Muslims in America: A Short History

by Edward E. Curtis IV

Muslims are neither new nor foreign to the United States. They have been a vital presence in North America since the 16th century. Muslims in America unearths their history, documenting the lives of African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, European, black, white, Hispanic and other Americans who have been followers of Islam.
The book begins with the tale of Job Ben Solomon, a 18th century African American Muslim slave, and goes on to chart the stories of sodbusters in North Dakota, African American converts to Islam in the 1920s, Muslim barkeepers in Toledo, the post-1965 wave of professional immigrants from Asia and Africa, and Muslim Americans after 9/11. The book reveals the richness of Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi and other forms of Islamic theology, ethics, and rituals in the United States by illustrating the way Islamic faith has been imagined and practiced in the everyday lives of individuals. Muslims in America recovers the place of Muslims in the larger American story, too. Showing how Muslim American men and women participated in each era of U.S. history, the book explores how they have both shaped and have been shaped by larger historical trends such as the abolition movement, Gilded Age immigration, the Great Migration of African Americans, urbanization, religious revivalism, the feminist movement, and the current war on terror. It also shows how, from the very beginning of American history, Muslim Americans have been at once a part of their local communities, their nation, and the worldwide community of Muslims.
The first single-author history of Muslims in America from colonial times to the present, this book fills a huge gap and provides invaluable background on one of the most poorly understood groups in the United States.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Islam, United States

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2009

About the author

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Reviews

[Assem Saleh · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب مختصر يستعرض بشكل سريع جدا تاريخ الاسلام و المسلمين في امريكا. على الرغم من قصر الكتاب، الا أنه فاجأني بعمق و تجذر المسلمين في تاريخ امريكا. فنسبة كبيرة من الافارقة الذين تم اسرهم و نقلهم قسرا الى العالم الجديد عبر تجارة الرقيق كانوا مسلمين. و المؤلف يركز على مجموعة منهم ممن تمكنوا من توثيق تجاربهم عبر رسائل و كتب و تحديدا ايوبا سليمان ديالو و عبدالرحمن ابراهيما. و عبدالرحمن تحديدا تمكن في نهاية المطاف من العودة الى افريقيا لكنه ترك اربع من ابنائه و بناته المسلمين في امريكا . اما بالنسبة لأول امريكي ابيض اعتنق الاسلام، فالكاتب يعرض قصة الكساندر رسل ويب و الذي اعتنق الاسلام في القرن التاسع عشر بعد ان ذهب للعمل في الفليبين كقنصل و من هناك ترك العمل و توجه في رحلة الى الهند لكي يتعرف اكثر عن دينه الجديد. و بعد عودته الى امريكا حاول ويب التعريف بالاسلام و تقديمه الى الامريكيين كدين يحمل الكثير من القيم المشتركة مع الثقافة الامريكية. و الى القرن العشرين ينتقل المؤلف ليحكي عن قصص اول مساجد بنيت في امريكا حيث اسس المهاجرون العرب في ديربورن بولاية ميتشيغان في عشرينيات القرن الماضي مسجدا اعقبه مسجد للشيعة. و اسس المهاجرون السوريون و اللبنانيون مسجدا في مدينة سيدار رابيدز بولاية ايوا في نفس التوقيت. و تاريخ المسلمين في امريكا يحتم ايضا الحديث عن الفرق و الجماعات التي اعتنقت افكار منحرفة عن المذاهب الاسلامية الرئيسية و على رأسها فرقة المعبد المورية او البربرية و هي التي قامت على يد نوبل درو و هو زنجي اعتنق الاسلام ثم روج لأفكار شاذة كأدعاء النبوة و لاحقا الالوهية. و من الفرق التي يستعرضها الكتاب فرقة أمة الاسلام و هي قائمة حتى اليوم و تأسست على يد مسلم امريكي زنجي اسمه والاس فارد ثم خلفه الايجا محمد و كان ينتمي اليها مالكوم اكس.

الكتاب بشكل عام ممتع و هو مناسب كقراءة اولى لمن لا يملك خلفية مسبقة عن تاريخ المسلمين في امريكا. تمنيت لو قام المؤلف بتسليط الضوء على المسلمين في الحرب الاهلية الامريكية حيث و بحسب ما قرأت في مصادر اخرى فإنه من الثابت مشاركة بعض المسلمين الزنوج في تلك الحرب ضد القوات الكونفيدرالية الجنوبية.

[NET7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very surprised to see that a few Muslims had been living in America since even before, specifically as victims of the African Slave Trade. I was surprised to see that there were several prominent African Muslims had been in the US, and how Asian Muslims, particularly from India and Pakistan while they were under British rule, had formed communities in cities like New York and New Orleans. I had no idea also that Syrian Muslims had come to the US and settled and formed a couple communities in the Midwest juts before America entered The Great War, who were happy that they had escaped the oppression of the Turks who taxed their communities and gave nothing back, while here their taxes built up their schools, roads, and other public services. Muslims who came to the US prior to the 1960's see themselves as Muslim Americans, integrated and enjoying the liberties America offers to those who come to its shores it seems, who practiced a very open and moderate faith with a love for our the stars and stripes, who had fled oppressive regimes in the Middle East. According to the book though it's after the 1960's that as Islamists, those who belief that the Sharia should be the law of the land, come to the US they alter the trend American Muslims had once had, and as more Muslim students who identified as Islamists and religiously Conservative individuals partnered up, Muslim communities see less integration and more separation. I see this as the problem that has lead up to what we see with the rise of Islamism in the West. By allowing Islamists, with an overwhelming number being Arab or Somali Muslims, to come to the US, we have hurt the Muslim American community by putting secular, more liberal and open minded Muslim Americans more and more in the minority by allowing more hardline, religiously intolerant individuals to settle in the US, rather than the other way around. This book makes it very clear that being Muslim and American are not separate identities, they are linked when you have a person of the Islamic faith who loves their country, and a perfect example of this is the Ismaili American community. I will not say that Islam and the violence we see in the world perpetrated in the name of Islam and its prophet aren't related, as they certainly are, but reading this book has made me aware of the history of Muslim immigrants and Muslim Americans more so than I did before.

[Yvonne S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast read; fascinating overview of Islam in the USA from before the founding of the country to today's 21st century growth in multiple forms of this tradition, including secular "spiritual but not religious." Book includes a chronology from 16th century to the election of the second Muslim Congressman in 2008, plus a bibliography for further reading. Author is a professor of religious studies at Indiana University and general editor of the largest scholarly encyclopedia ever produced on the experience of Muslims in the United States. Publisher is Oxford University Press. Very readable with many vignettes focused on specific Muslims in the U.S.; commended as a basic introduction.

[Nathan Boyett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome primer on Muslims in the United States. I was amazed to learn that the first Muslims arrived in the United States before it was the United States—records indicate the presence of Muslims in the 1500s–1700s before the country’s founding, primarily due to trans-Atlantic enslavement. I was amazed to learn that Thomas Jefferson owned a Qur’an—actually more than one—and advocated for the religious freedom of Muslims (and Hindus, etc.) even though he disagreed with it as a religion. It’s well-written and easy to read, not technical in nature. It’s also rather short, making it overall quite accessible to many people.

[ajla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently stepped back into reading more non-fiction, historical, educational, and "self-help" books and thought this would be a perfect read...and I was totally right. As a person who is trying to bond more with my faith, I found this to be incredibly educational, especially for a Muslim living in America. I have always had a fascination with what caused different Muslim regions of the world to settle in a particular place in America and the author clearly defines the reasoning for this in the book.

[Aziza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of great interesting facts about the Muslim culture, it was interesting to dive in and learn more about the Muslim background and heritage.

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start and middle to the book, but it ends up excluding too much for the last fifty years of Muslim history in America for it to earn five stars.

[Mark Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent survey, readable, with fascinating references to outstanding early individuals.
Mkeller123@gmail.com

[Evie Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good combination of personal accounts and other facts. Truly eye opening to the stereotypes, misconceptions, and lack of knowledge a lot of us have about the history of Muslims in America 🤍

[Elliot Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read, very much introductory. But I found it really interesting and easy to read. Lots I'd never heard about before! Whetted my appetite for more.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Short, Solid History

Muslims in America is the "first single-author history of Muslims in America from colonial times to the present", which is what the back cover proclaims. I have no reason to doubt that this sad statement is true and for that reason this book is a welcome addition to the shelf of any serious student of American history.

That being said, this book is not perfect. Since it tries to cover the entire spread of American history the first pages are about isolated Muslim individuals that were brought over as slaves, continued to follow their faith and were noted for doing so. It turns out that only a few people fit all those criteria so we end up with extended biographies of these people. This is not bad, per se, but it does make the last half of the book seemed rushed in comparison. The slow, extended style is put aside for a quicker, less detailed style.

That less detailed style in the latter half of the book was frustrating for me. I am not a Muslim but I am fairly well read on the religion. I can speak intelligently on the main teachings of mainstream Islam, but I will not claim to be an expert on the topic. Groups like the Nation of Islam fascinate me precisely because some of their teachings have differed radically from any other teachings in the "mainstream" , especially with the Nation of Islam's heavy emphasis on race and different stories about how each racial group was formed. I would have appreciated more discussion of how Muslims outside of the Nation of Islam view the Nation of Islam and their teachings, and vice-versa. I would have also enjoyed a more robust discussion of the origins of these "non-traditional" Muslim groups - which Muslim traditions did they draw from, which did they modify, etc.?

What the book does well is detail how Muslim slaves came into America (although actual numbers will have to remain guesswork) and tell how some completely maintained their faith while others saved just parts of it. Curtis also examines the multiple waves of Muslim immigration that have come into the United States. It is tempting to think that this is a relatively new phenomenon, but it is not. I was especially fascinated by...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/...

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, short read. Curtis provides a survey of the history of Muslims in America dating back to the 16th century. While it may not be at the forefront of our memory, the fact is that a majority of the slaves that forcefully migrated to this country were Muslims. It is incredibly interesting to note how Islam evolved as a belief system that stood for black rights as so many Muslims were treated inhumanely. Thus evolved the Nation of Islam under the tutelage of W.D. Fard and then Elijah Muhammad.

The history of the Nation of Islam is an interesting case study of big and little Islam.
Islam as a global religion with many diverse adherents sharing a history of origins and islam- a personal, local belief system that interacts with specific contexts and evolves based on experiences and needs of a particular time and place.

Curtis continues his inclusive history by discussing contemporary thinkers such as Omid Safi and Eboo Patel and discusses the changed landscape after 09/11/2001. It was nice to see my own Muslim identity as a Shia Ismaili Muslim included in this work. As a minority, this is a rare occurrence.

Interesting facts from the book:
1800s-WWI Muslim immigrants from the Ottoman Empire and South Asia arrive in the US
1893: Former US consul Alexander Russell Webb, a white convert, represents Islam at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago
1963: The first Muslim Students Association was created at the University of Illinois
1994: Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is formed in Washington, DC
2006: Keith Ellison is the first Muslim elected to US Congress

[Vika Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Curtis's other works are careful and thoroughly researched, which left me more disappointed with this one. I am looking at textbooks for my Islam in America class, and this is not thorough enough in most cases to be useful. It might be workable in a class on religion in America, but I guess I'll use one of Dr. Curtis's other books for my class.

This book would be useful for basic, non-Muslim audiences who want to gain a quick familiarity with the topic. Thus it is probably more useful for the general reader than for actual students, although it does include useful "for further reading" for each chapter, and a chronology.

[A. David David Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive and thoughtful book, easily 5 stars for a general audience (but 4 stars for a scholarly one). Regardless of its institutional utility as a text, this "short history" gives a wonderful and revealing taste of Islam throughout the years in America for general audiences. If it has any flaw, it's the emotion bubbling just below the surface, with Curtis neither allowing his full voice through nor cleanly delivering material in its most objective terms. As he says towards the book's conclusion, citing Omid Safi, "[b]eing in the middle [is] not...a 'popular or easy place to be.'"

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very brief history of Muslims in America. There was a lot of detail about the lives of specific Muslim slaves brought to America from West Africa, but as the author moved forward in time, there were fewer and fewer details. I guess I was hoping for a more comprehensive look at the more recent history. Never-the-less, this was a good overview for a non-Muslim reader.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brief history I found to be inspiring and fabulous. I wish those hellbent on believing we are and always have been a firmly Christian nation would read this; but, that would require having an open mind. The Faith Club, mentioned in the 9/11 chapter, I think to be an excellent idea.

[Sabah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief history of Muslim in US from pre-independence days. Not much detail or analysis.

[asra · Rating 3 out of 5]

a very basic introduction for people who have little or no knowledge of muslim americans.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reinforced my belief in the need for public schools to give more than traditional WASPy histories.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good, informative book. I had to read it for history and I definitely learned a lot I didn't know about Muslims in America, and it wasn't a hard read at all.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too short to be a full overview of Islam in America, too many specific examples to be a vague outline.

[Thegirlintheafternoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Task: Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction) - 3/5 stars

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very concise, easy to read, and informative.