ABSTRACT
Muslims arrived at the Americas as early as the tenth century; more than five centuries before Christopher Columbus “discovery” of “the new world” in 1492. Some Muslims also came with the Spanish conquistadors to the Americas. The Muslim population in the Western Hemisphere, both in size and in percentage, remains the lowest in comparison with other continents. Muslims arrived as explorers, centuries before the arrival of the Europeans, then as escapees from Spanish Catholic oppression, then as black slaves brought by the Europeans from Africa. Muslims arrived as explorers, centuries before the arrival of the Europeans, then as escapees from Spanish Catholic oppression, then as black slaves brought by the Europeans from Africa. Islam started when many of African descent converted to Islam starting in the 1950s, influenced by the movement of Nation of Islam in the United States. The islands remain an organized and unincorporated territory of the United States.
