Smith, professor of Islamic Studies at
Hartford Seminary and author of “Islam in America.”
The reasons why Americans convert are myriad and deeply personal.
Experts say many are attracted to the relative simplicity
and clarity of Islam’s religious beliefs, to its traditional
moral values, and to its emphasis on family and community.
The faith’s commonality with other familiar religions
-- Christianity and Judaism, for example -- appeals to some
converts. Many others, particularly Anglo Americans, discover
Islam through Sufism, the faith’s more mystical dimension.
Conversion is rarely without its share of obstacles. Many
converts report experiencing social isolation at mosques,
rejection by their families, and difficulty in integrating
their religious beliefs with their Western values and lifestyles. |
|
|