Islam on the Rise in America

by ALAN CARUBA February 14, 2013

While the daily headlines are filled with news reflecting Islamist's acts of terrorism in various parts of the world and Americans begin to suspect that, in addition to the Middle East, Africa is becoming the next "hot spot" in the war on terror, many are unaware of the rise of Islam in America.

 "The future of the country-that was conceived by the pilgrims and Puritans as ‘the new Zion'-is now bound inextricably to Islam." So writes Paul L. Williams in his new book, "Crescent Moon Rising: The Islamic Transformation of America."

"The Faith of the Prophet Mohammed will continue to impact and transform all aspects of American life: social, political, and economic. Save for a cataclysmic event that will shatter demographics, Islam by 2050 will emerge as the nation's dominant religion."

Williams offers facts that are nothing less than astounding.

"Muslims continue to pour into the country occupy positions (vacated by aging Americans) as physicians, engineers, and scientists. Others arrived to perform tasks that American workers are unwilling to perform in food-processing plants, agricultural facilities, and telecommunications. In addition to the Muslims who come here with employment visas, thousands more arrive with student visas to enroll in colleges throughout the country. Still others with ‘diversity' visas to enrich America's racial composition."

"In 1992, nearly fifty thousand Muslims arrived in the United States and received permanent residency status. In 2009, that number soared to 115,000. In truth, no one knows for certain how many Muslim immigrants are presently living in the country." 

"In addition to the legal and illegal Muslim immigrants, eighty thousand refugees enter this country under resettlement programs. Nearly seventy-five thousand from Islamic countries."

"Islam, at present, is the most rapidly growing religion in the country, with outreach programs on college campuses, in prisons, and within the military."

"Islam provides an antithesis to secular America", says Williams, offering a version of "traditional values" that would impose restrictions that few Americans anticipate; a ban on liquor, a reduced status of women, dress codes, and much more. "Muslims do not recognize the legitimacy of all faiths," warns Williams.

As with other faiths, all Muslims are not alike. They range from orthodox to secular. "They represent a hodgepodge of ethnic and racial groups from Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Indonesia, and the Balkan states." While many are poor, others are prosperous. Some have no problem assimilating into American society. Others have no wish to do so. They range from moderate to extreme in the practice of Islam.

In an earlier America, there were restrictions on immigrants from various parts of the world deemed antithetical to the nation's values. The early waves of immigrants came mostly from England and Nordic nations. They were followed by those from Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe as the need for more workers for America's growing industries required more immigrants. Asians were not particularly welcome and Arabs were even less welcome. This changed with the Hart-Celler Act, signed into law by President Johnson in the wake of the Civil Rights Act. It ended an immigration quota system that had governed America for most of his history. It was, for the record, widely opposed by a two-to-one margin. It is a legacy from Edward Kennedy who shepherded the bill through the Senate.

As Williams notes, "September 11, 2001, was not a day that changed everything. It was rather the day that revealed how much had changed. The real shock came not only from the devastation, but also the demographics. The world for many Americans became a place suddenly unrecognizable."

This has already become a fact of life for Europeans and is rapidly become one for Americans, particularly in large urban centers where the presence of Muslims is visible for their dress, the many restaurants and outlets that cater to them, and the increasing number of mosques found everywhere. USA Today reported in February 2012 that "The number of Islamic places in the United States soared 74% in the past decade...the overall number of mosques quietly rose from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010."

Largely unseen and unknown are the many Muslim organizations throughout the U.S., some of which have been found to have terror connections, and all funded not merely to spread the faith, but to ultimately impose it on our present political structure and open culture. Williams documents this with dates, names and places.

Even so, Americans elected and reelected Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a Muslim father and adopted son of a Muslim step-father. He is a President who keeps insisting that al Qaeda is receding as a threat when it is, in fact, a growing threat everywhere. And, soon enough, here again.

© Alan Caruba, 2013