Muslims on the Americanization Path?

by Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck; Esposito, John L.

• ISBN13: 9780195135268
• ISBN10: 0195135261
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are more Muslims in America than in Kuwait, Qatar, and Libya together. Leaving aside immigration and conversion, birthrate alone ensures that in the first part of the twenty-first century Islam will replace Judaism as thenation's second largest religion. Like all religious minorities in America, Muslims must confront a host of difficult questions concerning faith and national identity. Can they become part of a pluralistic American society without sacrificing their identity? Can Muslims be Muslims in a state that is not governed by Islamic law?Will the American legal system protect Muslim religious and cultural differences? Is there a contradiction between demanding equal rights and insisting on maintaining a distinctively separate identity? Will the secular and/or Judeo-Christian values of American society inhibit the Muslim practice ofreligious faith? While the Muslims of America are indeed on the path to Americanization, what that means and what that will yield remains uncertain. In this thoughtful and wide-ranging volume, fourteen distinguished scholars take an in-depth look at these issues and examine the varied responses andopinions of the Muslim community.

Author Biography

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is Professor of History, Islam, and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
John L. Esposito is Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
Introduction: Muslims in America or American Muslims	3	(16)
John L. Esposito
PART I The American Path Option: Between Tradition and Reality
The Dynamics of Islamic Identity in North America	19	(28)
Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad
Striking a Balance: Islamic Legal Discourses on Muslim Minorities	47	(18)
Khaled Abou El Fadl
The Fiqh Councilor in North America	65	(22)
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
Muslims and Identity Politics in America	87	(18)
Mohommed A. Muqtedar Khan
PART II North American Pluralism and the Challenge of the Veil
The Hijab and Religious Liberty: Anti-Discrimination Law and Muslim Women in the United States	105	(24)
Kathleen Moore
Muslim Women in Canada: Their Role and Status as Revealed in the Hijab Controversy	129	(16)
Esmail Shakeri
American Women Choosing Islam	145	(18)
Carol Anway
PART III Americans on the Islamization Path? The African-American Experience
Identity and Destiny: The Formative Views of the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam	163	(52)
Ernest Allen, Jr.
African-American Muslims and the Question of Identity: Between Traditional Islam, African Heritage, and the American Way	215	(48)
Yusuf Nuruddin
Understanding the Multi-Ethnic Dilemma of African-American Muslims	263	(22)
Robert Dannin
PART IV Americanization and the Preservation of Cultural Identity
Muslims and the American Press	285	(16)
Greg Noakes
Economic Security and Muslim Identity: A Study of the Immigrant Community in Durham, North Carolina	301	(16)
Elise Goldwasser
Approaches to Mosque Design in North America	317	(18)
Omar Khalidi
Selected Bibliography	335