NICOLE STEWARD-STRENG
Muslims are the most likely religious group to experience religious based discrimination, with more than 60% reporting facing religious discrimination in 2022. Muslims are also the most diverse religious group in the United States, with 27% who identify as Black, 28% as white, 18% as Asian, 12% as Arab, 8% as Hispanic and 1% who identify as Native American/Indigenous. Many Muslims are dealing with overlapping vulnerable identities (ex. Black and Muslim), existing at the intersection and sometimes on the margins of various communities.
Despite Muslims not having a majority racial/ethnic group, much of the discussion around Islamophobia is viewed through a white lens, with a heavy focus on addressing Islamophobia within white, Judeo-Christian communities (1). The unique experiences of non-white Muslims within their racial/ethnic communities go unnoticed and Islamophobia that exists within minority communities is largely unexamined. For example, in American Muslim Poll 2019, we found that Black Americans exhibited relatively high levels of Islamophobia, despite the fact that at least one quarter of Muslims are Black. At the same time, a strong predictor of Islamophobia is anti-Black racism. The overlapping communities have a vested interest in collectively opposing both types of bigotry. Yet, in discussions about anti-Muslim bigotry, this has been little explored and little effort has been made to catalyze real dialogue within these communities around these issues. This project aims to fill that gap.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF) conducted a study to gain insight and understanding into Black Christian views and opinions of American Muslims. Through this project, we ultimately seek to: 1) develop effective outreach and education efforts to address interfaith dynamics in Black and African-American communities across the nation; and 2). identify areas for further research on this understudied topic.
We held seven focus groups with Black Christians and six one-on-one interviews with select participants. The research team, led by Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera, made key connections with trusted leaders and connectors in the Black Christian community who helped garner participation. One focus group was held in-person in Washington, DC in March 2020. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the remaining focus groups and interviews took place online between October 2020 and June 2021. A total of 42 people participated.
The focus group discussions included a range of topics including knowledge and familiarity with American Muslims; how American Muslims are spoken about (in their own communities and in the media); knowledge and familiarity with Black Muslims; any distinctions, if any, between American Muslims and Black Muslims; and familiarity with Islam. The one-on-one interviews provided an opportunity to dig deeper on these topics. The specific questions included:
There is a dearth of research when it comes to Black Christian views of Muslims in America. However, there is prior research on Muslim-Christian relations that can inform our work.
Muslims and Christians have lived both with and among one another for nearly 15 centuries, and their varied historical interactions continue to impact interfaith relations (2). In the United States, Muslim-Christian relations have been strained by issues like religious discrimination, political polarization, media representation, and Islamophobia. Christian values are normalized and prioritized as a hegemonic system in this country (3,4). At the same time, Islam has been associated with un-Americanness (5, 6).
Additional complexities in Muslim-Christian relations are identified when race and ethnicity are layered into the conversation. Race often intersects with religious identity, shaping the understanding and experiences of faith. Black people of faith may grapple with the Islamic slave trade (7, 8) and the enduring influence of white supremacy in Christianity (9, 10). Social context also shapes the perception of Islam among Black Americans. For instance, perceived historical and contemporary racial tensions have strained the relationship between Arab and Black Americans in the United States (11, 12).
A number of challenges in developing and maintaining Muslim-Black Christian interfaith relationships are addressed in the literature, including: 1) limited knowledge of Islamic faith traditions; 2) Islamophobia; and 3) distrust and theological disagreements.
In a country where Christianity influences our social and cultural institutions (3), basic knowledge of Christian values and traditions are ingrained in daily life. American adults have a basic understanding of Christian traditions but are less knowledgeable about the basics of Islam: A 2019 Pew Research Center survey indicated that while 8 in 10 adults know basic facts about Christianity, only 6 in 10 were able to correctly answer questions about Islam (13). On average, adults identifying as Christian answered 14.2 of the 32 questions about world religions correctly. Black Protestants in the study were less knowledgeable about world religions than other Christian-identifying respondents, answering an average of 9.7 questions correctly.
Structural, individual, and dialectic Islamophobia (14) sits among key barriers to interfaith dialogue (5, 15, 16). Islamophobic tropes contribute to stereotyping of Muslims and misunderstandings of Islam that can widen the interfaith divide. Additionally, the racialization of Islam through Islamophobia (17, 18) intersects with anti-Black racism to act as double-barreled oppression for Black Muslims (19), creating added complexity that must be addressed in framing interreligious dialogue. For instance, a Canadian study found that Black Muslims exhibit higher levels of racial trauma than Black Christians, and rates of discrimination were highest for Black Muslim women (20).
A lack of understanding about Islam (21), political polarization (22), suspicion of motivation in interfaith interactions (23), and theological divisiveness (24, 25) have led to a lack of trust between Christians and Muslims. Histories of proselytizing and fears of attempted conversion also negatively influence Muslim-Christian interactions (1, 26, 27). Finding common ground and rebuilding trust are critical to the work of strengthening interfaith relations.
Work has been done over the last five years to promote interfaith dialogue among Muslim and Christian communities. Programs like the Black Interfaith Project have aimed to inform the narrative about Black interfaith leaders and increase knowledge about interfaith cooperation (28). Interfaith activities also provide momentum for social justice efforts (29).
In bringing Muslims and Christians into deeper dialogue, other writers on interfaith topics have challenged their readers to connect on humanity rather than religion, be open to learning, and to approach dialogue with humility (30, 31). Beyond increasing social interactions, some leaders have called for groups to deepen economic ties by doing things like working with each other and owning shared businesses (11). The news and popular media also have a role to play in creating narratives featuring Black Muslims and honoring Black Muslims who are actively shaping narratives (32). Religious organizations aid in these efforts by creating space for formal programs and informal friendships across these two religious communities (31).
Healing Muslim-Christian interfaith divides in the Black community seems especially relevant as Black Muslims are often ignored for their intersectional identities. Because of the association of a Muslim identity with an Arab identity, Black individuals who are also Muslim are often invisible in any discourse or dialogue about Islam or the issues facing Muslims. This includes current events, like the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in which Israel’s war on the territory has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since October 2023 (33), the 2024 election in which Muslims were a critical voting bloc in key swing states (34), and the second Trump presidency, during which communities of color are being targeted on multiple fronts.. Furthermore, because of this invisibility, many view issues around policing as something that does not impact Muslims, ignoring the experiences of Black Muslims with police violence and surveillance. As other authors have noted, these times of crisis can create opportunities to learn about one another and strengthen interfaith bonds (12, 29, 31). This work contributes to the current body of literature by exploring how Christian hegemony and Islamophobia shape Black Christians’ familiarity with Islam, identifying the origins of Black Christians’ beliefs about Muslims, and exploring how race and ethnicity influence their views of/relationships with Black and immigrant (particularly Arab and South Asian) Muslims.
We identified the following major themes from focus groups and one-on-one interviews with Black Christians:
Social and geographic separations often exist between Christian and Muslim communities in the United States. While both Christians and Muslims live throughout the U.S., Black Protestants are more likely to live in the South and Southeast regions of the country while Muslims have a higher concentration in metropolitan areas (36). When Black Christians and Muslims do live in the same areas, interactions are often transactional like those described by Zahir Janmohamed in cities around Detroit (12). Further, many of the Black Christians participating in the focus groups and interviews noted that they had little direct experience with Muslim practices and holidays.
Participants in both the focus groups and one-on-one interviews reflected on the way that Christianity is privileged in larger society. Some participants recalled how Christian traditions were prioritized in school and community events. In these conversations, they described how Christianity was centered even in majority Black spaces where there was known religious diversity, like at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and within Black fraternities and sororities. Participants also described how the framing of Christian faith as superior to other belief systems negatively influenced their perception of Islam. For instance, within one focus group a participant recalled how the teachings that they received from Christian family members, other church members, and in religious school environments reinforced prejudices they had formed against Muslims.
Black Christian familiarity with Islam is low overall. Many participants indicated that they received very little information about Islam in their religious and social communities. Black Christians across the focus groups and interviews indicated that Islam was rarely discussed in church. Participants mentioned that there was a general avoidance around discussing different religious faiths. Some attributed the lack of discussion to a fear among church leaders that a curiosity in other faiths could lead to doctrinal confusion among church attendees and, ultimately, conversion to another faith. In a recent blog post, Christian artist Cellus Hamilton highlights some of these expressed concerns, including that the teachings of Islam that are rooted in identity and empowerment may lead to the rejection of Christianity (36). The silence on the topic in participants’ churches wasn’t perceived as neutrality: Some participants noted that the absence of discussions about Islam in their churches highlights the complicity of Christian religious leaders in upholding misinformation about Muslims and enabling prejudice towards Muslim communities.
Participants noted that when Islam was discussed in church settings, it was often in the context of the faith being at odds with the Christian doctrine of salvation. Within this theological framework, salvation lies in faith in Jesus Christ and human reconciliation with God comes only through Christ (37). Therefore, conversations about Muslims often centered on ways to bring them to faith in Christ. For example, one interviewee described how the Christian ministry that they participated in at one time focused on developing compelling messages to convert Muslims to Christianity.
Participants also described generational resistance to interfaith dialogue. Particularly, some perceived less openness to efforts to build bridges between different faiths among older Christians. Younger people are often more open to interfaith dialogue (38), but one explanation for this generational difference may be the higher proportion of younger adults that were raised in religiously mixed backgrounds than was seen for older generations (39). Older adults however, remain more likely to identify as Christian (40). It is important for older generations to engage in interfaith dialogue to strengthen Muslim-Christian relations.
News and popular media appear to be common entry points for Black Christians to learn about Muslims. Many participants noted how the media both creates and perpetuates negative stereotypes of American Muslims. Across the focus groups and interviews, several individuals recalled the post-9/11 media representation of Muslims as mostly negative.
When participants were asked what words or images came to mind when they heard the words “American Muslim,” many mentioned the Nation of Islam, discipline, resistance, or described well-dressed Black men in bow-ties. Other commonly mentioned signifiers included hijabs, mosques, and prayer rugs. For many Black Christians, Black Muslims–especially Black Muslim men–are top of mind.
While the overall landscape of media representation of American Muslims is small, and mostly negative, the representation of Black Muslims in news and popular media is even narrower. Participants noted a general lack of Black Muslim representation in the media. In this narrow representation, the Nation of Islam seems to have an outsized role: The majority of focus group participants expressed that some of their understanding of Black Muslims came through seeing members of the Nation of Islam in their communities, reading the autobiography of Malcolm X, or watching Spike Lee’s 1992 film Malcolm X. Participants reported mixed perceptions of the Nation of Islam. For instance, some mentioned the positive elements associated with the faith community including community development and discipline, as well as negative elements like the perceived homophobia and misogyny associated with the religious community.
It is especially telling that Malcolm X would be celebrating his 100th birthday if he had not been assassinated in 1965, and the primary popular media (Spike Lee’s film) shaping the perception of Black Muslims in the United States is more than 30 years old. The makeup of Black Muslims in America is markedly different than it was in 1965, or even 1992. Today only 2% of Black Muslims identify with the Nation of Islam–most Black Muslims identify as Sunni Muslim (52%) or hold no particular denomination (27%) (41).
When asked during the focus groups to name the most well-known Black Muslim figures, men appeared to be top of mind for participants. While there was knowledge of Black Muslim women like Betty Shabazz, Clara Muhammad, and Ilhan Omar, several participants noted that men were more often associated with Black Muslims in America. Historically, Muslim men have been more visible than Muslim women in Black communities, and the lack of visibility of Black Muslim women has been associated with stereotypes that these women are in oppressive gender roles in the religion (42). News media and popular culture have ultimately provided a limited view of both Black Muslim men and women, and, for many Black Christians, media may be their primary exposure to American Muslims.
Black Christian experiences with American Muslims are limited. For the participants that knew Black Muslims in their real life, their experiences learning about Islam often started with their immediate and extended families. A 2015 Pew Research Center study indicates that 21% of Muslims that are married or living with a partner were in interfaith relationships (43). Further, about half of Black Muslims in the United States converted to Islam over the course of their life (41) bringing new religious faiths to families. Additionally, according to ISPU’s American Muslim Poll 2022, one in five Muslims in the United States are converts and about half of Muslim converts are Black. A few participants mentioned experiences with Muslim family members, or knowing cousins or other extended family members that practiced the faith. As is common across various family situations, some of these interfaith family relationships were strained while others gave a more positive perspective of Islam.
For those without Muslim family members, school was often the next entry point for Black Christians to learn about Muslims. Participants mentioned having both positive and negative experiences with Black Muslims and other immigrant Muslim communities while they were in school. One participant described their first perceptions of the Black and Arab Muslims on their campus: They perceived the Black Muslims to be more aggressive and the Arab Muslims they came in contact with to be more passive in their interactions with others. Other participants described their suspicion of anti-Black attitudes among Arab Muslims. Throughout the focus group discussions, participants also described beliefs developed from their experiences that Black Muslims were more politically and socially focused than other immigrant Muslims. For instance, a number of participants perceived Black Muslims as more tied to social justice activism and liberation theologies than the non-Black Muslims that they encountered. These early experiences with Black and other immigrant Muslims appear to be influential in Black Christian-Muslim interfaith relations.
Race provides a primary level of connection for Black people in America, regardless of immigration status, class, or religious group. While this diverse group is by no means monolithic, they are connected by shared social systems of oppression, and also by a shared culture of resistance, creativity, and community. For instance, the vast majority of Black Americans see race as central to their identity, with 76% reporting in a 2021 Pew Research Center survey that being Black is very or extremely important to how they see themselves (43). And race is not only influencing their perception of their own identities, but also the connection that they feel with other Black people: About half of the Black respondents to the same Pew Research Center survey reported that they think their fates are strongly linked with other Black people in the United States. Additionally, African American Muslims share with Black Christians a history of racial oppression, from enslavement to Jim Crow laws, and resistance, from the Civil Rights Movement, in the United States.
All Black people living in America share experiences of systemic oppression and violence due to racism and white supremacy. A number of focus group participants associated the faith of Black Muslims with social activism and a push against white supremacy. Black people living in America simultaneously hold multiple identities based on religion, sex, gender, tribal identity, etc. Throughout the focus group discussions, Black Christians noted various occasions where they had to navigate biases and prejudices of other Black people based on religious identity–including those perpetuating negative stereotypes about Black Muslims, minimizing the cultural contribution of Black Muslims, or even being complicit in supporting bias toward Black Muslims with silence. Black Christians in the focus groups also described nuanced differences in their interactions with Black immigrant Muslims (from countries such as Sudan, Somalia, etc.), noting that sometimes this level of diversity is ignored in interfaith conversations. Still, focusing on the commonalities of Black identity is a useful bridge in connecting Black Christian and Muslim communities.
Race matters in shaping interfaith dialogues. The racialization of Islam through institutionalized Islamophobia (17) becomes another connection point for Black Christians and Muslims in the United States. During both his first and second terms in office, Donald Trump has enacted travel bans that bar entry of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries (44). While the 2025 list includes a more diverse set of countries, the strategy of employing racialized politics that dehumanize Black and Brown immigrants (45) seems to remain the same. Participants in both focus groups and one-on-one interviews were clear that fostering positive relationships between Christians and Muslims required building coalitions through shared goals. Understanding the shared challenges associated with racial identity is important, but also crucial in shaping interfaith dialogues is making space for the difficulties and complexities that come with integrating the topics of race and racism into a dialogue.
The general connection of shared oppression between Black Christians and Muslims seems to often break down when it comes to relationships with immigrant Muslim communities (specifically Arab and South Asian Muslims). This breakdown seems to be due to the perception and experience of anti-Black racism in the community. For instance, several participants mentioned a general belief that anti-Black sentiment was prevalent in Muslim communities, othering Black Muslims. A few participants talked about specific interactions and experiences that informed their perception that Black Muslims experienced racism within their Muslim religious communities.
As noted in the literature review, there are historical and current divides that impact Black and Arab relationships in the United States (11). A number of focus group participants mentioned their experiences with racism and misunderstandings with immigrant Muslim communities. For instance, one participant described learning about a derogatory term used to describe Black people and how this information influenced their perception of how Muslims felt about Black people. Another participant recalled how they received highly sexualized comments from Arab Muslims on dating apps and questioned if they experienced this level of disrespect because they are Black or because they are not Muslim. Interfaith conversations between Black Christians and Muslims must include these complexities as well for authentic relationships to form.
Within the focus groups and one-on-one interviews, participants offered their own recommendations for fostering understanding between Christians and Muslims. Participants emphasized that open conversations with Muslims are essential to fostering interfaith understanding between these two religious communities. They emphasized the importance of creating space for these conversations, and many acknowledged that Christians, as the more privileged group, may need to do the work to bridge divides.
Some of this work has already begun, generated by the results of this study. : ISPU and the Muslim Wellness Foundation have hosted multiple Day of Learning events, beginning in 2023 and facilitated by primary investigator Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera and Imam Tariq El-Amin. During these sessions, Christian church and community leaders learn about Islam, discuss Black Christian privilege, and foster positive Christian-Muslim relationships.
In 2019, ISPU and The Bridge Initiative partnered to identify four data-driven ways to combat Islamophobia in the United States. Those recommendations, which include building coalitions with other impacted communities and demystifying Islam, corroborate the following recommendations we provide to continue building and fostering Black Christian-Muslim interfaith dialogue:
