……and let’s see how much political clout we have.
Here is a story, hat tip Robert, from Wisconsin about a joint effort between a Milwaukee University and a local mosque to do a head count of the Muslim population—to learn where they (the Muslims) need to expand? What is that supposed to mean?
And, didn’t we just have a census in 2010—are we saying that it didn’t count all the Muslims in Milwaukee?
From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are collaborating with two local Muslim organizations to conduct a first-of-its-kind demographic study of the Milwaukee area’s Muslim community.
The survey, which will focus on Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties, will try to gauge not just the number of Muslims, but their quality of life and contributions to the larger community.
“We’d like to have a good handle on the numbers. But it’s not just about the count,” said Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, which is working with Milwaukee’s Islamic Da’wa Center and UWM on the project.
“It will also give us a sense of the trends going forward – what are the needs for schools, where do we need to expand and how fast?”
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the number of Muslims in the United States is expected to more than double over the next 20 years, from 2.6 million to 6.2 million.
State and local data, however, are harder to come by. Local Islamic leaders estimate there are 12,000 to 15,000 Muslims in the Milwaukee area, but Pew does not offer state data and the Association of Religious Data Archives puts them at less than half that.
By the way, Atta is a Palestinian:
He is a longtime advocate for and a nationally known speaker on Palestinian rights. And while he is expected to continue those activities, that’s not the focus of his new post, Quereshi said.
Sounds like the Islamic Society of Milwaukee is planning to be more politically engaged (once they figure out how many voters they have in Milwaukee).