There are an estimated 200,000 Muslims in Virginia in the United States as of 2008, according to the
American Religious Identification Survey.[1] As of 2014, Virginia has the fourth highest
Islamic population concentration in the United States.[2]
History
18th and 19th centuries
In the 1760s, future
Governor of Virginia and U.S. President
Thomas Jefferson purchased an English translation of the
Quran while studying law. At the time, Muslims were alluded to in Virginia as "
Mahometans," and while an estimated 20 percent of
enslaved Africans were Muslim,[3] much of Virginia's citizenry at the time did not acknowledge that Muslims existed in America.[4]
Virginia was one of the first states to formally recognize Muslims. 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."[8]
Virginia resident and first U.S. President
George Washington suggested for Muslims to "obtain proper relief" from a proposed Virginia bill that would levy taxes to subsidize Christian worship in the state. On another occasion, Washington declared that he would welcome "Mohometans" to his Virginia
Mount Vernon estate if they were "good workmen."[9] Research indicates that some of Mount Vernon's enslaved workers in Virginia were practicing Muslims and adhered to Islamic tradition.[10]
While President, Thomas Jefferson also participated in an
iftar with the Ambassador of
Tunisia at his Virginia
Monticello Estate in 1809.[11]
20th century
Beginning in the 20th century,
Muslims have been a rapidly growing religious group throughout the state through immigration and remain a "major driver of Virginia's religious diversity."[12][13] By the 1950s, some Muslims in Virginia became affiliated with the
Nation of Islam, a Black-oriented form of Islam.[14]
In 1992,
Sharifa Alkhateeb founded the North American Council for Muslim Women in
Fairfax, Virginia, and served as its first president. The organization was the first national organization of American Muslim women.[17]
As of the 2000s, Virginia is home to an estimated 200,000 Muslims, the majority of whom are concentrated in
Northern Virginia and the
Washington metropolitan area.[26] Virginia is home to numerous Islamic centers,[27] private schools (preschool, elementary, middle, high school), and mosques throughout the state.[22]
In 2000, The
Peaceful Families Project was established in Northern Virginia and is among the first Muslim organizations working to end domestic violence in Muslim families and communities.[28]
In 2004, federal agents raided the
Alexandria, Virginia satellite office of the
World Assembly of Muslim Youth, long suspected of terrorism by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.[29] After the raid, the organization strongly denied any ties to terrorism and stated that the government had told them the probe was focused solely on "immigration issues".[30] The office was later permanently closed by order of the U.S. government.[31]
In 2007, the Islamic Center of Richmond was established as a
501c(3) non-profit organization with a mission to "organize religious, educational, and charitable activities for the benefit of the Muslim community in Virginia."[34]
By percentage of the total population of counties or independent cities,
Emporia, Virginia was reporting having the highest population of
Muslims in the United States as of the 2010 census, with 28.99% of city residents being practicing Muslims.[35]
The
University of Virginia also has an
Islamic studies program within its Department of Religious Studies, which is focused on "the advanced study of Islamic intellectual history spanning fifteen-hundred years, with an emphasis on the medieval and early modern philosophical and religious traditions."[36][37]
The 2017
murder of Nabra Hassanen brought concerns regarding islamophobia in Virginia to the forefront, with many asserting it to be an anti-Muslim hate crime.[39][40]Fairfax County police chief Edwin Roessler Jr. told the media that they had "absolutely no evidence" that the killing of Hassanen was a hate crime,[41] but members of Hassanen's community have questioned this conclusion.[42]
In 2022, Governor of Virginia
Glenn Youngkin visited a vandalized mosque on
Eid al-Fitr to condemn anti-Muslim acts of violence and commit to partnership and further religious tolerance. He stated, "this is a moment for us to recognize across Virginia... that there is no place for religious persecution, there is no place for us to condemn people because of their faith. America was in fact founded on a basic principle of being able to express your religious beliefs."[50]
^"The Founding Fathers and Islam". Library of Congress Information Bulletin. May 2002. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005. Retrieved April 27, 2005.{{
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