The Muslims of America

by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (Editor)

This collection brings together sixteen previously unpublished essays about the history, organization, challenges, responses, outstanding thinkers, and future prospects of the Muslim community in the United States and Canada. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are represented among the contributors, who include such leading Islamic scholars as John Esposito, Frederick Denny, Jane Smith, and John Voll. Focusing on the manner in which American Muslims adapt their institutions as they become increasingly an indigenous part of America, the essays discuss American Muslim self-images, perceptions of Muslims by non-Muslim Americans, leading American Muslim intellectuals, political activity of Muslims in America, Muslims in American prisons, Islamic education, the status of Muslim women in America, and the impact of American foreign policy on Muslims in the United States.

Genres: Islam

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 1991

About the author

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (born in Syria in 1935) is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Her interests and focus include contemporary Islam; intellectual, social and political history in the Arab world; Islam in the West; Quranic Exegesis; and gender and Islam. Haddad's current research focuses on Muslims in the West and on Islamic Revolutionary Movements. She has published extensively in the field of Islamic studies.

Haddad has been described as "at the top of her field in the study of Muslims in America" and "the foremost interpreter of the Islamic experience in the United States." She is the leading figure in a school of thought that sees the key issue for Muslims in the USA as being the conflict between traditional Islamic values and integration into mainstream US society.

Haddad received her Ph.D. in the Economic, Political Development, and Islamic Heritage in 1979 from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, and her Master's degree in Comparative History 1971 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Additionally, she attended Boston University, where she received an M.R.E. in Religious Education and Leadership Development in 1966, and the Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. She was also Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Yvonne Haddad describes herself as a Presbyterian. She emigrated to the United States in 1963.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A VARIETY OF PAPERS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN THE U.S.

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (born in Syria) is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. She was formerly Professor of Islamic History at the University of Massachusetts. She has written many other books, such as 'Contemporary Islam and the Challenge of History,' 'Not Quite American?: The Shaping of Arab and Muslim Identity in the United States,' 'Islamic Law and the Challenges of Modernity,' 'Christian-Muslim Encounters and Muslim Minorities in the West: Visible and Invisible.'

She writes in the "Acknowledgements" section of this 1991 book, "This book brings together studies on the religion of Islam as it is experienced in a variety of contexts in North America, in recognition of its expanding minority status in the United States and Canada. The papers in this volume were first presented at a conference devoted to the 'Muslims of America,' held in April 1989 on the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts..."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"Islam is believed to be the fastest growing religion in the United States today, yet it is unclear how many Muslims currently reside in America... To date, no systematic, statistically valid survey of Muslims in America has been conducted. This largely because of a lack of reliable information about Muslims in this country." (Pg. 25)
"Paul Findley's book They Dare to Speak Out has proven to be a timely incentive for Muslims to consider the possibility of forming political action committees. Findley confirmed Arab and Muslim fears about the pervasive influence of the more than seventy-five pro-Israel PACs. Several Muslim PACs were developed since 1985." (Pg. 116)
"The fall of the Shah's regime has been a very important factor in heightening Islamic identity in the United States. The Shah was perceived as the enemy of the Arab people because of his role in providing Israel with oil... His removal from power fueled the belief that an organized Islam would provide the energy to mobilize the masses to remove corrupt rulers as well as Arab regimes perceived as lackeys of the United States and impotent before Israel. This renewed hope in the power of Islam has been extremely significant in the thinking of many Muslims as they seek to define their role in the context of American society." (Pg. 227)