America’s Early Encounters with Islam

For all of its perceived ‘newness’, Islam has been part of the American story for centuries. Part of understanding America’s historical essence means understanding its interaction with Islam.

by Usman Butt

“We came to a village called Icancanac, one which is very large and full of mosques,” Hernan Cortes’s  fifth letter to the Spanish Emperor Charles V about modern-day Mexico and Honduras in 1519.

Donald Trump’s executive orders barring citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, coupled with the overall rising tide of Islamophobia, which h…