ReligionMarch 24, 2012

Matt O'Brien of the Contra Costa Times

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The number of mosques in the United States grew by 74 percent in the past decade, and mosques are increasingly found in the suburbs, according to a national survey by a coalition of Muslim groups.

The 2011 U.S. Mosque Survey counted 2,106 mosques in the United States.

"This building boom is indicative of the growing financial resources of the Muslim community as many Muslims have lived in the U.S. for many decades now and their financial resources have improved," wrote study author Ihsan Bagby, an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky.

Ravi Mohiuddin attends one of the San Francisco Bay Area's newer mosques, though as with many Islamic centers in the Bay Area, his West Valley Muslim Association in Saratoga is a work in progress.

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The mosque opened in a rented hall in 2007 amid two insurance offices, a hair salon and a lighting store. Just a mile from Apple headquarters, the storefront attracts Apple employees and other Silicon Valley Muslims who come for daytime prayers.

But the congregation has grown from a few dozen to hundreds, and adherents are raising money to build a mosque down the street.

Bagby pointed to several factors contributing to the growth: an influx of Muslim refugees from Somalia, Iraq, West Africa and Bosnia; increasing ethnic and denominational diversity within the Muslim community spurring new mosques reflecting different schools of thought; and the expansion of the Muslim population into suburbs and new regions around the country.

Because many Muslim organizations don't seek loans from financial institutions because of the Islamic belief prohibiting interest, Bagby said, followers have to increase their membership and confidence before building a mosque.

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