Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California known for innovation and technology. It has become a global startup ecosystem due to factors like education institutions, venture capital funding, and immigration of talented individuals. Muslims form a growing part of the diverse population in Silicon Valley, with over 250,000 living in the Bay Area. They have established mosques, schools, non-profits and found success as entrepreneurs and executives in major tech companies. The region continues to be shaped by waves of immigration that foster its culture of risk-taking and reinvention.

1. MUSLIMS
IN SILICON VALLEY, USA
BY JAVED MOHAMMED
1

2. WHAT IS SILICON VALLEY?
• IT IS A REGION IN NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA
• ALSO CALLED BAY AREA
• OR SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
• BUT MOST OF IT STARTED IN THE
SOUTH BAY ABOUT 35-50 MILES
SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO
• THERE IS NO ONE PLACE CALLED
SILICON VALLEY
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3. A MAP OF SILICON VALLEY
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4. WHAT IS SILICON VALLEY?
• IT IS A HOTBED OF INNOVATION
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• IT IS AN ECO-SYSTEM WHERE
IDEAS, TALENT, EDUCATION, AND
VENTURE CAPITAL COME TOGETHER
• IT IS CONSTANTLY REINVENTING
ITSELF, SO THERE IS A LOT OF
CHURN
4

5. #1 GLOBAL STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
5

6. LARGEST TECH EMPLOYERS SV
25,000
24,626
14,674
14,185
10,000
132,000
98,771
35,587
74,200
37,543
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000
Apple
Alphabet/Google
Facebook
Cisco Systems
Tesla Motors Inc.
EMPLOYEES
Local Worldwide
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/subscriber-
only/2019/09/27/largest-technology-employers-in-silicon.html
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7. SILICON VALLEY FAST FACTS
• JUST AS THE GOLD RUSH OF 1849 BOUGHT HUGE
WEALTH TO CALIFORNIA, SO HAS SILICON VALLEY
• SECRET OF SILICON VALLEY IS EDUCATION (STANFORD,
BERKELEY, SAN JOSE STATE), PLUS VENTURE CAPITAL,
PREVIOUS MILITARY BASES, TECHNOLOGY, IMMIGRATION,
PLUS GREAT WEATHER.
• APPROX. ¾ OF ALL VENTURE CAPITAL IS BASED/FUNDED IN
SILICON VALLEY
• BEFORE SILICON VALLEY FOUNDED IT WAS AN AREA OF
ORCHARDS AND FRUIT CANNERIES (WHICH ARE ALL GONE)
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8. SILICON VALLEY FAST FACTS
• POPULATION OF 7 MILLION+ PEOPLE IN 9
COUNTIES, 101 CITIES
• SILICON VALLEY IS NAME DERIVED FROM SILICON,
USED TO MAKE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS/ICS, THE
PHYSICAL HEART OF ALL DIGITAL PRODUCTS.
• CLIMATE THAT REWARDS RISKS, TOLERATES FAILURE
• CREATES NEW BUSINESS MODELS, FREE SEARCH,
SUPPORTED BY ADVERTISING, DOWNLOAD SONGS,
AUDIO STREAMING, VIDEO STREAMING, RIDE-
SHARING, ON-DEMAND DELIVERY
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9. SILICON VALLEY FAST FACTS
• SILICON VALLEY STRETCHES FROM SAN JOSE IN THE SOUTH TO
SAN FRANCISCO IN THE NORTH.
• THE FIRST TECH COMPANIES IN THE VALLEY WERE SHOCKLEY
SEMICONDUCTOR (1956), FOLLOWED BY FAIRCHILD, INTEL, AMD
AND OTHERS.
• 39,520 COMPANIES IN SILICON VALLEY (ANGEL.CO)
• $119, 035 IS MEDIAN ANNUAL INCOME
(HTTPS://WWW.DEPTOFNUMBERS.COM/)
• MEDIAN PRICE OF A HOME IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY IS
APPROX $1.1 MILLION.
• SAN FRANCISCO AND THEN SILICON VALLEY MOST EXPENSIVE
PLACE TO LIVE IN U.S. $4,000/MONTH.
• BAY AREA WEATHER: HOT TO WARM SUMMERS, COOL WINTERS
All #s for 2019
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10. WAVES OF INNOVATION
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11. IMMIGRATION: KEY SUCCESS FACTOR
• SILCON VALLEY IS A MELTING POT OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER
THE WORLD.
• IN THE HI-TECH SECTOR THE BIGGEST SUCCESS HAS BEEN
PEOPLE OF INDIAN ORIGIN
• NOT ONLY ARE >40% OF H1-B VISAS ISSUES TO PEOPLE FROM
INDIA, THEY HAVE RISEN TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF CORPORATE
AMERICA.
• CEO OF MICROSOFT: SATYA NADELLA
• CEO OF GOOGLE: SUNDAR PICHAI
• CEO OF ADOBE: SHANTANU NARAYEN
• MUSLIM SUCCESS STORY IS A SMALLER PART OF THIS BIG
PICTURE 11

12. MOUNTAIN VIEW: GOOGLE
HEADQUARTERS
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13. SILICON VALLEY IMMIGRATION TIMELINE
1980s
1st Wave of Immigrants
South Asian & Arab
1990s
Bosnians
2010s
Somalia/Sudan
Eritrea/Ethiopia
1970s
Yemeni
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14. SOME OF THE VISIONARIES AND CO-
FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST SILICON VALLEY MOSQUES
Dr. Mahboob Khan (deceased, RA)
Co-Founder of Orange County
and Muslim Community Association (MCA)
Abdul-Sattar Rydhan (deceased,
RA)
Co-Founder of South Bay Islamic
Association (SBIA)
Saleem Shaikh (deceased, RA)
Co-Founder of South Bay Islamic
Association (SBIA) and Muslim
Community Association (MCA)
14

15. A FEW MUSLIM ENTREPRENEURS
OF SILICON VALLEY
Razi Mohiuddin Serial
Entrepenur, Co-
Founder OnSale (IPO)
and others
Jawed Karim
Co-Founder
YouTube
Hosain Rahman
Co-Founder
Jawbone
Amr AwadAllah
Co-Founder
Jawbone
Ruzwana Bashir,
Cofounder and
CEO, Peek
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16. SOME SILICON VALLEY NON-PROFIT
FOUNDERS
Dian Alyan Founder
GiveLight Foundation
Co-Founder
Council on American-
Islamic Relations
(CAIR)
Largest Muslim
Advocacy organization
in U.S.
Ameena Jandali
Maha Elgenaidi Co-
Founders
Islamic Networks
Group (ING_
Educating American
Schools and
Government about
Islam and Muslims
Manzoor Ghori
Founder Indian Muslim
Relief Committee
(IMRC)
Hamza Yusuf
Co-Founder
Zaytuna College
First
Accredited
Muslim College
in U.S.
Hamid
Rezapour
Founder
Islamic
Scholarship
Fund
(ISF)
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17. A FEW SILICON VALLEY MUSLIM
SCHOLARS
Shaykh Alaeddin El
Bakri
Imam Zaid Shakir
Zaytuna College
Dr. Hatem Bazian
Zaytuna College & UC
Berkeley
Sheikha Maryam Amir
Imam Suhaib Webb (SWISS)
Shaikh Hamza Yusuf
Zaytuna College 17

18. COMMUNITY
As the Muslim Community grows a growing number
of institutions offer various services both for
Muslims as well as the wider community
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19. SOUTH BAY ISLAMIC ASSOCIATION
(SAN JOSE)
One of the first
mosques established in
the South Bay
19

20. MUSLIM COMMUNITY
ASSOCIATION
(MCA, SANTA CLARA)
Largest Mosque/School
Campus in the U.S.
20

21. ABU BAKR MOSQUE (HAYWARD)
One of the first
purpose built
mosques in the
Bay Area
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22. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
22

23. ZAYTUNA COLLEGE, BERKELEY
Graduation at the only
Accredited Muslim College in
the United States
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24. CAIR SFBA
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a national
Muslim civil rights and advocacy group with regional offices
nationwide, and co-founded in the Bay Area.
24

25. ISF
Islamic Scholarship Fund (ISF) increases American Muslim
representation in media and politics in order to improve public
opinion and policy by providing grants to students.
25

26. ING
Islamic Networks Group (ING) is a peace-building organization
providing face-to-face education and engagement opportunities
that foster understanding of Muslims and other misunderstood
groups to promote harmony among all people.
26

27. HALAL-FEST
Bay areas largest Halal Food Festival 27

28. GIVELIGHT FOUNDATION
GiveLight Foundation is a
non-profit, humanitarian
relief organization, that
establishes orphanages and
supports orphans globally
28

29. BAY AREA MUSLIMS
• APPROX 250,000 MUSLIMS IN BAY AREA (3.5% OF BAY POPULATION)
• 50% SOUTH ASIAN + ARAB FOLLOWED BY OTHERS
• 20 MOSQUES + ~30+ MASALAS (PRAYER FACILITIES)
• 300+ HALAL RESTAURANTS IN BAY AREA (ZABIHA.COM)
• 10-20+ FULL TIME ISLAMIC SCHOOLS
• 1 FULL TIME ACCREDITED MUSLIM COLLEGE (ZAYTUNA)
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30. REFERENCES
• SILICON VALLEY: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE BY RUSSELL HANCOCK
• THE BAY AREA MUSLIM STUDY: ESTABLISHING IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY
BY FARID SENZAI, PH.D.DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH - ISPU,ASSISTANT
PROFESSOR, SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY AND HATEM BAZIAN, PH.D., UC
BERKELEY PROFESSOR, ZAYTUNA COLLEGE CO-FOUNDER
• SPECIAL THANKS TO DR. MOHAMMED NADEEM PAST PRESIDENT, MUSLIM
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, SANTA CLARA, CA. FOR HIS FEEDBACK
• HTTPS://WWW.SILICONVALLEYCF.ORG/SITES/DEFAULT/FILES/PUBLICATI
ONS/BAY-AREA-MUSLIM-STUDY-ONBA-PROJECT-EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-
WEB.PDF
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