Islam is a minority religion across the countries and territories of the Americas. Approximately 1% of the population of North America are Muslims, and 0.1% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean are Muslims.
Suriname has the highest percentage of Muslims in its population for the region, with 13.9% or 75,053individuals, according to its 2012 census.2012 Suriname Census Definitive Results . Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek - Suriname. However, the United States, in which estimates vary due to a lack of a census question, is generally believed to have the largest population, with approximately 3.45million Muslims living there, about 1.1percent of the total U.S.population.
Most Muslims in the former British Caribbean came from the Indian subcontinent as indentured labourers following the abolition of slavery. This movement also reached Suriname, although other Muslims there moved from a separate Dutch colony, which is now Indonesia. In the United States, the largest Muslim ethnic group is of white Arabs from the Middle East. However, in South America, the Muslim population is mainly composed of upper-class immigrants from the Levant, including those from Lebanon and Syria.
Population by country
The population of Muslims varies across the Americas. Below is the percentage of every American country that was Muslim in 2010, according to a Pew Research Center estimate:
+ Muslims among total populationCountryEstimated %Suriname15.2Guyana7.0(2012) Trinidad and Tobago5.9Canada4.9(2021)St. Vincent and the Grenadines1.5British Virgin Islands1.2Bermuda1.1Argentina2.14Barbados1.0French Guiana0.9United States1.34Panama0.7Antigua and Barbuda0.6Cayman Islands0.4Guadeloupe0.4Anguilla0.3Falkland Islands0.3Grenada0.3St. Kitts and Nevis0.3Venezuela0.3Aruba0.2Caribbean Netherlands0.2Curaçao0.2Martinique0.2Sint Maarten0.2St. Pierre and Miquelon0.2Bahamas0.1Belize0.1Dominica0.1Honduras0.1St. Lucia0.1U.S. Virgin Islands0.1Bolivia<0.1Brazil<0.1Chile<0.1Colombia<0.1Costa Rica<0.1Cuba<0.1Dominican Republic<0.1Ecuador<0.1El Salvador<0.1Greenland<0.1Haiti<0.1Jamaica<0.1Mexico<0.1Montserrat<0.1Paraguay<0.1Peru<0.1Puerto Rico<0.1Turks and Caicos Islands<0.1Uruguay<0.1
Immigrant Muslims in America During the rule of the Spanish and Portuguese in the Americas, Islam and any religion beyond Catholic Christianity was strictly forbidden. Some of the first Muslims to enter America were Wolof (Jelofe) slaves of Senegal who were introduced to Hispaniola in 1522. Their entry was soon banned by Casa de Contratación that regulated Spanish trade in the Americas since they were considered Moors (Moros). This did however not stop their further import since African slaves who were introduced to Spanish America had their origin and faith obscured by slave traders. Despite the suppression of Islam some Islamic customs and beliefs appear to have transferred to the Americas such as the idea of going to heaven riding horses and bathing on Saint John's Eve.
In regards to Immigrant Muslims in America: at first, a population of African Muslims entered the United States as slaves, and at the next stage, while the immigration laws to this country eased the conditions for accepting immigrants from all over the world, another population of Muslim people entered there. In the last 25 years, new waves of immigrants as well as the tendency of a large group of American blacks to Islam have caused an increase in the number of Muslims in America. According to one of the professors of the University of Massachusetts, USA, the number of Muslims in America is estimated to be close to four million people, and is appraised that two thirds of this population are "immigrants and their children" apart from Muslim Americans.
In 1991, more than 100,000 immigrants entered the United States legally, most of whom were people (mostly Muslim) from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and India.The spread of Islam in America Retrieved 4 July 2022
Islamic worship traditions
Shias in the Americas
Shia Muslims comprise 15-20% of Muslims in the Americas; which is nearly 786,000 to 2.500.000 persons in the U.S.Shiite justice teachings in the westernmost society of the world / The ups and downs of two and a half million Shiites in America Retrieved 2 April 2023 Shia Muslims are situated on United States. The American Shia Muslim community are from different parts of the world such as South Asia, Europe, Middle East, and East Africa.
The American Shia Muslim community have many activities and have founded several organization such as the Islamic Center of America and North America Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities Organization (NASIMCO).
The first group of immigrant Shiites (Shias) migrated to the United States from Lebanon and Syria about one hundred and eighty years ago (1824-1878). These Shiite Muslims migrated to cities such as Detroit, Michigan, and Ross (California) and North Dakota.Shiism in America Retrieved in 24 June 2022
Other traditions
See also
Islam in Asia Islam in Europe Islam in Oceania Lists of mosques in North America Lists of mosques in South America Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
References
Further reading
South America