April
11, 2007
American Islam: An Investigative
Study
Islam is now an American religion,
along with Christianity and Judaism, and the 6 million
Muslims who live in the US are currently engaged
in a struggle to reconcile their intense and demanding
faith with America’s permissive society -
integration with the mainstream without surrendering
the soul of their religion. That is the finding
of Paul M. Barrett, a reporter and editor for 18
years at the Wall Street Journal who edits
now the prestigious Business Week, in his
fascinating study of American Islam published recently
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux of New York.
Barrrett has succeeded remarkably in presenting
an objective and composite portrait of the followers
of the faith in the US and the challenges they face,
particularly the tensions of identity.
His book appropriately titled American Islam
- the Struggle for the Soul of a Religion brings
the reader face to face with (1) the charismatic
African-American Imam, Siraj Wahaj of New York,
(2) a master of classical Islamic scholarship, Khaled
Abou El Fadl, a law professor at UCLA, Los Angeles,
(3) the influential publisher of The Arab American
News, Dearborn, Michigan, (4) the feminist, Asra
Nomani of West Virginia, writer, correspondent and
broadcaster, and a single mother, (5) the mystics
(Sufis) Abdul Kabir Krambo and Sheikh Hisham Kabbani
of Yuba City, CA, (6) the webmaster, Sami al-Hussayen,
who is suspected of having violated the Patriot
Act by disseminating information helpful to Al-Qaeda
operatives. The charge could not be proved and he
agreed to be deported to his native land - Saudi
Arabia. The last character, seventh in the series,
is Mustafa Saied, an Islamic activist, who had reached
the US from India in pursuit of an engineering degree
but who got involved with the Islamic extremist
setup, the Muslim Brotherhood. Fortunately, he realized
soon the folly and returned to the main and moderate
stream.
Although Barrett has focused on the seven representative
figures listed above, he has traveled to all parts
of the country meeting numerous Muslim families
and making a special effort to understand their
problems of adjustment to the American cultural
milieu. His finding: “Muslims are an American
immigration success story”.
Most American Muslims, he points out, are not Arab,
and most Americans of Arab decent are Christian…People
of South Asian descent make up 34 percent of American
Muslims. Arab-Americans constitute only 26 percent;
black American Muslims are 20 percent, while the
remaining 20 percent comprise Turks, Iranians, and
Africans etc. Almost 60 percent of American Muslims
have college degrees compared with 27 percent of
all Americans. Median family income among Muslims
is sixty thousand dollars as compared with the national
median of fifty thousand.
Considering their relative prosperity, high level
of education, and political participation, Muslims,
says Barrett, are well integrated into the larger
society. Muslim minorities in various countries
of Europe are, on the contrary, quite poor and socially
marginalized.
Owing to the profuse supply of Saudi oil money,
several Islamic centers and Imams have come under
the influence of Wahabi fundamentalism. They do
not however represent the moderation permeating
Muslim communities at large. As already mentioned,
American Muslims are well educated, well to do and
appreciate the freedom of thought and action available
to them. The Wahabi precepts doled out to them during
Friday sermons spark a struggle in their minds for
the soul of their religion.
The spirit of enquiry that had dominated religious
scholarship in various parts of the Muslim world
and had generated a vibrant, throbbing, thriving
society was anaesthetized a thousand years back
to ensure conformity and obedience to the ruling
elites. Heads were turned backwards, innovative
thoughts to address new issues thrown up by the
march of events were scorned, and debate and discussion
were discouraged. The freedom of thought and action
available in the US has caused cracks in the intellectual
hermitage.
The struggles of the seven representative Muslim
personalities profiled in the book reflect the direct
or indirect advocacy for opening the doors of Ijtehad
(reconsideration and innovation) after a hiatus
of centuries.
The portraits of the seven figures have been so
truthfully and honestly crafted that they keep the
attention of the reader riveted. Of particular interest
to me were the chapters on the feminist, Asra Nomani
and the scholar, Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, inas much
as both have openly challenged several traditional
beliefs that have not evolved with the march of
events. Fadl, for instance, maintains that the Muslims’
“intellectual heritage contains ample precedent
for creative thought.” Immigrant Muslim communities
in America, he contends, are typically led by engineers,
doctors, and computer experts who conceal their
lack of deep theological understanding with superficial
displays of religiosity.
Endorsing that view, Barrett writes: “Whether
the issue has been women in the mosque or responses
to extremism, the dearth of moderate Muslim leaders
possessing charisma and eloquence has been striking…
What Muslims may need is a battery of talented people
to guide and inspire disparate communities.”
Barrett also points out that the conflict in the
Middle East and America’s unstinted support
to Israel keep provoking Muslim anger. Without abandoning
Israel or the principle that a sovereign nation
must protect its people “the US will have
to persuade its ally to make sacrifices in exchange
for peace. Compromise, even with hated and distrusted
adversaries, is the only way to achieve normality
for the Israelis, Palestinians, and Lebanese…
Both political parties will have to show courage
and convince Israel to fortify its moral position
by pulling back from more of the areas it conquered
in 1967.”
He also admits that at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo
Bay prison “there have been excesses that
only confirm suspicions that religious animus fuels
American antiterrorism efforts.”
Such balanced and saner thoughts look all the more
striking given the descent of the author and viewed
against the anti-Islam din created by televangelists
like Pat Robertson, Jerry Vines, Franklin Graham,
and others. No doubt, the author has given a good
account of his long and objective reporting with
the Wall Street Journal.
I strongly recommend this book to the readers of
this piece.
(arifhussaini@hotmail.com April 6, 2007)
