Perhaps the most important consequence of the 9/11 attacks, and the one that people have paid the least attention to, has been its impact on the political activity of Arab-Americans and American Muslims and their numbers in the United States. While Muslim emigration to the U.S. did indeed decline in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, it recovered quickly and soon reached new heights. In 2005, more Muslims became permanent legal residents than in any previous year, and the numbers have steadily increased since then.
According to the United States Religion Census in 2010 there were 2.6 million American Muslims and 2,000 Mosques. By 2020, the numbers had increased to 4.4 million Muslims and 2,800 Mosques. Arab-American numbers tell a similar story. In 2000, there were 1.1 million; by 2010 the number had reached 1.7 million; and in 2020, 2.9 million.
In retrospect, the increase should not be surprising. Just as America’s involvement in Vietnam ultimately led to tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees settling in America, the United States’ adventure in Iraq and Afghanistan unleashed a similar phenomenon, as both refugees fleeing the turmoil and people who worked with the U.S. military sought refuge in the United States.
Of equal importance is the rising engagement of Arab and Muslim Americans with U.S. politics. Twenty years ago, there were a few American politicians with roots in Arabic-speaking countries, but these were all Levantine Christians whose ancestors had come a hundred years earlier.
Today, not only is the mayor of New York a Muslim, but there are currently five Muslim members of Congress, a number that is likely to increase in November. Navigating a post-9/11 world where both their faith and its relationship to violence were questioned, Muslim Americans became more engaged in both politics and community initiatives. And with Islam’s position in America under scrutiny, Islamic identity has become more central to Muslim Americans at the expense of other national and ethnic identity claims. Twenty-five years after 9/11, not only is the position of Islam in America more established, but American Islam is now an important component of Islamic politics worldwide.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MBN’s editorial stance.
