ISLAMIC GROWTH

Islam is growing in the United States, but researchers disagree significantly on the rate.

According to David B. Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford Press), in the United States there are now:

Religion Population % Christians 197,344,000 88.0% Jews 7,259,000 3.2% Muslims 1,883,000 0.8%

By year 2000, Barrett projects, there will be:

Christians 226,563,000 85.7% Jews 8,197,000 3.1% Muslims 3,173,000 1.2%

However, Raquibuz Zamen, professor at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., says there are 3.2 million Muslims in the United States.

And Yvonne Haddad, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Massachusetts, says that by the year 2015, Muslims will outnumber Jews in the United States because of their higher birthrate, growing number of converts and continued flow of immigration of about 25,000 to 35,000 Muslims annually.