# List of American Muslims

This is an incomplete list of notable Muslims who live or lived in the United States.

## Academia

* Asad Abidi – Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles; member of the National Academy of Engineering
* Gul Agha – Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
* Akbar S. Ahmed – US resident Pakistani anthropologist; the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University; producer of the film Journey Into Europe, on Islam in Europe
* Saleem H. Ali – environmental researcher and Associate Dean for Graduate studies at the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; writer and contributor to publications such as the International Herald Tribune; has dual American and Pakistani citizenship
* Talal Asad – Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies at CUNY
* Farooq Azam – Distinguished Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD; researcher in the field of marine microbiology
* Ayesha Jalal – MacArthur Fellow and Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University
* Mohammad Aslam Khan Khalil – Professor of Physics at Portland State University; a highly cited researcher in the field of atmospheric physics
* Sadaf Jaffer – the first female Muslim American mayor, first female South Asian mayor, and first female Pakistani-American mayor in the United States, of Montgomery in Somerset County, New Jersey.
* Hafeez Malik – Professor of Political Science at Villanova University, in Pennsylvania
* Zia Mian – physicist
* Adil Najam – Professor of Geography and International Relations and Director of the Pardee Center at Boston University; founding editor of popular blog Pakistaniat
* S. Hamid Nawab, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University; co-author of widely used textbook Signals and Systems (1997), published by Prentice Hall (Pearson); researcher in signal processing and machine perception with application to auditory, speech, and neuromuscular systems
* Anwar Shaikh – Professor of Economics at the graduate faculty of The New School in New York City
* Sara Suleri – Professor of English at Yale University
* Abdul Jamil Tajik – researcher in clinical medicine
* Muhammad Suhail Zubairy – Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy; holder of the Munnerlyn-Heep Chair in Quantum Optics at the Texas A&M University

## Activism and government

* Huma Abedin – aide to United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; served as traveling chief of staff during Clinton's campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election
* Saqib Ali – served as delegate to the Maryland House of Delegates, elected in 2006, represented the 39th District
* Tahir Ali – first Pakistani American elected as a National delegate-at-large (R) from Massachusetts, 1992
* Aisha al-Adawiya – American interfaith activist and founder of Women in Islam
* Arif Alikhan – former appointee to the Obama Administration where he served as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at the United States Department of Homeland Security; former Deputy Mayor of Homeland Security and Public Safety for the City of Los Angeles; visiting Professor of Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the National Defense University's (NDU) College of International Security Affairs in Washington, DC
* Nihad Awad – National Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
* André Carson – Congressman from Indiana
* Shamila N. Chaudhary – US government policy adviser
* Nusrat Jahan Choudhury - civil rights lawyer and District Court judge for the Eastern District of New York. First Muslim woman to serve as a United States federal judge.
* Robert D. Crane – former foreign policy advisor; author
* Sada Cumber – first US envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference
* Hamida Dakane – first Black and first Muslim to serve in the North Dakota House of Representatives
* Keith Ellison – first Muslim congressman from Minnesota
* Louis Farrakhan – leader of the Nation of Islam
* George Bethune English (1787–1828) – American adventurer, diplomat, soldier, and convert to Islam.
* Ibrahim Hooper – National Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
* Mansoor Ijaz – hedge fund manager and venture capitalist involved in Pakistan–United States relations and peace efforts surrounding the Kashmir conflict
* Arsalan Iftikhar – human rights lawyer, global media commentator, and author of the book Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies & Threatens Our Freedoms
* Noor Al-Hussein – anti-nuclear weapons proliferation advocate and former Queen consort of Jordan
* Hakim Jamal – civil rights activist; Member of the Nation of Islam but converted to traditional Islam after the assassination of his cousin Malcolm X.
* Mustafa T. Kasubhai - first Muslim federal judge in the United States
* Zalmay Khalilzad – former US Ambassador to the United Nations; former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan
* Yuri Kochiyama – Japanese American activist who converted to Sunni Islam from Protestantism in 1971
* Umar Lee – Activist and Writer
* Edina Lekovic – Communications Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council
* Gholam Mujtaba – chair of the Pakistan Policy Institute, a think tank dedicated to improve the US-Pakistan relationship
* Ilhan Omar – One of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
* Farah Pandith – Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the US Department of State; official advisor to President Obama on Muslim matters
* Zahid Quraishi – first Muslim Article III district court judge in the United States
* Zainab Salbi – co-founder and president for Women for Women International
* Betty Shabazz (also known as Betty X) – civil rights activist and educator; widow of Malcolm X
* Ilyasah Shabazz – social activist and daughter of Malcolm X
* Malcolm Shabazz – activist and grandson of Malcolm X; Murdered during a labor rights tour in Mexico
* el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (also known as Malcolm X) – human rights activist, civil rights activist, public speaker and Black Muslim minister; Joined the Nation of Islam in 1952, before converting to Sunni Islam in 1964.
* Azadeh Shahshahani – human rights attorney and past president of the National Lawyers Guild
* Saghir "Saggy" Tahir – New Hampshire State Representative; the only elected Pakistani American in the Republican Party; re-elected in 2006 for a fourth term to represent Ward 2, District 9 in his home town of Manchester
* Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli – White House appointee at various senior posts in the executive branch and the State department during five Republican administrations.
* Rashida Tlaib – One of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
* James Yee – former U.S. Army chaplain with the rank of Captain
* Elias Zerhouni – Director, National Institutes of Health

## Armed forces

* Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan – United States Army Soldier killed in Iraq
* Humayun Khan – United States Army Soldier killed in Iraq

### Foreign military service

* Ma Dunjing – 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

## Art

* Kameelah Janan Rasheed — Artist based in New York City
* Deana Haggag – Egyptian-American art museum curator, President and CEO of United States Artists in Chicago
* Shirin Neshat – Iranian-American visual artist and film director. Awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2006, and the Silver Lion in 2009
* Shahzia Sikander – Pakistani-American artist and MacArthur Fellow
* Minoosh Zomorodinia – Iranian-born American visual artist and curator

## Business

* Javed Ahmed – former chief executive of Tate & Lyle, a FTSE 250 company and one of Britain's oldest brands
* Michael Chowdry (1955–2001) – Forbes 400 businessman; founder of air cargo company Atlas Air, which in 2001 was worth over $1.39 billion
* Mohamed El-Erian – chief economic adviser of Allianz, the parent company of PIMCO, where El-Erian was CEO and manager of over $1 trillion in global assets; president of Queens' College, Cambridge
* Tariq Farid – founder and chief executive of Edible Arrangements
* Nabeel Gareeb – president and chief executive of renewable energy company MEMC (now SunEdison) from 2002 to 2008; ranked 6th highest-earning U.S. CEO in 2008
* Fred Hassan – chairman of investment company Caret Group, director of private equity firm Warburg Pincus, former chief executive of pharmaceutical companies including Schering-Plough from 2003 to 2009, when the company completed its merger with Merck & Co.
* Mansoor Ijaz – founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management, television commentator
* Jawed Karim – co-founder of YouTube
* Farooq Kathwari – chairman, president and chief executive of Ethan Allen
* Shahid Khan – owner of sports teams the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C., and autoparts maker Flex-N-Gate, lead investor in All Elite Wrestling
* Safi Qureshey – co-founder and former CEO of AST Research, philanthropist
* Hamdi Ulukaya – billionaire founder and chief executive of foods maker Chobani; activist and philanthropist, signed the Giving Pledge to donate the majority of his wealth, founded the Tent Foundation, received the UN Global Leadership Award and the Global Citizen Prize

## Comedy

* Ahmed Ahmed – standup comedian, actor
* Mohammed Amer – standup comedian
* Dave Chappelle – standup comedian (converted in 1998)
* Negin Farsad – comedian, actress, writer, filmmaker
* Maz Jobrani – standup comedian, actor
* Aasif Mandvi – comedian, actor
* Hasan Minhaj – comedian, Daily Show correspondent
* Preacher Moss – standup comedian, comedy writer
* Zahra Noorbakhsh – comedian, writer, actor, co-host of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast
* Dean Obeidallah – standup comedian
* Azhar Usman – standup comedian
* Maysoon Zayid – standup comedian, actress

## Crime

* Hasan Akbar – convicted of premeditated murder in a grenade attack on fellow soldiers
* Hesham Mohamed Hadayet – Egyptian-American who killed 2 people at the El Al counter at Los Angeles International Airport
* Wadih el-Hage – al-Qaeda member serving life imprisonment in the US for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings
* Mujahid Abdul Halim – Served 45 years in prison for taking part in the assassination of Malcolm X; Long-time member of the Nation of Islam but converted to traditional Islam while in prison.
* Nidal Hasan – former soldier convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting
* Muzzammil Hassan – founder of Bridges TV, a Muslim television network; received sentence of 25 to life for killing his wife
* Mir Aimal Kansi – Pakistani-American convicted and executed for the shootings at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters
* John Walker Lindh – member of the Taliban
* John Allen Muhammad – executed beltway sniper
* José Padilla – convicted of aiding terrorists and litigant before the United States Supreme Court in Rumsfeld v. Padilla
* Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – Kyrgyzstani-American citizen who was convicted of planting bombs at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, together with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
* Bryant Neal Vinas – convicted of participating in and supporting al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S.

## Film

* Nabil Abou-Harb – filmmaker; writer and director of Arab in America
* Shohreh Aghdashloo – Academy Award-nominated Iranian-born actress
* Moustapha Akkad – film director, producer
* Mahershala Ali – Oscar-winning actor.
* Lewis Arquette – film actor, writer, and producer
* Sayed Badreya – actor, filmmaker
* Saïd Taghmaoui – actor
* Faran Tahir – actor

## Modeling

* Halima Aden – Somali-American fashion model
* Iman – supermodel and widow of David Bowie
* Bella Hadid – fashion model and daughter of real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid and former model Yolanda Hadid

## Music

* Ahmad Jamal – jazz pianist
* Ahmet Ertegün – Songwriter and founder of Atlantic Records
* Akon – R&B and hip-hop artist
* Ali Shaheed Muhammad – producer, DJ and rapper, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest; Sunni Muslim
* Art Blakey – jazz drummer and bandleader
* Beanie Sigel – rapper
* Brother Ali – rapper; converted to Islam
* Chali 2na – rapper, formerly of the alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5, and of Ozomatli
* DJ Khaled – rap artist and DJ
* Everlast – rapper from the Irish-American hip-hop group House of Pain; converted to Islam
* Freeway – rapper; Sunni Muslim
* Ghostface Killah – rapper, member of the hip-hip group the Wu-Tang Clan
* Ice Cube – rapper and producer
* Jermaine Jackson – singer, bass guitarist
* Kevin Gates – rapper
* Lupe Fiasco – rapper; Sunni Muslim
* MC Ren – rapper
* Mona Haydar rapper; Sunni Muslim
* Mos Def – rapper; initially joined the Nation of Islam before converting to Islam
* Napoleon – former member of Tupac Shakur's rap group the Outlawz, now a motivational Muslim speaker
* Native Deen – rap group
* Q-Tip – rapper, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest; Sunni Muslim
* Raekwon – rapper, member of the hip-hip group the Wu-Tang Clan
* Rhymefest – Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist; co-writer of the single "Jesus Walks"
* Richard Thompson – British folk rock singer, Sufi Muslim since 1974
* Scarface – rapper
* Vinnie Paz – rapper in the hip-hop group Jedi Mind Tricks
* Yusef Lateef – jazz musician and Grammy Award winner

## Religion

* Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi – Muslim Scholar.
* Omar Suleiman – Muslim activist and Imam.
* Dalia Mogahed – Muslim speaker and activist.
* Yasmin Mogahed – Muslim speaker and activist.
* Ismail al-Faruqi – Muslim philosopher and scholar
* Jonathan A C Brown – Muslim lecturer and scholar.
* Amina Wadud - Islamic scholar and activist
* Suhaib Webb – Muslim lecturer and activist; Imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the largest mosque in the New England area
* Hamza Yusuf – Muslim scholar
* Hassan Hathout – Muslim scholar
* Hassan Al-Qazwini – Muslim scholar
* Hisham Kabbani – Muslim sufi scholar and shaykh
* Yusuf Estes – Muslim preacher
* Souleiman Ghali – Founder of the Islamic Society of San Francisco
* Sherman Jackson – Muslim scholar
* Nouman Ali Khan – Muslim speaker and founder, CEO and lead instructor at Bayyinah, the Institute for Arabic and Qur'anic Studies.
* Sadullah Khan – Muslim scholar
* Ingrid Mattson – Muslim scholar
* Warith Deen Mohammed – former leader of the largest Muslim organization, the American Society of Muslims (son of Nation of Islam leader)
* Abdul Malik Mujahid – Imam, community activist supporting interfaith and progressive causes, president of Sound Vision
* Daniel Haqiqatjou - Muslim polemcist, debator, and Da'ee
* Louay M. Safi – Muslim scholar
* Zaid Shakir – Muslim scholar
* Siraj Wahhaj – Muslim scholar
* Omar Khalidi – Muslim scholar
* Amir Hussain – Muslim scholar, editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion
* Asifa Quraishi - Muslim legal scholar
* Azizah al-Hibri - Muslim legal scholar
* Laleh Bakhtiar - translator of the Quran

## Science

* Shereef Elnahal – commissioner, New Jersey Department of Health, transitioning to CEO of University Hospital, Newark in July 2019
* Fazlur Khan – structural engineer (designed the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center)
* Ayub K. Ommaya – neurosurgeon, inventor of the Ommaya reservoir
* Ahmed Zewail – Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, 1999 for his work on femtochemistry
* Aziz Sancar – Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, 2015 along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair
* Anousheh Ansari - engineer and first person of Iranian descent in space

## Sports
### Boxing

* Muhammad Ali – became a member of the Nation of Islam in 1964, converted to Sunni Islam in 1975
* Bernard Hopkins – former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight world champion
* Eddie Mustafa Muhammad – former Light Heavyweight Champion
* Matthew Saad Muhammad – former Light Heavyweight Champion
* Dwight Muhammad Qawi – former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion
* Hasim Rahman – former Heavyweight champion
* Mike Tyson – Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1987; converted in 1994 (influenced by preacher in prison)
* Gervonta Davis – former Super Featherweight and Light Welterweight champion, Lightweight world champion as of January 2024, converted to Islam in 2023

### Basketball

* DeSagana Diop – Senegalese basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats
* 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
* Enes Kanter – Turkish basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers
* Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf – former player for Denver Nuggets (converted in 1991, formerly Chris Jackson)
* Shareef Abdur-Rahim – retired player, named NBA All-Star in 2001–02 season
* Hassan Adams – drafted by and played for the New Jersey Nets, later the Cleveland Cavaliers, then KK Vojvodina (in Serbia).
* Larry Johnson – retired player, played for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks
* Nazr Mohammed – player for the Charlotte Bobcats
* Mehmet Okur – Turkish player of the Utah Jazz
* Shaquille O'Neal – former player for the Los Angeles Lakers; rapper and actor
* Hakeem Olajuwon – former player for the Houston Rockets
* Rasheed Wallace – former player for the Detroit Pistons
* Kyrie Irving - player for Brooklyn Nets

### NFL

* Ameer Abdullah – running back, drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2015, currently with the Minnesota Vikings
* Oday Aboushi – guard, drafted by the New York Jets in 2013, currently with the Detroit Lions.
* Dominique Easley – linebacker, drafted by the New England Patriots in 2014, currently a free agent.
* Mohamed Sanu – wide receiver, drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012, currently with the San Francisco 49ers
* Muhammad Wilkerson – defensive end, drafted by the New York Jets in 2011, currently a free agent.
* Hamza Abdullah – former safety for the Cleveland Browns
* Husain Abdullah – former safety for the Minnesota Vikings
* Az-Zahir Hakim – former wide receiver for the St. Louis Rams
* Ryan Harris – former offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
* Abdul Hodge – former linebacker for the Carolina Panthers
* Josh Palmer – Wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers
* Ahmad Rashad – former wide receiver for Minnesota Vikings, award-winning sportscaster (converted in 1972)
* Ephraim Salaam – former offensive tackle for the Detroit Lions
* Robert Saleh – Defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers former Head Coach for the New York Jets.

### Track and field

* Khalid Khannouchi – marathon runner
* Dalilah Muhammad - Olympic gold and silver medalist

### Wrestling

* Adeel Alam – Pakistani American, wrestler in WWE
* Khosrow Vaziri – Retired Iranian American wrestler, former WWE Champion

### Mixed martial arts

* Muhammed Lawal – former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight World Champion
* Kamaru Usman – current UFC Welterweight Champion

## Television

* Mara Brock Akil – screenwriter, producer
* Usman Ally – actor
* Ahmed Shihab-Eldin – reporter for national news channels
* Zehra Fazal - actress and comedienne
* Rizwan Manji – actor
* Ayman Mohyeldin – reporter for national news channels
* Isaiah Mustafa – actor
* Mehmet Oz – medical doctor, talk show host
* Kamran Pasha – screenwriter, producer
* Tahera Rahman – Newscaster for WHBF-TV and KLJB. Widely covered by the media for being the first American hijabi Muslim newscaster.
* Iqbal Theba – actor
* Ali Velshi – Reporter and anchor for national U.S. news channels, from Canada
* Ramy Youssef - Actor and comedian

## Writing

* Wael Abdelgawad – author
* Saladin Ahmed – author
* Reza Aslan – author, religious scholar
* Mona Eltahawy – columnist
* Yahiya Emerick – author
* Hafsah Faizal – Author of youth literature, of Sri Lankan and Arab descent.
* Khaled Hosseini – Novelist, physician
* Laila Lalami – author and essayist
* Melody Moezzi – author and activist
* Ayman Mohyeldin – Al-Jazeera English journalist
* Etaf Rum - Novelist
* Lulu Schwartz – journalist
* Ambreen Tariq – American author, activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping
* G. Willow Wilson - comics writer and author
* Michael Wolfe – journalist
* Fareed Zakaria – author, commentator, and host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS