Ten years after Pew Research Center carried out a study on the American Muslim community, in the United States, the results reveal how the tragic day completely transformed the thinking of five million Muslims living in the United States.
The community in question is a group that immigrated recently to the United States: 63% are still first generation immigrants and 45% in fact, came to the United States after the ‘90s, with four out of ten hailing from the Middle East or the Maghreb.
It is therefore a community that has put down roots in the United States and that was caught up in the September 11 attacks and all that that involved.
The survey gathered a sample of testimonies, over one thousand American Muslims, recording important signs of growth not just extremism. Immigrants did not seem to feel any more alienated that other sections of American society.
Although being Muslim in the United States after the September 11 attacks, 48% believes that the American public still has a friendly attitude towards Muslims. And despite the recurrent blizzards of mediation that have taken place over the past two years, the figures on negative attitudes shown towards Muslims have remained largely unaltered since 1997.
Another interesting fact shown by the study, is that 56% of American Muslims affirms that most Muslims that arrive in the United States today, want to adopt American traditions and lifestyle. If, however, the same question is put to your average American citizen, only 33% recognises this attitude towards Muslims that have entered the Country.
The data on citizenship seems to back the idea that US Muslims are integrated in American society: a whopping 70% have American citizenship. This piece of data is far higher that the average number of immigrants in general which has been set at 47%.
After September 11, there have been developments in the construction of buildings for Muslim worship, despite the 37 ongoing disputes. There are currently 1925 mosques in the United States, while in 2000 there had only been 1209. This means that a third of today’s existing mosques were built following the September 11 attacks.