Muslims now form the largest minority religion in the United States,
with
an estimated 6 million followers. An estimated 400,000 live in the
Chicago
area.
Because the Islamic faith is not only a religion, but a way of life for
more than 1 billion people worldwide, measuring the exact numbers–and
the
rate of growth–is difficult.
The number of mosques in the United States has grown from a relatively
small number in 1960 to more than 2,000 today, said Ibrahim Hooper, a
spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. There are
about
90 mosques in the Chicago area.
The number of Muslim families in Naperville alone has nearly doubled,
to
500, in the past five years, said Kareem
Organizations of Greater Chicago.