Muslim in America: A Travelogue

International perspectives on migration, 2023

This chapter offers a comprehensive review of the history of Muslims in America. The chapter will be divided into three sections. The first section reviews the history of Muslims in America, including African American Muslims, Arab American Muslims, and South Asian American Muslims, and their immigration history, as well as Islamic movements and the groups' relationships. The second section of the chapter will discuss the significance of mosques in the lives of American Muslim immigrants. This section will include ethnographic observations related to the experience of visiting mosques and the dynamic political and religious roles of mosques in Dearborn, MI. The third section of the chapter addresses the culture and identity of American Muslim immigrants as they relate to family and marriage, gender roles, and identity formation. Keywords American Muslims • Mosques in America • Immigrant identity A comprehensive understanding of Arab Americans can't be done without, an understanding of their historical and social position as Muslims in America. Statistics relating to Muslims in America "are difficult to obtain" (Leonard, 2003, p. 149). The American Muslims' "total population is thought to be between 3 and 8 million" individuals (Leonard, 2003, p. 149). They include three major groups: Arab Americans (33%), African Americans (about 30%), and South Asians (29%) of the total population of American Muslims (Leonard, 2003). In studying Muslims in America, the literature has divided American Muslims into two groups: (1) African American Muslims, labeled as the "native Muslims," and (2) the immigrant American Muslims, mostly referring to Arab and South Asian Muslim immigrants. Although the population of African American Muslims is "thought to be" the biggest in United States, very little attention has been given to studying this population. Literature on African American Muslims mostly has dealt with the history of African Muslim slaves in America, their arrival, their religious movements, their establishment of mosques, and their relationship with other American Muslim immigrants. African American Muslim population culture(s) was not examined in

The Muslim World, 1986

IUM Journal of Religion and Civilisational Studies (IJRCS) 3:2 (2020); 154-180., 2020

American Muslims are faced with immense challenges, yet there are also opportunities within these challenges that have resulted in the emergence of various Muslim intellectual organisations in the United States of America. This paper aims to describe and analyse the challenges and opportunities for Muslims in America and the role of American Muslim intellectual organisations in both domestic and global issues. The result shows that Muslims in the United States (US) still need to bear the issue of Islamophobia with its related physical and psychological threats. American Muslims will also need to face the ideological and intellectual challenges to revitalise Islamic teachings so that Islam can be properly understood by the American society. The influence of Islamophobia in US government policy and foreign policy are enormous, especially since it relates to counterterrorism policy. However, opportunities for American Muslims to gain higher education and careers in various fields remain wide open. The contribution of Muslim intellectual organisations to the American society and global society has always been present and cannot be neglected. Concerning the future, intellectual Muslims in the US who currently tend to unite and work together seem to be intensifying their research and education programmes as well as consolidating various Muslim communities in the US. Keywords: Muslims of America, Islamophobia, Religious Discriminations, Intellectual challenges, Islam.

Journal of Geography, 2007

2016

Migrations of Islam is thematically rooted in the integral historical relationship between Islam, migration, and the production of new cultural forms and hybridities. Over the centuries and across thousands of miles, Islam has brought, absorbed, infl uenced, and reshaped culture. Whether one is looking at Malaysia or Spain (and thence Mexico), Nigeria or France, Yemen or Morocco, Turkey or Bosnia, India or Uzbekistan, the blending of Islam with local cultures is both distinctive and elemental. And so too, as this documentary explores, Muslims are producing creative innovations at the intersection of Islam and a range of U.S. subcultures and American cultural forms. Particularly since 9/11, according to writer and playwright Wajahat Ali, interviewed in the fi lm, there has been an American Muslim "explosion in the arts. " Th e documentary treats viewers to a broad range of contemporary American Muslim artistic genres, including theatrical readings, staged performances, stand up poetry, hip hop, classical oud, and comedy, as well as artists' commentaries on their autobiographical paths to these creative outputs. All are segments of performances and interviews conducted at Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University between 2011 and 2012.

2004

“Muslims in America: Examining the Facts” (ABC-CLIO, 226 pages, $63) presents evidence-based documentation to provide a full and impartial examination of American Muslims. Author Craig Considine, a lecturer of sociology, reviews the history of American Muslims’ settlement and integration into the U.S.; explores the prevailing social, political, cultural and economic characteristics of American Muslims and their communities; and studies the ways in which Muslims’ experiences and beliefs intersect with various notions of American national identity. Considine examines and critiques the leading social and political narratives surrounding American Muslims and the religion of Islam, including false or malicious claims about Muslims’ actions and beliefs regarding 9/11, terrorism, jihad, sharia and other significant issues. “This book gives readers a clear and accurate understanding of the actual lives, actions and beliefs of Muslim people in the United States, rather than some of the misleading messages crafted by politicians, religious figures and media outlets,” Considine said. “I provide the facts about American Muslims and bring their voices and actions to light.” Throughout the book, Considine answers 31 questions about Muslims in American society. The topics include American Muslims’ contributions to the U.S. (including employment and military service), their views on militant Islamic groups and their actions to counter Islamophobia as well as radicalization. Considine dispels widespread myths regarding American Muslims – including rumors of jihad training camps on U.S. soil and a preference to be governed by sharia. He also writes that Muslims condemn violent attacks by extremists and contribute significantly to the betterment of interfaith relations in the United States.

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2010

This study examines a largely overlooked issue in immigration literature-the impact Islamic institutions and Muslim religious leaders have on the cultural and psychological adaptation of Muslim immigrant congregations in host Western societies. Specifically, it explores whether and how variations in the cultures, teachings and resources available to the mosques along with ideological differences between and among imams (clergy) hinder or facilitate the acculturation of Muslim immigrant women attending mosques in the United States. The findings suggest that mosques indeed play a significant role in the acculturation process of immigrant Muslim women in their host society. It also establishes that immigrant mosques whose administrators and religious leaders have a futuristic and integrationist interpretation of Islam and who perceive the mosque to be an organic entity that is changing, developing and adapting to the changes in the environment, are more successful in building bridges between their congregants and the larger society in general, and in empowering women congregants and facilitating their cultural and psychological adaptation within their host society in particular.

2003