[23][24] One of the earliest accounts of Islam's possible presence in North America dates to 1528, when a Moroccan slave, called Mustafa Azemmouri, was shipwrecked near what is now Galveston, Texas.

Historian Peter Manseau wrote: Muslims' presence [in the United States] is affirmed in documents dated more than a century before religious liberty became the law of the land, as in a Virginia statute of 1682 which referred to "negroes, moores, molatoes, and others, born of and in heathenish, idolatrous, pagan, and Mahometan parentage and country" who "heretofore and hereafter may be purchased, procured, or otherwise obtained, as slaves.

Among the recorded names of American soldiers are "Yusuf ben Ali" (a member of the Turks of South Carolina community), "Bampett Muhamed"[27] and possibly Peter Salem.

[34] Estimates ranging from a dozen to two hundred and ninety-two Muslims served in the Union military during the American Civil War,[35] including Private Mohammed Kahn, who was born in Persia, raised in Afghanistan, and emigrated to the United States.

[38] A Greek/Syrian convert to Islam, Phillip Tedro (a name he reverted to later in life), born in Smyrna, who renamed himself Hajj Ali, 'Ali who made the pilgrimage to Mecca,' (commonly spelled as "Hi Jolly") was hired by the United States Cavalry in 1856 to tend camels in Arizona and California.

[37] During the American Civil War, the "scorched earth" policy of the North destroyed churches, farms, schools, libraries, colleges, and a great deal of other property.

According to 21st century researchers Donna Meigs-Jaques and R. Kevin Jaques, "[t]hese enslaved Muslims stood out from their compatriots because of their resistance, determination and education.

[55] In 1776, John Adams published "Thoughts on Government", in which he mentions the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a "sober inquirer after truth" alongside Confucius, Zoroaster, Socrates, and other thinkers.

In 1785, George Washington stated a willingness to hire "Mahometans", as well as people of any nation or religion, to work on his private estate at Mount Vernon if they were "good workmen".

In his autobiography Jefferson wrote "[When] the [Virginia] bill for establishing religious freedom ... was finally passed, ... a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal.

The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination.

He provided three main principles which serve as the foundation of the NOI: "Allah is God, the white man is the devil and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic Black People, the cream of the planet earth".

[80] He left the NOI after being silenced for 90 days (due to a controversial comment on the John F. Kennedy assassination), and proceeded to form Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity before his pilgrimage to Mecca and conversion to Sunni Islam.

The Nation of Islam has received a great deal of criticism for its anti-white, anti-Christian, and anti-semitic teachings,[83] and is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[103][104][105] Some of the earliest Islamic missionary activities were undertaken by Alexander Russell Webb, who in 1893 established a mission in Manhattan, although it faltered due to lack of funding.

[117] According to a Pew Forum estimate, in 2017 there were 3.45 million Muslims, constituting about 1.1% of the total U.S. population,[118] compared with 70.6% who follow Christianity, 22.8% unaffiliated, 1.9% Judaism, 0.7% Buddhism, and 0.7% Hinduism.

[121] On the other hand, according to data from the General Social Survey in the United States "32% of those raised Muslim no longer embrace Islam in adulthood, and 18% hold no religious identification".

Areas with large Muslim populations may support a number of mosques serving different immigrant groups or varieties of belief within Sunni or Shia traditions.

Typically Islamic schools integrate religious knowledge throughout the curricula, incorporate prayer into their daily schedules, require modest dress, and serve halal food.

[153] Compared to some nations in Western Europe, such as France and the Netherlands,[154][155] there have been relatively few controversies surrounding the hijab in everyday life, a product of "pro-religious freedom" laws allowing for a wide range of religious accommodations, and also due to greater support for multiculturalism.

[172][173] During the 2024 United States presidential election, An August 2024 survey published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found that 29% of Muslim voters planned to vote for Jill Stein.

According to its website, among the goals of IANA is to "unify and coordinate the efforts of the different dawah oriented organizations in North America and guide or direct the Muslims of this land to adhere to the proper Islamic methodology."

[226] After the September 11 attacks, America saw an increase in the number of hate crimes committed against people who were perceived to be Muslim, particularly those of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.

Other acts were against those accused of being Muslims, such as Sikhs, and people of Arabian and South-Asian backgrounds[227] A publication in Journal of Applied Social Psychology found evidence that the number of anti-Muslim attacks in America in 2001 increased from 354 to 1,501 following 9/11.

[228] The same year, the Arab American Institute reported an increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes ranging from discrimination and destruction of private property to violent threats and assaults, some of which resulted in deaths.

[232] In 2006, one California woman was shot dead as she walked her child to school; she was wearing a headscarf and relatives and Muslim leaders believe that the killing was religiously motivated.

[223] Terrorism that involved Muslim perpetrators began in the United States with the 1993 shootings at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, followed by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City.

"[253] Another 2011 poll provided by The Washington Post[254] through the Public Religion Research Institute states that 48 percent of Americans are uncomfortable with Muslim women wearing the burqa.

The University of Michigan–Dearborn and a public college in Minnesota have been criticized for accommodating Islamic prayer rituals by constructing footbaths for Muslim students using taxpayer money.

[261] In the American Muslim Poll 2018, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding set out "to measure the level of public anti-Muslim sentiment" in the United States.