Muslim Communities in North America

by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (Editor), Jane Idleman Smith (Editor)

Overview

This book provides the first in-depth look at Muslim life and institutions forming in North America. It considers the range of Islamic life in North America with its different racial-ethnic and cultural identities, customs, and religious orientations. Issues of acculturation, ethnicity, orthodoxy, and the changing roles of women are brought into focus.

The authors provide insight into the lives of recent immigrants who are asking what is Islamically appropriate in a non-Muslim environment. Contrasts are drawn between Sunni and Shi’i groups, and attention is given to the activities of some Sufi organizations.

The growing Islamic community among African-American Muslims is examined, including the followers of Warith Deen Muhammad and the sectarians identified with black power, such as the Nation of Islam, Darul Islam, and the Five Percenters.

The authors document the challenge and issues which American Muslims face, such as pressure from overseas Muslims; dress and education; the influence of Islamic revivalism on the development of the community in this country; and the maintenance of Muslim identity amidst the pressures for assimilation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791420195
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	08/16/1994
Series:	SUNY series in Middle Eastern Studies
Pages:	575
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is Professor of Islamic History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the author of Contemporary Islam and the Challenge of History ; co-author with Jane Idleman Smith of Mission to America; and co-author of Women, Religion, and Social Change.

Jane Idleman Smith is Academic Dean and Professor of History of Religions at the Iliff School of Theology. She is the author of The Concept of ‘Islam’ in the History of Qur’anic Studies; co-author with Yvonne Haddad of Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection; and editor of Women in Contemporary Muslim Society.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Preface

Muslim Communities in North America: Introduction

Part 1. Religious Communities

1. A Minority Within a Minority: The Case of the Shi'a in North America
Abdulaziz Sachedina

2. The Sun of Islam Will Rise in the West: Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in the Latter Days
Mattias Gardell

3. Urban Muslims: The Formation of the Dar ul-Islam Movement
R. M. Mukhtar Curtis

4. Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship
Gisela Webb

5. The Five Percenters: A Teenage Nation of Gods and Earths
Yusuf Nuruddin

Part 2. The Mosaic of Islamic Communities in Major Metropolitan Centers of the United States

6. Muslims in Los Angeles
Ron Kelley

7. The Muslims of San Diego
M. K. Hermansen

8. Muslims of Seattle
Miriam Adeney and Kathryn DeMaster

9. To "Achieve the Pleasure of Allah": Immigrant Muslim Communities in New York City 1893–1991
Marc Ferris

10. Activities of the Immigrant Muslim Communities in Chicago
Asad Husain and Harold Vogelaar

11. The Muslims of Indianapolis
Steve A. Johnson

12. Diversity in Rochester's Islamic Community
Tamara Sonn

13. The Islamic Center of New England
Mary Lahaj

14. Muslims of Montreal
Sheila McDonough

Part 3. Ethnic Communities in Settings

15. The Shi'a Mosques and their Congregations in Dearborn
Linda S. Walbridge

16. Bektashi Tekke and the Sunni Mosque of Albanian Muslims in America
Frances Trix

17. Voluntary Associations in the Old Turkish Community of Metropolitan Detroit
Barbara Bilgé

18. Elderly Muslim Immigrants: Needs and Challenges
Fariyal Ross-Sheriff

20. Secular Immigrants: Religiosity and Ethnicity Among Iranian Muslims in Los Angeles
Georges Sabagh and Mehdi Bozorgmehr

21. Masjid ul-Mutkabir: The Portrait of an African American Orthodox Muslim Community
Christine Kolars

22. Attitudes of Immigrant Women and Men in the Dearborn Area Toward Women's Employment and Welfare
Barbara Aswad

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

A collection of 22 studies of immigrant, African-American, and convert Muslims in the US. They consider religious communities such as the followers of Warith Deen Muhammed, the Nation of Islam, and Shi'ites; institutions of Muslim groups; ethnic communities such as Albanians, Turks, Yemenis, and Iranians; and issues such as the elderly and women's employment. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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