immigration law in 1965, particularly the end of
the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924, increased the
momentum of Muslim immigration, particularly
from South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern
Europe, and the Soviet Union, primarily com-
ing from and settling in urban areas. Conflict
throughout the Muslim Middle East and Central
Asia since the late 1960s (post-1967 war between
israel and the Arab states, the Lebanese civil
war [1975–90], Iranian Revolution [late 1970s],
Iran-Iraq war [1980–88], Iraq-Kuwait/Gulf war
[1990–91], Afghanistan civil war [1978–present],
and U.S.-Iraq war [2003–present]) have stimu-
lated immigration of sectarian and other Muslim
minorities to America, particularly Shii popula-
tions, resulting in a higher than world average
(20 percent rather than 10 percent) in relation
to the world Sunni Muslim majority. In addition
to immigrants, large numbers of Muslim profes-
sionals and students arrived to secure advanced
training or degrees from all parts of the Muslim
world, and they have added their cultural, ethno-
linguistic, and theological diversity to the Muslim
community in America for periods from as short
as five to as long as 20 years.
The American Muslim community reflects the
theological as well as ethnic and linguistic diver-
sity of the world Muslim umma, or religious com-
munity, including established Sufi orders and new
Sufi teachers and groups, as well as a large num-
ber of new indigenous Islamic groups and sectar-
ian offshoots. The presence and example of the
American Muslim immigrant and expatriate com-
munity has stimulated a growing number of con-
verts to Islam throughout the 20th century to the
present, particularly among African Americans.
Immigrant Muslims have struggled to maintain
Islamic identity and life ways in a non-Muslim
majority environment through their commitment
to the five pillars of practice (shahada/witness to
Faith, salat/prayer, zakat/almsgiving, sawm/fast-
ing, haJJ/pilgrimage) and the categories of halal/Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles( J. Gordon Melton)
K 692 United States