Muslim in America

Inside a storefront on West Warren Avenue, a gritty Dearborn, Mich., neighborhood of modest shops with hand-painted Arabic signs, a handful of men respond to the high-pitched chant of the muezzin and form a line facing Mecca. They bow, sit, and prostrate on colorful rugs in a mostly silent rendition of the salat, the daily prayers Muslims have recited for nearly 1,400 years. In a smaller room, a cluster of women with head coverings also recite the prayers in response to the voice of the imam, which they can hear from across the hall. Most of the worshipers are recent refugees from Iraq who want a link to the country they still consider home. "They thank God they are here" in America, says Imam Hushan Al-Husainy, the mosque leader. "But their heart is back home with their loved ones who are suffering."

Meanwhile, 68 miles away, beneath a gleaming white dome and twin minarets that tower over the Ohio cornfields southwest of Toledo, hundreds of families assemble for worship–a largely upper-middle-class flock that represents some 22 nationalities, most U.S. citizens and some second- or third-generation Americans. Few of the women wear head coverings outside of the prayer hall, where only a 3-foot-high partition separates men and women, side by side. After prayers, they all gather for a potluck. The Toledo center, says its president, Cherrefe Kadri, represents a "progressive and middle-of-the-road" brand of Islam that, she says, is "very much at home in Middle America."

This, then, is American Islam: The modern Islamic Center of Greater Toledo and the traditionalist Karbala Islamic Education Center are but two examples of its wide-ranging diversity. And even though it is the nation's fastest-growing faith, with an estimated 7 million adherents here–nearly double from a decade ago–Islam remains widely misunderstood in this country. The religion of more than a fifth of the world's population is viewed by many Americans as foreign, mysterious, even threatening to the nation's "Judeo-Christian heritage"–certainly no less so since the events of September 11–despite the fact that it shares common roots with Christianity and Judaism and has been present in North America for centuries.

The rules. Indeed, Islam embraces the monotheism of Christianity and Judaism, accepts the Hebrew Bible, and venerates Jesus as a prophet. It is centered on the Koran–the Islamic scriptures, which Muslims believe were revealed to the prophet Mohammed–which commands five basic devotional duties, called the "Five Pillars": a declaration of belief that "there is no God but Allah [Arabic for "the God"] and Mohammed is his prophet"; prayers offered five times a day; daytime fasting during the month of Ramadan; charitable giving; and at least one pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims are forbidden to consume alcohol, illicit drugs, pork, or any meat that is not halal–the Islamic equivalent of kosher. Premarital sex and extramarital sex are sternly prohibited, as are most forms of unchaperoned dating. Emphasis on public modesty prompts many Muslims to cover themselves from the wrists to the ankles. Muslims also may not gamble or pay or accept interest on loans or savings accounts. It is a regimen that often runs in conflict with the dominant culture. Most American Muslims have no choice but to break the prohibition on usury to buy homes and automobiles, for example.

But if the intense scrutiny focused on world Islam since September 11 has revealed anything, it is that the faith is no monolith. While there is much that binds the world's 1.2 billion Muslims together, there is no authoritative hierarchy–no pope, no central group of elders–that speaks to them or for them. And American Islam, it emerges, is its own special brand. A recent study sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in cooperation with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found that American Muslims generally are more accepting of differences, less inclined to fundamentalism, and more at home in a secular society than most Muslims elsewhere. They are also ethnically diverse: Most are immigrants or their descendants from Islamic countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. About a third are African-Americans, and a small number are whites of European descent.

Connections? But while diversity may naturally include the extremes, the question on many people's minds has been what exactly the relationship is between American Islam and the kind of terror and anti-Americanism that came so horribly into focus last month under the guise of religious zealotry. One moderate American Islamic leader, Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, told a State Department forum in 1999 that 80 percent of the nation's mosques are headed by clerics who espouse "extremist ideology"–which Kabbani associates with Wahhabism, an Islamic fundamentalist movement that began in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century. But Kabbani, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, added that "a majority of American Muslims do not agree" with the extremist ideology.

Other American Muslim leaders say Kabbani's estimate of Wahhabi influence in U.S. mosques is exaggerated. "I don't know where he came up with that," says Ingrid Mattson, a Hartford Seminary professor and vice president of the Islamic Society of North America. African-Americans alone account for a third of the mosques, she notes, "and they clearly are not Wahhabis." The CAIR-Hartford study found that about 20 percent of mosques say they interpret the Koran literally, but 7 in 10 follow a more nuanced, nonfundamentalist approach.

Scholars say the democratic structure and autonomy of many American mosques protect them from extremist takeovers. Modern Islamic centers, like the one in Toledo, are "less likely to be dominated by a single teacher or viewpoint," says Frederick Denny, a scholar of Islam at the University of Colorado. That describes at least 60 percent of American mosques, according to the CAIR-Hartford study. Those that are more fundamentalist, he says, often are smaller, with transient members, such as those that "cater to foreign students who want something that feels like home." Even where fundamentalism exists, says Mattson, "there is a huge distinction between fundamentalist ideology and support of terrorism."

What divides American Muslims most often, says Denny, "is not liberal-versus-conservative ideology but how best to domesticate Islam in a Western society without doing violence to either." What, for example, are American Muslims to do with sharia, the Islamic legal and ethical codes that tradition says should undergird Islamic society? Radical clerics say it is a Muslim's duty to impose sharia throughout the world, by force if necessary. But moderates argue that Islamic law must be internalized. "It shouldn't be taken literally," says Imam Farooq Aboelzahab of the Toledo mosque. "The way sharia was applied 1,400 years ago may not always fit. It must be applied to the place and time where you live."

One indication that many Muslims are feeling more at home in America is their growing involvement in the nation's public life. During the past five years, Islamic leaders and groups have become increasingly outspoken on social- and foreign-policy issues. Groups like CAIR, ISNA, the American Muslim Council, and the Islamic Institute maintain a high-visibility Washington presence, working to rally Muslim political activism and acting as media watchdogs. While American Islamic groups were virtually unanimous in condemning the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, they remain vociferous critics of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Stronger rhetoric, of course, has its price in this country. In late September, a prominent imam at a Cleveland mosque nearly lost his job over anti-Jewish remarks he had made in a speech 10 years ago. The board at the Islamic Center of Cleveland voted to keep Fawaz Damra after he apologized for the remarks, which appeared on a tape that surfaced recently, but local Jewish leaders are still upset.

Incendiary rhetoric. Meanwhile, a leading Muslim teacher in Northern California has apologized for his own rhetorical excesses. Hamza Yusuf, who was invited to the White House to pray with President Bush after the attacks, later came under criticism for saying in a speech two days before the attacks that the United States "stands condemned" and faced "a terrible fate" because of rampant immorality and injustice in its treatment of minorities. While their causes may be just, says Yusuf, "the rhetoric of some Muslim leaders has been too incendiary–I myself have been guilty of it." September 11, he says, "was a wake-up call to me. I don't want to contribute to the hate in any shape or form."

A decade ago, Sulayman Nyang, professor of African studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., warned in a speech that Islam will be accepted in America only when Muslims fully take their place alongside other citizens, participating in the nation's civic life, and when what the Islamic faith can offer Western culture is recognized widely as something of value. Neither, he says, will be easy to accomplish. But in times like these, such hard work is more important than ever.

One moderate American Islamic leader, Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, told a State Department forum in 1999 that 80 percent of the nation's mosques are headed by clerics who espouse "extremist ideology"–which Kabbani associates with Wahhabism, an Islamic fundamentalist movement that began in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century. But Kabbani, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, added that "a majority of American Muslims do not agree" with the extremist ideology.

HUH?!

Let me get this straight... 80% of mosques in America are headed by radical clerics, but the "majority" of "American" muslims don't agree with them?!

How many of you go to Church, but disagree and don't believe what the pastor preaches?

"You are either with US, or with the terrorists."

What is amazing to me is the defening silence of the "majority" of Muslims who disagree with the terrorists. This tells me that they cannot deny the actions of the terrorists are in line with Muslim teachings. Those teachings must then mean world domination by Muslims, death to those who choose to believe otherwise and all the other "religious" observences we see in Afgnanistan.

Did you see the movie "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson? He plays a character named Melvin that has excessive compulsive disorder. He can't step on cracks in the side walk, he washes his hands with one bar of soap then throws it away, he takes his own silverware into a diner,etc. Basically, he is somewhat crazy. Well, after reading THIS I wonder if all these folks are not a little off their rocker......

After reading this I did a couple Google searches on "Islam blend America", etc. I've been reading for nearly an hour, article after article on American-based Islamic websites, about what "garbage" we all are, and how they must turn our nation toward Allah through Islam. These are arrogant people who truly seem to believe their way is the only way and would like to radically alter our country. They've given up in their own land for the "freedom" of America, but don't like the way WE live here...I could go on and on

Just an example: this muslim kook was attending a fundraiser for a Muslim organization. Here's part of what he had to say:

"During the dinner, I had to actually step out of the place because, of all things, they had a singer. Now get this. He was singing "God Bless America"!!!!! God Bless America! I was flabbergasted. Here was a Muslim, singing a song about blessing America which was written by a Jew for a nation of Christians. How far we have fallen from that "best of Statures" in which Allah created us. I am not saying that we should hate this land, the opposite. This LAND belongs to Allah, as do all the lands of this earth. We should work hard to make this land a Muslim land."

Either that (they cannot deny that the Quran backs up the terrorsh*ts) or they are just scared to open their mouths. The silence of the Muslim community is extremely disappointing.

In WWII, the German-American community's Steuben Society refused to follow the Fuhrer and was 100% American. The disaffected German-Americans formed the Bund (and they were a small minority). I'm not getting that from this crew. Ship all of 'em back that are not citizens. End of story.

says Imam Farooq Aboelzahab of the Toledo mosque. "The way sharia was applied 1,400 years ago may not always fit. It must be applied to the place and time where you live."

They intend to impose Sharia (Islamic law) in this country at some point in time. They've never denied it.

"A decade ago, Sulayman Nyang, professor of African studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., warned in a speech that Islam will be accepted in America only when Muslims fully take their place alongside other citizens, participating in the nation's civic life, and when what the Islamic faith can offer Western culture is recognized widely as something of value."

I am not worried that Islamic values are going to overwhelm our democratic institutions as thier numbers increase. Our institutions are set up to prevent radical and sudden changes. Rather Muslims in America will be on the sidelines unless and until they can find ways to harmonize Islamic teachings with democratic principles. As far as Islam in America is concerned, I truly believe that democracy won't conform to Islam, Islam will conform to democracy and it will do so to it's own betterment. But it won't be easy and it will take a long time.

So, WHY are they here?

They are here to take America and put it under Islamic control, they hate us now because they believe we are under Zionist control, they intend to change that to Islamic countrol and then they think things will be much better in the world. They don't even lie about that being their ultimate goal.

"Muslims also may not gamble or pay or accept interest on loans or savings accounts.

No wonder the economies of Islamic countries are so backward. Without interest there is no incentive to give loans to encourage commerce, and much less ability to raise capital.

"The CAIR-Hartford study found that about 20 percent of mosques say they interpret the Koran literally, but 7 in 10 follow a more nuanced, nonfundamentalist approach.

Weasel words. Double speak. Deceptive.

Instead of saying "70% are not fundamentalist" we get weasel words like "nuanced."

Also, isn't CAIR the group exposed as being radical while pretending to be moderate?

"They intend to impose Sharia (Islamic law) in this country at some point in time. They've never denied it."

They won't be able to do it. Imagine the state of Texas incorporating Islamic law. Hahhahah! They just have no understanding of how independent in thier thinking Americans are. It is culture shock for them. Don't worry they will be assimilated! But if you are going to be hostile and hateful they are going to resist assimilation because our hostility will be like proof to them of all thier misgivings. Having said that, I don't have a problem with restricting further immigration of Muslims to America if it becomes necessary. It might but it might not.

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