Islam shaped America’s origins

Islam is not foreign to America, Muslims and Islamic thought have shaped the nation's intellectual and political origins for centuries, and contemporary Muslims must reclaim and convey that history to their fellow Americans.

The khutbah in 6 steps

1. The perception problem: Americans are taught to see Islam as foreign, anti-immigrant, and incompatible with the United States
2. European prehistory: Ottoman scientific and naval power drew French and British elites to study in Muslim lands, producing 'Muhammadan Christians' who rejected the Trinity
3. Founding-era America: Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Madison, and Locke were Unitarians influenced by Quranic monotheism and Muslim political thought
4. Physical Muslim presence in early America: the Tunisian ambassador Sidi Sulaiman Mali Mali, the enslaved scholar Umar Sayyid, and Jefferson's Quran
5. Prophetic mandate: the Farewell Sermon charged the companions to convey the message, and now that duty falls on today's Muslims
6. Contemporary call to action: Muslims must daily share Islam with neighbors, coworkers, and classmates, beginning with the mosque open house