Paterson, New Jersey and other American cities are becoming ‘beachheads’ for Islam

Even today, few take seriously the idea that anyone would even be trying to bring Islamic law to the United States. Inconceivable!

Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, preached on Feb. 2, 2024 that America was on its way out, and that the world had to prepare accordingly: “America has grown old. It is old. It is on the verge of retirement. It is about to be admitted into a nursing home.” The solution for America as well as for the rest of the world, said Salah, was the religion of Muhammad. He even claimed that Muhammad himself had prophesied an Islamic America: “The Prophet Muhammad has said: ‘A small army of Muslims will conquer the white house, the house of Kisar [the Persian ruler].’” In case any of his listeners missed his point, he continued, “Ever since the days of Adam and to day—this is 2024—we have never known of any house that was built and named ‘the White House,’ except for the ‘White House’ in Washington.” He didn’t bother to disclose to his audience why a Persian ruler was occupying America’s Executive Mansion. Instead, Salah drove home the point that Islam was in America’s future: “Perhaps this hadith is clear evidence that the future caliphate [that will follow] the ways of the prophets will lead to the spreading of Islam, and Islam will enter every home in every continent without exception, including every home in America.”

This is a more common view than most non-Muslims realize. a Muslim speaker told a large crowd in New York City at a rally in Feb. 2026: “Oh, don’t scare them, brothers! Relax! They’re over here on purpose to be like, ‘Oh my God!’ Who’s seen those videos where they’re like, ‘Oh my God, the Muslims are taking over New York City!’ Seen those? You seen those? Let them know that we are taking over New York City! Takbir!” The crowd responded with enthusiastic screams of “Allahu akbar.”=

This also recalled a video that surfaced back in Dec. 2025, in which a young Somali Muslim in the U.S. holds a large photo of President Donald Trump and says: “My biggest fear in life is that this man may never witness our full takeover. Yes, he may never wi— witness that. He already witnessed our partial takeover, our little success, in America…. So. He’s old and sick, I know, he may not witness our full takeover. But I promise you that his sons will witness.”

On May 27, 2026 at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, the imam Esam Omeish said: “The best thing we can do to America is help guide it with the guidance of Islam, and help guide it with the ability to rid itself of these illnesses that our Prophet Muhammad has described and has given us the prescription for.”

“American Medinas: Turning US Cities Into ‘Beachheads’ for Islam,” by Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations, August 25, 2026:

Founded by Alexander Hamilton as the first industrial city in America, Paterson, N.J.,  is now home to America’s largest Palestinian community and largest proportion of Muslim residents. Today, New Jersey’s third-largest city is effectively run by its 30,000 Muslims, some of whom say they don’t need to learn English because it’s like living “back home” in an Arab city.

Paterson holds an annual Palestinian flag-raising ceremony, during which residents chant, “Free Free Palestine!” And in 2022, it renamed a five-block stretch of Main Street “Palestine Way.”

In June 2023, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh signed a sister city agreement with the mayor of Ramallah, a city in the West Bank and the seat of power of the Palestinian Authority, which officially celebrates the killing of Israelis. And last year during a ceremony kicking off Ramadan, he declared his city the “capital of Palestine in the United States of America” and the “fourth-holiest city” in Islam. “We are 100% halal!” Sayegh gushed, meaning pure and lawful under Islam. The mayor even agreed to hang a sign at the city entrance that reads: “Welcome to Little Palestine.”

Paterson is just one of several American cities – which also includes Hamtramck and Dearborn in Michigan – now controlled by Muslims; followers of Islam also exert outsized influence in some larger cities such as Minneapolis and New York.

To varying degrees, the actions of Muslims in these communities echo those of immigrant groups who came before them – creating thriving communities that can feel more foreign than American, supporting one another to gain office and influence, renaming streets after their own heroes, giving recognition to their own holidays. But critics warn that communities such as Paterson also reflect the different challenges posed by Islam, which is now the nation’s fastest-growing religion.

As is also the case in Western Europe, assimilation is demonstrably rare in U.S. municipalities with heavy concentrations of Muslim migrants. In these areas, large influxes of Muslims from abroad have changed not only the complexion, culture, values and traditions of cities, but also the demographic makeup of city councils, school boards, police departments and courts. Muslim officials, in turn, have changed laws or how existing laws are enforced to conform to the tenets of Islam – an unwelcome trend for many non-Muslims and particularly Jews threatened by their militantly anti-Israel rhetoric and positions.

“Our number one and top priority is to protect and defend our community, it is not to assimilate,” asserted Linda Sarsour, a renowned Palestinian activist who lives in the Paterson area and has helped transform the city.

RCI’s reporting on this phenomenon has found that Muslims often break with U.S. norms on a wide range of fundamental issues – from the separation of church and state and attitudes toward people of different faiths to what constitutes women’s rights and terrorism. As Muslims remake communities in their own images, they are dramatically changing the ever-evolving idea of what it means to be an American….