Muslim Like Me | Powered by Love, Acceptance, and Coffee [Video]

According to the Pew Research Center, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, and Muslims currently make up just less than 1 percent of the total U.S. population. Pew projects the numbers of Muslims in America to grow to 2.1 percent of the population by the year 2050. What these findings suggest is that Islam, like all religious traditions, is not an ethnicity, race, or Facebook status — but is a very personal choice. Jaime Banyalmarjeh is profiled and photographed here as part of a week-long series on being Muslim, from KCPT and the Beyond Belief project.

Jaime Banyalmarjeh, a Kansas City high school social studies teacher at the Islamic School of Greater Kansas City, admits that when it comes to labors of love, she has a hard time saying no. She once agreed to board 17 goats for a friend.

“He had …