Service by Muslims in the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...

dates back to the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, where records indicate that there were some Muslims who fought on the revolutionary side against the British. Muslims have fought in all major United States conflicts, including the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. More recently, they have served in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, and the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. The Army Chief of Chaplains requested on December 14, 1993, that an insignia be made to symbolize Muslim chaplains, and on January 8, 1994, a crescent-shaped design was produced. In 2015, there were approximately 5,896 American Muslims serving in the United States military. First US Navy Muslim Chaplain

Before the 9/11 Attacks

Muslims have fought and died in both

and the

. Some Muslim Americans served in World War II in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Additionally, at least 12 Muslims are known to have died in the

. Before the abolition of slavery in America, many African Muslim slaves fought for America.

War of 1812

An African slave by the name of Bilali Muhammad defended

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Sapelo Island Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraft or boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mil ...

from British attack during the

. His group consisted of 80 slaves who were mostly Muslim and were armed with muskets.

Civil War

291 Muslims are known to have fought during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Some sources claim that the highest-ranking Muslim officer was Captain Moses Osman, the son of Robert and Catherine Osman. However, Moses Osman was confirmed in the Zion German Lutheran Church in 1843 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The most highly ranked Muslim in the war may be Nicholas Said. He came to the United States in 1860 and found a teaching job in Detroit. In 1863, Said enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiment of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was later granted a transfer to a military hospital, where he gained some knowledge of medicine. His Army records state that he died in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1882. Another Muslim soldier from the Civil War was Max Hassan, an African who worked for the military as a porter.

After WWII

Abdullah Igram, a Muslim-American WWII veteran, campaigned for Islam to be an option in servicemembers' religious identification. His organization provided additional tags that soldiers were permitted to wear starting in 1953, and by then

dog tag Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including ...

s included codes for 'other' and 'prefer not to say'. By the Vietnam War, personnel could use a wide list of spelled-out religious names.

After the 9/11 Attacks

According to the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

, a total of 6,024 Muslim-American troops served in overseas deployments in the ten years following 9/11, with 14 fatalities reported in Iraq. As of December 2015, there were approximately 5,897 active Muslim members of the US military, accounting for roughly 0.45% of the total. However, practicing Muslim service members are required to shave their beards and other facial hair and often face difficulties obtaining food that meets their dietary requirements, in accordance with military policy. The involvement of Muslim Americans in the military has received increased attention following events such as the September 11 attacks, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, and Khizr Khan's 2016 Democratic National Convention speech.

Notable Muslims in the Military

Humayun Khan

Humayun Khan was a Pakistani-American born in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

on September 9, 1976, to Pakistani parents. After graduating from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 2000, he joined the U.S. Army's 201st Forward Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. Throughout his four years of service, he rose in ranks to become an officer in the U.S. army before being killed by a car bomb on June 8, 2004, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

’s temporary immigration ban based on a list of terror-linked countries (created under the Obama administration) brought Khan's parents,

Khizr and Ghazala Khan Khizr Muazzam Khan (born 1950) and Ghazala Khan (born 1951) are the Pakistani American parents of United States Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq War. The couple received international attention following a speec ...

, into the public spotlight as they addressed Trump at the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

. Speaking out to defend their son and others who died in the American military, they created an "unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election".

Colonel Douglas Burpee

Colonel Douglas Burpee is a retired

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, having flown

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s for 27 years. Burpee was born an Episcopalian but converted to Islam when he was 19 in the late 1970s while attending the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He was accepted into the Officer Candidates' School in

Quantico, VA Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east a ...

, after graduation. At the end of his service, Burpee was the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Muslim American Military Insignia

Image:USarmychinsigmus.gif, Muslim Chaplain insignia, Army File:USN - Chaplain Muslim.png, Muslim Chaplain insignia, Navy File:USAF Muslim Chaplain Insignia.jpg, Muslim Chaplain insignia, Air Force

References

{{United States Armed Forces

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

M Islam