Islam To Replace Judaism As The Second Biggest Religion In The Unites States By 2040

The Muslim population in the United States is growing at a steady pace, so much so that it is expected to take the place of the Jews as America’s second biggest religious population.

According to a research conducted by the Pew Research Center, there are more than 3 million Muslims of different ages living across the country.

Using the yearly U.S. Census data and Pew studies the center conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2017, the research found that Muslims currently make up 1.1% of the total American population (3.45 million) and is expected to grow to 2.1% (8.09 million) in 2050. At this rate, the Muslim population is going to surpass the Jewish population by 2040 (Jewish Americans make up 2% of the population).

“Muslims in the U.S. are not as numerous as the number of Americans who identify as Jewish by religion, according to our estimate. At the same time, our projections suggest that the U.S. Muslim population will grow much faster than the country’s Jewish population,” indicates the research.

Pew's research found the growth is being fueled by higher fertility rates and high levels of immigration. However, it isn’t just these past few years that America has seen Muslims entering the country. Muslims have been a part of the United States even before Christopher Columbus discovered America.

“When Columbus made his journey to the United States, it is said he took with him a book written by Portuguese Muslims who had navigated their way to the New World in the 12th century,” reports the article Islam in America.

However, the organization started collecting data on the Muslim population 11 years ago, and since then, Pew says the Muslims have appeared to grow at the rate of 100,000 every year.

While the growth is stupendous, Muslims will always be a religious minority in a Christian dominant country. A research conducted by Pew in 2014 found out that more than 70% of the adult population in the United States was of the Christian faith.