List of American Muslims

This is a list of notable Muslims who live in the United States.

Contents 1 Art 2 Business 3 Crime 4 Entertainment 4.1 Comedy 4.2 Film 4.3 Music 4.4 Television 5 Military 5.1 Foreign military service 6 Modeling and pageants 7 Politics and activism 8 Religion 9 Science 10 Sports 10.1 Boxing 10.2 NBA 10.3 NFL 10.4 Wrestling 10.5 Mixed martial arts 11 Writing 12 References 13 See also

Art

• Shirin Neshat - Iranian-American visual artist and film director. Awarded the The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2006, and the Silver Lion in 2009.^[1]
• Shahzia Sikander - Pakistani-American artist. Winner of the "genius" award".^[2][3]

Business

• Fuad El-Hibri - CEO of Emergent BioSolutions^[4][5]
• Farooq Kathwari - CEO of Ethan Allen Global, Inc.^[6][7]
• Abdul Malik Mujahid - President of Sound Vision and community activist^[8]
• Safi Qureshey - Pakistani-American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former CEO of AST Research.^[9]

Crime

• Hasan Akbar - convicted of premeditated murder in grenade attack on fellow soldiers.^[10]
• Hesham Mohamed Hadayet - Egyptian-American who killed 2 people at the El Al counter at Los Angeles International Airport^[11]
• Muzzammil Hassan - Founder of Bridges TV, a Muslim television network, received sentence of 25 to life for beheading his wife.^[12]
• Mir Aimal Kansi - Pakistani-American convicted and executed for the shootings at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters.^[13]
• John Walker Lindh - American Taliban^[14]
• John Allen Muhammad - executed beltway sniper.^[15]
• José Padilla - convicted of aiding terrorists and litigant before the United States Supreme Court in Rumsfeld v. Padilla^[16][17]

Entertainment

Comedy

• Ahmed Ahmed - standup comedian, actor^[18]
• Mo Amer - standup comedian^[19]
• Dave Chappelle - standup comedian (converted in 1998)^[20]
• Tissa Hami - standup comedian^[18]
• Maz Jobrani - standup comedian, actor^[21]
• Aasif Mandvi - comedian, actor^[22]
• Preacher Moss - standup comedian, comedy writer^[19]
• Dean Obeidallah - standup comedian^[18]
• Azhar Usman - standup comedian^[23][24]
• Maysoon Zayid - standup comedian, actress^[18]

Film

• Nabil Abou-Harb - filmmaker, Writer/Director of "Arab in America".^[25]
• Shohreh Aghdashloo - Academy Award-nominated Iranian-born actress^[26]
• Moustapha Akkad - film director, producer^[27]
• Lewis Arquette - film actor, writer, and producer^[28][29]
• Sayed Badreya - actor, filmmaker^[30]
• Said Taghmaoui - actor^[31]

Music

• Ahmad Jamal - Jazz pianist^[32]
• Akil - Rapper. Formerly of the alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5.^[33][34]
• Ahmet Ertegün - Songwriter and founder of Atlantic Records^[35]
• Akon - Rapper ^[36]
• Ali Shaheed Muhammad - Producer, DJ and rapper. Formerly of A Tribe Called Quest. He is a Sunni Muslim.^[9]
• Art Blakey - American jazz drummer and bandleader^[37]
• B.G. Knocc Out - Rapper from Compton, CA, (converted to Islam in 1999)^[38]
• Beanie Sigel - Rapper^[33][39][40]
• Big Daddy Kane - Rapper. He is a 5 percenter.^[41][42]
• Brother Ali - Rapper. Converted to Sunni Islam.^[9][43]
• Busta Rhymes - Hip-hop artist and rapper. He is a 5 percenter.^[9][44]
• Chali 2na - Rapper. Formerly of the alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5, and of Ozomatli^[45]
• DJ Khaled - Rap artist and DJ^[46][47]
• Everlast - Rapper from the Irish-American hip-hop group House of Pain. Converted to Sunni Islam.^[9][48][49]
• Freeway - Rapper. He is a Sunni Muslim.^{[9][40][50][51]}
• Ghostface Killah - Rapper. Member of the hip-hip group the Wu-Tang Clan^[33][52]
• Ice Cube - Rapper and producer.^[53]
• Jermaine Jackson - Singer, bass guitarist^[54][55]
• Lupe Fiasco - Rapper. He is a Sunni Muslim.^[33][9][56]
• Mark 7even - Rapper. Formerly of the alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5^[34]
• MC Ren - Rapper^[57]
• Mos Def - Rapper. Initially joined the Nation of Islam before converting to Sunni Islam.^[33][9][58]
• Napoleon - Former member of Tupac Shakur's rap group the Outlawz, now a motivational Muslim speaker^[59]
• Nas - Rapper and 5 percenter^[33][60]
• Native Deen - Artist rap group^[61]
• Q-Tip - Rapper. Formerly of A Tribe Called Quest. He is a Sunni Muslim.^[9][62]
• Rakim - 5 percenter, Rapper & former member of the hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim.^[60][63]
• Scarface - Rapper^[33][64][65]
• Raekwon - Rapper. Member of the hip-hip group the Wu-Tang Clan^{[66][67][68][69]}
• Rhymefest - Grammy award winning hip hop artist and co-writer of the single "Jesus Walks"^[70]
• Snoop Dogg - Rapper. Joined the Nation Of Islam.^[9][71][72]
• T-Pain - singer, rapper^[73]
• Vinnie Paz - Rapper in the hip-hop group Jedi Mind Tricks.^[74]
• Yusef Lateef - Jazz musician and Grammy Award winner^[75][9]

Television

• Mara Brock Akil - screenwriter, producer^[76]
• Rizwan Manji - actor^[77]
• Mehmet Oz - medical doctor, talk show host^[78]
• Kamran Pasha - screenwriter, producer^[79]
• Iqbal Theba - actor^[80]

Military

• Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan - United States Army Soldier killed in Iraq^[81]

Foreign military service

• Ma Dunjing (1910-2003), Chinese Muslim General of the National Revolutionary Army, immigrated to Los Angeles in the United States after retirement in 1950
• Ma Hongkui, Chinese Muslim General of the National Revolutionary Army, immigrated to Los Angeles in the United States after retirement in 1950

Modeling and pageants

• Iman - Supermodel and wife of David Bowie^[82]
• Rima Fakih - Miss USA 2010

Politics and activism

• Nihad Awad - National Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
• André Carson - Congressman from Indiana^[83]
• Robert D. Crane - Former foreign policy advisor and an author^[84]
• C. Jack Ellis - Former mayor of Macon, Georgia^[85]
• Keith Ellison - First Muslim congressman from Minnesota^[86]
• Ibrahim Hooper - National Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
• Zalmay Khalilzad - Former US Ambassador to the United Nations as well as former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan^[87]
• Edina Lekovic - Communications Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council^[88]
• Malcolm X (also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) - Civil rights activist, public speaker and Black Muslim minister.^[89] Joined the Nation of Islam in 1952, before converting to Sunni Islam in 1964.
• Farah Pandith is the Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State. She is the official advisor to President Obama on Muslim matters.
• Betty Shabazz - Civil rights activist and educator; widow of Malcolm X.^[90]
• James Yee - Former U.S. Army chaplain with the rank of Captain^[91]
• Elias Zerhouni - Director, National Institutes of Health^[92]

Religion

• Hassan Hathout - Muslim scholar^[93]
• Hassan Al-Qazwini - Muslim scholar^[94]
• Haitham Bundakji - President of the Islamic Society of Orange County, the largest Muslim organization in the western United States.
• Yusuf Estes - Muslim scholar^[95]
• Sherman Jackson - Muslim scholar^[96]
• Sadullah Khan - Muslim scholar^[97]
• Ingrid Mattson - Muslim scholar^[98]
• Warith Deen Mohammed - Former leader of the largest Muslim organization, the American Society of Muslims (son of Nation of Islam leader)^{[99][100][101]}
• Louay M. Safi - Muslim scholar^[102]
• Zaid Shakir - Muslim scholar^[103]
• Siraj Wahhaj - Muslim scholar^[104]
• Hamza Yusuf - Muslim scholar^[105]
• Omar Khalidi - Muslim Scholar^[106][107]
• Anwar al-Awlaki- He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was President of the Muslim Student Association. Al-Awlaki also earned an M.A. in Education Leadership from San Diego State University. He worked on a Doctorate degree in Human Resource Development at George Washington University Graduate School of Education & Human Development from January to December 2001.

Science

• Fazlur Khan - structural engineer (designed the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center)^[108]
• Ayub K. Ommaya - neurosurgeon, inventor of the Ommaya reservoir^[109]
• Ahmed Zewail - Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, 1999 for his work on femtochemistry.^[110]
• Lotfi A. Zadeh - Lotfali Askar Zadeh (born February 4, 1921), better known as Lotfi A. Zadeh, is the famous founder of fuzzy logic, mathematician, electrical engineer, computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher and professor emeritus of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sports

Boxing

• Muhammad Ali - Became a member of the Nation of Islam in 1964,^[111] then converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.^[112][113]
• Bernard Hopkins - Former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight world champion^[114]
• Eddie Mustafa Muhammad - Former Light Heavyweight Champion
• Matthew Saad Muhammad - Former Light Heavyweight Champion.^[115]
• Dwight Muhammad Qawi - Former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion.^[116]
• Hasim Rahman - Former Heavyweight champion^[117]
• Mike Tyson - Was the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1987; converted in 1994 (influenced from preacher in prison)^[118]

NBA

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Converted to Islam from Catholicism in 1968, initially joining the Nation of Islam before retaking the Shahada and converting to Sunni Islam that very summer.^[9][119]
• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf - Former player for Denver Nuggets (converted in 1991, formerly Chris Jackson)^[120]
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim - Retired player, named NBA All-Star in 2001-02 season^[121]
• Hassan Adams - Player for the KK Vojvodina^[122]
• Larry Johnson - Retired player, played for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks^[123]
• Nazr Mohammed - Player for the Charlotte Bobcats^[124]
• Mehmet Okur - Turkish player of the Utah Jazz^[125]
• Shaquille O'Neal - Player for the Boston Celtics, also a rapper and actor^[126]
• Hakeem Olajuwon^[127]
• Rasheed Wallace of the Boston Celtics^[128][129]

NFL

• Hamza Abdullah - Safety player for the Cleveland Browns^[130][131]
• Husain Abdullah - Safety player for the Minnesota Vikings^[132]
• Az-Zahir Hakim - Wide receiver player formerly for the St. Louis Rams^[133]
• Ryan Harris^[134]
• Abdul Hodge - Linebacker for the Carolina Panthers.^[9]
• Ahmad Rashād - Former player for Minnesota Vikings, award winning sports-caster (converted in 1972)^[135][136]
• Ephraim Salaam - Offensive tackle player for the Detroit Lions^[137]
• Muhammad Wilkerson - Defensive end for the New York Jets^[138]
• Usama Young - Free safety player for the New Orleans Saints^[139]

Wrestling

• Khosrow Daivari - Iranian American, former wrestler at the WWE^[140]
• Khosrow Vaziri (The Iron Sheik)^[141]

Mixed martial arts

• Muhammed Lawal former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight World Champion

Writing

• Jerald F. Dirks - former Methodist minister and author^[142]
• Mona Eltahawy - columnist^[143]
• Yahiya Emerick - Author^[144]
• Pai Hsien-yung - Chinese Muslim author and writer, born in China, immigrated to Taiwan then the United States, son of General Bai Chongxi
• Ayman Mohyeldin - Al-Jazeera English journalist^[145]
• Stephen Schwartz - journalist^[146]
• Michael Wolfe - journalist^[147]
• Fareed Zakaria - head of Newsweek International^[148]

References

See also

• Glossary of Islamic terms in Arabic
• List of converts to Islam
• List of Islamic and Muslim related topics
• Lists of Muslims
• List of African American Muslims
• Lists of people by belief
• List of Western Muslims