Muslims in Minnesota

From the 1920s until the 1990s, Minnesota’s Muslim population reflected national trends. African Americans began converting to Islam in earnest in the 1920s with the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam. A major shift in the US Muslim population occured after the immigration reforms of 1965, which opened the door to greater immigration from around the world, including many Muslim-majority areas.⁴ Especially significant is the immigration of Muslims from countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. With the new rules privileging those with certain education or skills, many of the immigrants of this wave were highly educated and faced less economic precarity than those immigrants who began coming in the 1990s.⁵

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, in the wake of civil wars in places like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Eiretrea, Somalia, and Sudan more Muslims have arrived in the US as refugees.⁶ Minnesota has a long history of welcoming refugees, largely due to its robust social service and voluntary resettlement agencies (for more, see “A Warmer Welcome in a Colder State”). Due to this, the composition of Minnesota’s Muslim population does not reflect national trends, with the Somali Muslim community making up a larger portion than in the country as a whole. Although the size of the Somali community in Minnesota is difficult to determine, estimates place it somewhere between forty and seventy thousand.⁷ Estimates vary on the size of the Somali community depending, for example, on whether Somali Americans born in the US are included. In 2017, it was estimated that there were close to 74,000 Somali speakers in Minnesota.⁸ The largest concentration of Somalis live in the Twin Cities area, although there are significant communities in smaller industrial cities, including St. Cloud, Rochester, and Faribault.

Estimates place the total Muslim population of Minnesota in 2020 at about 140,00 people.⁹ Muslims in Minnesota are a diverse group that includes recent immigrants and those already established in Minnesota and they represent a variety of racial, ethnic and national backgrounds.

The increasing visibility of Muslims in Minnesota, and particularly Somali Muslims in Minnesota, was highlighted in spring 2020 with a public call to prayer during Ramadan.¹⁰ The call to prayer was broadcast from the Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, which is considered to be the densest concentration of Somalis in the US.¹¹ This was the first time such a public call to prayer occurred in Minnesota. Imam Sharif Mohamed of Dar Al Hijrah Mosque stressed the importance of the public call to prayer since the Covid-19 pandemic prevented them from gathering in person. He stated “This is a reconnection, a calming, to give people assurance that we are with you.”¹² The public call to prayer was broadcast five times a day for four weeks.¹³

As of August 2020, there were at least seventy-six mosques in Minnesota, numerous Islamic schools, and community centers. Minnesota’s Muslim community has been extremely active in both national and local politics. Minnesota is famously home to the first Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison, who began serving as the Attorney General of the State of Minnesota in 2019, and to the first Somali Muslim Congressperson, Ilhan Omar. Minnesota also has one of the most active chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the United States, whose “mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.”¹⁴ In addition to this politically active community, Minnesota is home to a rich community of Muslim musicians, writers, and artists.¹⁵ Brother Ali is a well-known Muslim rapper and community activist from Minneapolis.¹⁶ There is also a growing Queer Muslim community; in 2017 the Minnesota Caravan of Love sponsored an Iftar event (the celebratory meal breaking the daily fast during Ramadan) for LGBT Muslims.¹⁷ Since then they have continued to sponsor events for Pride, Ramadan, and Eid, through the creation of Masjid Ul-Hub/Masjid of Love, “an inclusive community space for Muslims who are traditionally marginalized communities….a welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ people of color, women and people with disabilities.”¹⁸