Islam in America

by Jonathan Curiel

Overview

Islam is a hidden ingredient in the melting pot of America. Though there are between 2 and 8 million Muslims in the USA, Islam has traditionally had little political clout compared to other minority faiths. Nonetheless it is believed to be the country's fastest-growing religion, with a vibrant culture of theological debate, particularly regarding the role of women preachers. In Islam in America, Jonathan Curiel traces the story of America's Muslims from the seventeenth-century slave trade to the eighteenth-century immigration wave to the Nation of Islam. Drawing on interviews in communities from industrial Michigan to rural California, Curiel portrays the diversity of practices, cultures and observances that make up Muslim America. He profiles the leading personalities and institutions representing the community, and explores their relationship to the wider politics of America, particularly after 9/11. Islam in America offers an indispensable guide to the social life of modern Islam and the diversity of contemporary America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857738103
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	03/31/2015
Series:	Islam in Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	445 KB

About the Author

Jonathan Curiel is a former staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, whose work has also appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review, Salon.com and the LA Times. He is the author of Al America: Travels through America's Arab and Islamic Roots. Malise Ruthven is one of the world's leading commentators on Islam, about which he has published numerous books. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Malise Ruthven vii
Preface: Islam's Growing Presence in America xv

1 Slavery and the Struggle to Maintain Belief:
American Islam, 1619–1865 1

2 'White Muslims' Change the Face of a Faith:
American Islam, 1890–1910 13

3 Islam Becomes a Religion of the Nation: American
Islam, 1920–1965 22

4 Islam Establishes an Identity Far Beyond the
Mosque: American Islam, 1965–2010 36

5 The Shock of 9/11: Crisis and Confidence for
Muslim-Americans 50

6 The Diversity of American Muslims: A Religious,
Ethnic, and Cultural Profile 63

7 Who's Who in Muslim America 82

8 Gender and Religion: How 'Feminist Islam' Has
Taken Root and Flourished in America

9 In Politics, Muslim-Americans Progress One Step
at a Time 118

10 Conflicts and Co-Existence: The American Dream
in the Twenty-First Century 130

Notes 161
Select Bibliography 178
Index 179