What events and figures have shaped the development of Islam in the United States?

Answer 1

Well, i believe people in the United States didn't know that much about Islam.But there are so many Muslims who immigrated to the states so they began to grab people's attention to know more about it..also the 9/11 attacks which were reffered to as a "Muslim terrorists" attack or whatever stirred the public to become more curious to know about Islam and what it really is about..

Answer

The story of Islam in the US is one of the most significant stories.

It began as early as the 17th century, when Americans brought African slaves to the US, in fact, 40% of African slaves were Muslims, while the remaining were idolatries.

The history of slavery in America still mentions many Muslim men who left a mark in the American society, if you search for the name: Abdulrahman Ibn Suri, for e.g., you'll find a very remarkable story, and many others, not forgetting the famous Alex Haley's novel, Roots.

During this stage, the Americans were not yet related politically with Arabs, and didn't eventually know anything about Islam or Arabic, till the late 19th century when we can say that conquering of the Arabic lands by English, French and Italian forces urged those people for studying the histories of their conquered lands.

Then an active movement of traveling of Arabs and Muslims to the west began for many reasons including studying, working for improving income, or even running away from an ongoing war, as what happened with the Lebanese during their civil war, ..etc.

This was the real interaction with Muslims, specially educated Muslims who came to work as doctors, scientists, and others.

Those people gave a significant share in the building of scientific development in the west, including the US, and many of them rested in their new areas as civilians, had good relations with their contact societies, and had in fact a very good reputation for most of them.

Coming to mentioning the most significant figures who shaped the Islamic ideas in the US, one can mention many, who became part of the American history, as Malcom X for e.g., good to mention that some American figures embraced Islam from reading Islamic books, and comparing them with what in their religions, like what Maryam Jameela did.