Nation’s Population Is Less Than 1% Muslim, Gallup Poll Indicates

The U.S. Muslim population is probably less than half the size of the Jewish population, despite some widely circulated claims to the contrary, according to a report in the September issue of Emerging Trends, a publication of the Princeton Religion Research Center in Princeton, N.J.

Out of more than 30,000 respondents to the Gallup survey, only 0.2% identified Islam as their religious preference--even lower than the 0.3% recorded for American Hindus.

The center concluded, “In the absence of contradictory evidence, we have to go along with the survey evidence and estimate that Muslims now account for less than 1% of the total U.S. adult population.” The standard figure for the Jewish population has remained at about 2% in recent years.

Taking note of persistent media reports that have estimated the Muslim presence at 2% to 5% of the U.S. population, or 5 million to 12.5 million, the Emerging Trends article says, “Apart from any social changes, the political impact that a Muslim community that was equal to or larger than the Jewish community would have upon the U.S. could be staggering.”

The research center, which is linked to the Gallup polling organization, reported that its efforts to develop a statistical profile of U.S. Muslims were largely unsuccessful.

“After a year’s attempt throughout 1990 to accumulate a sufficient number of interviews to be analyzed with statistical reliability, there simply were not enough Muslims to be found,” the center said.

The research center report comes on the heels of a survey conducted by the City University of New York Graduate School and University Center which came to similar conclusions. That study put the Muslim population at between 0.3% and 0.5% of the population--less than one-third of the Jewish figure in the CUNY poll--based on a survey of 113,000 American households.

Just as the City University study was attacked by some members of the Muslim community, the Gallup Poll is also under siege.

Amir Ali, managing director of the Institute of Islamic Information and Education in Chicago, said that his organization estimates the Muslim population at 5 million to 6 million, with an absolute minimum of 3.5 million, based largely on immigration figures and ethnic data.

He recalled that when he moved to Chicago in 1967 there was only one Islamic center in the city, and that could only accommodate about 50 people. Now, said Ali, his offices are located next to an Islamic center that accommodates 1,100 worshipers and is just one of about 50 sites for Muslim worship in the city.

Yvonne Haddad, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts, said accurate figures on the Muslim population are virtually impossible to obtain.

Haddad, editor of “The Muslims of America,” published this year by Oxford University Press, said she believes the Gallup figures are low because so many Muslims are afraid of being open with anyone collecting information on them.