America’s First Muslim Majority City

The USA is the third most populous country in the world with an estimated population of over 328 million.

Today, we will be talking about one of the cities, a special city in U.S state of Michigan in Wayne County. We are talking about Hamtramck, which is famous for being the first Muslim Majority City of America.

Known in the 20th century as the vibrant center of Polish-American life and culture, Hamtramck has still managed to attract people from multiple cultures and countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, Bosnia, and more.

Hamtramck is by far the most densely-populated municipality in the state of Michigan.

The demographics shifts this city has seen have been phenomenal and they’re ever-changing.

Initially, the city of Hamtramck was originally settled by German farmers. Moving forward, a large number of people from Poland moved to the city and this was at least a century ago.

Almost 40 years after the Polish-American culture had taken roots in Hamtramck, this city became a landing pad for many Ukrainian, Bosnian, Armenian, Albanian, and Lebanese families.

The people from these countries were escaping violence, war, oppression, and political persecution. Since there weren’t many opportunities here, most of these people started moving to the other parts of the state. Many of them found success, left Hamtramck, and moved to other parts of metro Detroit.

People from Yemen started coming to Hamtramck in the late 60s and early 1970s. Coupled with more people from Bangladesh arriving later in 1980s and 1990s, the city of Hamtramck, to this date, glows with Muslims from these two countries.

In 2013, Hamtramck earned the distinction of becoming the first Muslim-majority city in the United States, following the arrival of hundreds of people from Bangladesh, Yemen, and Bosnia.

In 2015, the blue collar city, Hamtramck also became the first jurisdiction in the nation to elect a majority-Muslim council. Out of a six-member city council elected in November, 2015, four were Muslims.

In truest terms, Hamtramck is an image of a rapidly shifting America, a work in progress that’s far ahead of its time.

It’s very natural for people, those who aren’t living here, to misunderstand the complexity and cross-pollination this place has to offer.

However, the people who are living here; they will tell you how many multicultural elements coexist in this city. The sounds of Muslims’ call to prayer five times a day contemporarily exists with the sounds of a techno spill out of a record store.

There is a mural in Hamtramck that refers to the city as “home of diversity”. Whether it’s a choice of art, practicing of religion, local job opportunities, or the political playground, Hamtramck has emerged as a place where acceptance is not conditional.

Especially since Muslims throughout the world may have to face backlash in their day-to-day lives, the scene is completely different here. The city is filled with mosques, Bengali and Yemeni signboards out of shops, five times calls to prayers, and more.

Despite being in the crosshairs of far right politicians, the first Muslim majority city of the United States has managed to stand strong and continues to do so.

According to a resident during a city-wide interview about outrage on broadcasting of call to prayer in 2004, “Hamtramck does not belong to one group, it belongs to all of them. If there are occasional conflicts, ranging from political infighting or voter discrimination, they always get solved. It’s the outer resistance and constant strain by them that’s a bit unpleasant. Hey, but it’s nothing like what it was a few decades ago.”

The current economic conditions about Hamtramck aren’t ideal. With nearly half of residents living below the poverty line, concerns that surround this city’s people are more about jobs and empty storefronts than religion or ethnicity.

It’s a place where people are so closely packed and come from such different backgrounds that there are issues every day and the local council has to enact solutions every single day. Yet, the city manages to stand strong and diverse.

Biased narratives, false accusations, and outside resistance falls apart as quickly as it comes together. The diversity and sort of variety that exists in this city needs to be valued and preached. The Muslims living there are all in for constitution. As the mural in the city says, it is in fact, the “home of diversity”, currently powered by Muslims.