Muslims in the United States: the
State of Research
Muslims in the United States:
the State of Research by Dr. Karen Leonard
Year of publication: 2003
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th
Street, New York, NY 10021
ISBN: 0-87154-530-6
Format: Paperback, pp 199
During the last three
decades, Muslim-American communities’ active
involvement in establishing and developing civic,
religious and political institutions at local, state,
regional and national levels have oftentimes brought
Muslims public notice and media spotlight. The Muslim
national leadership’s decision to enter national
political arena, with the goal of creating a Muslim
bloc vote in the last decade, was another significant
event. This rattled the nation’s politics
as well as Judeo-Christian establishments of all
colors and stripes. The Muslims’ political
maneuverings aroused future concerns and suspicions
in view of the probability that Islam might replace
Judaism as the nation’s second religion within
a few decades combined with events of global consequences
happening in the Middle East.
The public’s interest and demand for reliable
information about Islam and Muslim communities reached
an unprecedented level after the terrorist attack
of September 11, 2001.
Renowned anthropologist and distinguished Islamic
scholar, Dr. Karen Leonard, has sought to fill this
information gap in Muslims in the United States:
the State of Research. Leonard describes the origin
of this study:
I wrote this bibliographic essay - an interpretative
overview of American Muslim histories and the state
of research on Islam and Muslims in the United States
- for the Russell Sage Foundation in the summer
of 2002 with the goal of providing a useful research
tool for exploring this large body of social science
research.
After realizing a greater demand for a comprehensive
review of literature, Leonard has expanded this
bibliographic essay into this full-blown evaluation
of the state of research on Islam and Muslims in
America.
Dr. C. Eric Lincoln’s The Black Muslims in
America, first published in 1960, was the first
study that triggered a wide-ranging scholarly interest
in Muslim-Americans and Islam (for the book review,
see The Muslims, www.muslimsny.com,
December 8, 2004).
Over the years, many individual scholars have pursued
their interests and have conducted narrow studies
of various aspects of Muslims and Islam. National
studies are a few and far between. However, no one
has brought all the published literature together
in an authoritative review. For this alone, this
study is significant because it marks the first
time that such a comprehensive survey of Muslim-American
literature has been published. This review also
highlights almost all the major scholars and authors,
their areas of interests and their contributions
to Muslim-American literature.
In this wide-ranging review, Leonard draws from
a vast array of academic disciplines. They include
history, anthropology, sociology, politics, religious
studies, Islamic law, and international relations.
Meticulously culling information from these sources,
she identifies large and small Muslim communities,
their development patterns, milestone events, key
spiritual, cultural and political themes and leading
personages. Then she weaves all of these information
into a rich and textured discussion of African Americans,
Arabs, South Asians, Southeast Asians, Turks, Druze,
Kurds, Albanians, Africans, European and other Muslims.
Leonard is not reluctant to discuss the sensitive
subjects of various sects within Islam. Her assessment
that Sunnis and black Muslims have been given overwhelming
attention in studies of Islam and Muslims is absolutely
correct. She, therefore, gives an equal focus to
other under-studied sects - such as, Moorish Science
Temple, the Druzes, Sufis, Ithna’ Ashri Shi’a,
Isma’ili Shia, Nizari Isma’ili Shia,
and other not well-known sects.
In an illuminating discussion, she discusses their
major as well as subtle differences of religious
dogma, rituals and practices that often cross ethno-racial,
linguistic and cultural boundaries. Since international
movements and movement from their homelands often
influence most of these entities, Leonard brings
to light their influences in the developments of
these communities in the United States. The case
of Iranian Muslims illustrates this phenomenon.
The Islamic thought and events in Iran and Iraq,
where Shias are in majority, greatly influence the
intellectual and religious development of Shia community
in the United States. Most members of the Shia community
in the United States hail from India, Pakistan,
Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The expose’
of these various sects, communities and groups’
sometimes separate, sometimes overlapping and sometime
entangles histories, opportunities and challenges
awaiting them and their rapport with kindred sects,
communities and groups as well as with the American
society at large disproves the widely-held myth
that Muslims are a monolithic community.
Leonard’s study is, no doubt, the most comprehensive
review of Islam and Muslim communities in America
to date. However, discussion of a few topics is
conspicuously missing. Hillary Clinton’s return
of the political donation, raised by American Muslim
Alliance in a Boston fundraiser in 2000, was a strategic
piece in the creation of the landmark Muslim bloc
vote. Tahir Ali’s book Muslim Vote 2000: Counts
and Recounts provides a vivid as well as a detailed
account of what transpired before and after this
historic event (for the book review, see http://www.amperspective.com/html/tahir_ali-0.html).
Many national studies have been published by national
civil rights groups as well as government agencies,
like Council of Islamic American Relations, American
Civil Liberties Unions, Amnesty USA, Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and Federal Bureau of Investigations,
documenting the deteriorating civil rights conditions
of Muslim Americans before and after the events
of 9/11. The impact of the Patriot Act, promulgated
after the 9/11, has wreaked havoc in the Muslim
communities across the nation. In the immediate
aftermath of 9/11, there were deep new suspicions,
and widespread roundups of Muslims suspected of
connections to terrorism. Racial profiling and anti-Muslim
rhetoric have become a widely-accepted, officially-condoned
part of the American society. Nearly half of all
Americans believe the US government should restrict
the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according
to a recent nationwide poll conducted by Cornell
University.
These local and national studies document an important
milestone in Muslim history, because they provide
vivid glimpses of Muslims’ future in America.
Muslims here and abroad are and will be paying a
hefty socio-economic price for the 9/11 tragedy.
Another hot issue missing from this review is the
discussion of low educational standards of Muslim
schools in America. Many developments are taking
place on this front, and a lot of scholarly material
exists on this subject.
Despite these few omissions, Leonard’s book
is an unprecedented feat of well-researched scholarship
in the Muslim-American literature. It is not only
an authoritative survey of literature on Islam and
Muslim communities in America, but also a highly
distinguished resource for the general public and
scholars alike. - Dr. Shahid Sheikh
The reviewer, Dr. Shahid Sheikh, is executive director
of American Research Institute (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ariusa).
He reviews books written about Muslim Americans.
He can be reached at aeriusa@hotmail.com.
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