Are Black Muslims Sunni or Shiite?
Many say, “None of the above.” By Chris Wilson The Barack Obama campaign rejected help from Muslim congressman Keith Ellison during the Democratic primary, the New York Times reported this week. Ellison, an African-American who was raised as a Catholic, converted to Islam in college. What’s the deal with black Muslims???are they Sunnis or Shiites or something else? Most are Sunnis, if they care to make the distinction. A 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center found that among the several million Muslims in America, 20 percent are native-born African-Americans. Among those black Muslims, half identified themselves as Sunni???as Ellison does???and another third said they had no affiliation. There are a handful of predominantly black Shiite mosques in the United States, though they represent a small minority of all black Muslims. Another small percentage belongs to the Nation of Islam, an independent Muslim movement that has had strained relations with the mainstream Islamic community. Es
