ISLAM IN AMERICA: Images and Challenges
In the wake of the 11th of September, Muslims living in the West, more than ever before, find themselves in very peculiar circumstances. On the one hand they are minorities living in the heart of the dominant world civilization. Minorities who with time are not only merging themselves into the cultural and political landscape of the West, but are also making their mark on it. On the other hand they also identify with the ummah, the global Muslim family. They have values that seem alien to the West. They have a Weltanschauung that is 'more transcendental than material. They have serious misgivings of many recent and ongoing foreign policies of Western nations. They are insiders and yet somehow outsiders. Most Muslims are now learning to negotiate this duality quite effectively and instead of allowing it to become an identity crisis, as many have postulated, are transforming it into an opportunity. There are problems though. Extremism does exist, on both sides, Muslims and the West. Islamophobia does exist, in academic circles as well as in popular culture, as can be seen in recent films such as Executive Decision and Siege. But this is also coupled with Westophobia. Muslims living in America are perhaps at the cutting edge of the encounter between Islam and the West and their experiences bear relevance for other Western Muslim minorities, for in this matter as with so many others, the US is like a crucible from which experiences drift to the rest of the world.
This book, edited by Phylis Lan Lin, is a collection of papers presented at the first Conference on Islam in America held in July 1997 at the 'University of Indianapolis. It begins with a Foreword by the President of the University and a Preface written by Sayyid Muhammed Syeed, the Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) -the organization that sponsored the Conference. The book is split into 3 Parts containing 11 short articles. Part I looks at the history of Islam in America and covers the development of the Islamic calendar, the Muslim population of Illinois, Islam and African Americans and ethnicity among Muslims in America. Part 2 looks at prevalent images of Islam and covers a proposed mechanism for measuring attitudes towards' Muslims, distortions o-f the image of Islam and some reasons for this and also an example of interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim communities with reference to Syracuse. Part 3 addresses the challenges facing the Muslim community in America and includes a look at Muslim political r activism, education, social problems and marriage. There is also a short t Glossary and a section giving brief information about the writers.
It is quite apparent that the Conference organizers took on a broad spectrum of issues facing the Muslim community in the USA, setting themselves a very tough challenge. What the book lacks, in places, in depth and academic rigor is perhaps made up for by the wide and interesting selection of topics chosen. It is also worthy to note the very diverse backgrounds of the contributors. Altogether the work of 13 contributors (3 worked on one of the papers) was presented at the conference. Most of the contributors are actively involved in different roles within the Muslim community and have first hand experience of the issues and challenges facing Muslims in the US. They range from young PhD students native to the US to very senior academics and practitioners who migrated to the US. The fields of expertise also vary from sociology to astronomy to counseling. This variety has tremendous benefits in the rich experiences the contributors can bring to their topic, but also means that there is a wide variance in the standard and depth of the articles.
The paper on 'Muslim Population of Illinois' by Ilyas Ba- Yunus is very informative and presents some original data obtained through extensive research and sampling. Interestingly, Ba- Yunus estimates that 41% of those who convert to Islam eventually reject it (over a five-year period). He also calculates that the Muslim community of some 320,000 will double in about 16 years. Belkeis Altareb's article, 'Development of a Scale to Measure Attitude Towards Muslims', provides a novel approach to empirically measure attitudes towards Muslims of Middle Eastern origin. The study seems, to be in its early stages and in the article only covered undergraduate students as the sample. The study identified factors that may affect people's perceptions of Islam and Muslims. It will be very interesting to see how this study develops and to examine its future findings. In addition to such academic contributions, the collection also deals with some very pertinent, practical issues. The fact that there are two articles devoted to education shows the fixation of the migrant Muslim communities, and perhaps rightly so, with this subject. One of the articles, 'The Social Problems of Educating Muslim Children in America', by Asma Hasan, contains a brief but topical discussion pertaining to the advantages/disadvantages of Muslim schools.
The collection of articles provides a very useful insight into some of the concerns and preoccupations of Muslims in the US prior to the 11th of September 2001. Naturally much has changed since then and how the future will play itself out remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the book brings together the experiences of a wide spectrum of contributors many of whom combine their activist background with an analytical style to create a unique and refreshing blend.
Dilwar Hussain
Islamic Foundation,
Leicester, UK
( by Ed. Phylis Lan Lin.
University of Indianapolis Press,
Indianapolis, USA, 1998, Pp. 155.
ISBN: 1.:- 800-938-024.)
This book, edited by Phylis Lan Lin, is a collection of papers presented at the first Conference on Islam in America held in July 1997 at the 'University of Indianapolis. It begins with a Foreword by the President of the University and a Preface written by Sayyid Muhammed Syeed, the Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) -the organization that sponsored the Conference. The book is split into 3 Parts containing 11 short articles. Part I looks at the history of Islam in America and covers the development of the Islamic calendar, the Muslim population of Illinois, Islam and African Americans and ethnicity among Muslims in America. Part 2 looks at prevalent images of Islam and covers a proposed mechanism for measuring attitudes towards' Muslims, distortions o-f the image of Islam and some reasons for this and also an example of interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim communities with reference to Syracuse. Part 3 addresses the challenges facing the Muslim community in America and includes a look at Muslim political r activism, education, social problems and marriage. There is also a short t Glossary and a section giving brief information about the writers.
It is quite apparent that the Conference organizers took on a broad spectrum of issues facing the Muslim community in the USA, setting themselves a very tough challenge. What the book lacks, in places, in depth and academic rigor is perhaps made up for by the wide and interesting selection of topics chosen. It is also worthy to note the very diverse backgrounds of the contributors. Altogether the work of 13 contributors (3 worked on one of the papers) was presented at the conference. Most of the contributors are actively involved in different roles within the Muslim community and have first hand experience of the issues and challenges facing Muslims in the US. They range from young PhD students native to the US to very senior academics and practitioners who migrated to the US. The fields of expertise also vary from sociology to astronomy to counseling. This variety has tremendous benefits in the rich experiences the contributors can bring to their topic, but also means that there is a wide variance in the standard and depth of the articles.
The paper on 'Muslim Population of Illinois' by Ilyas Ba- Yunus is very informative and presents some original data obtained through extensive research and sampling. Interestingly, Ba- Yunus estimates that 41% of those who convert to Islam eventually reject it (over a five-year period). He also calculates that the Muslim community of some 320,000 will double in about 16 years. Belkeis Altareb's article, 'Development of a Scale to Measure Attitude Towards Muslims', provides a novel approach to empirically measure attitudes towards Muslims of Middle Eastern origin. The study seems, to be in its early stages and in the article only covered undergraduate students as the sample. The study identified factors that may affect people's perceptions of Islam and Muslims. It will be very interesting to see how this study develops and to examine its future findings. In addition to such academic contributions, the collection also deals with some very pertinent, practical issues. The fact that there are two articles devoted to education shows the fixation of the migrant Muslim communities, and perhaps rightly so, with this subject. One of the articles, 'The Social Problems of Educating Muslim Children in America', by Asma Hasan, contains a brief but topical discussion pertaining to the advantages/disadvantages of Muslim schools.
The collection of articles provides a very useful insight into some of the concerns and preoccupations of Muslims in the US prior to the 11th of September 2001. Naturally much has changed since then and how the future will play itself out remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the book brings together the experiences of a wide spectrum of contributors many of whom combine their activist background with an analytical style to create a unique and refreshing blend.
Dilwar Hussain
Islamic Foundation,
Leicester, UK
( by Ed. Phylis Lan Lin.
University of Indianapolis Press,
Indianapolis, USA, 1998, Pp. 155.
ISBN: 1.:- 800-938-024.)
