Mohammad Akhtar, Ph.D Muslims living in America are estimated to be in the range of 4-6 million depending upon which measuring instrument one uses. PEW (2007) estimates Muslims to be in the lower direction. On the whole, Muslims resemble the general American population in their socioeconomic variables (earnings, education, employment) and other indicators, such as church attendance- 50% of Muslims attend mosque, and voter registration- 66% of Muslims are registered. However, on abortion and gay marriage issues, Muslims appear to be more conservative and resemble the Christian Right. About 1/5 of Muslims are America born blacks, while the rest are immigrants, who came to America mostly in 70’s and 80’s and have become naturalized citizens. The children of these immigrants who have co...

By John L. Esposito and Sheila B. Lalwani Religion News Service- Huffington Post, January 6, 2011 (RNS)

In a single vote, the Texas State Board of Education managed to undermine Christian-Muslim relations, hamper religious literacy and impose ignorance on our kids at a time when they need knowledge to live and work in a competitive and integrated world. Board members--no foreigners to strange and bizarre decisions--voted to scrub textbooks of anything that smacked of a "pro-Islam" or "anti-Christian" bias. Texas textbooks, by their sheer number, end up setting nationwide standards. The resolution, passed in a 7-6 vote, refers to moments in history when Christianity is portrayed unfavorably and Islamic events that could be deemed unfavorable are "glossed over." The vote end...

Levi-Ben shmuel, Published in Huffington Post,12/11, 2010

(should we believe in God or science? We often think about this question. Levi-ben, jewish by faith, trained at MIT in 1988 in economic development, teacher in Thai Chi and singer by hobby presents a spiritual voice on the issue -Editor) The expression "let's get to the heart of the matter" is well ingrained in the English language. When it comes to the heart itself, what is the heart of the matter? The question arose while thinking about open-heart surgery. Recently, two close relatives underwent the operation. One needed his aortic valve replaced. The other "only" needed her mitral valve repaired. The idea that a highly trained stranger can literally hold a loved one's stopped heart in his hands, fix it and then re...

The Founding Fathers and Islam (May 2002) – Library of Congress Information Bulletin

In his seminal Letter on Toleration (1689), John Locke insisted that Muslims and all others who believed in God be tolerated in England.

Readers may be surprised to learn that there may have been hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Muslims in the United States in 1776—imported as slaves from areas of Africa where read more...