Sunni Man
Diamond Member
- Aug 14, 2008
- 62,897
- 30,729
In the view of many Muslims, the movement toward an American Muslim identity has come under intense but conflicting pressure since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. The assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were, after all, carried out by violent extremists who claimed to act in the name of Islam, but whose deeds have been roundly condemned by many Muslim organizations and leaders here in the U.S.
Nevertheless, a predictable by-product of the tragedy has been a rapid escalation of public curiosity about Islam in general and American Muslims in particular. Sales of the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, shot up in the attacks' wake, as did books by such academic writers on Islam as Karen Armstrong, John L. Esposito and Bernard Lewis.
Still, among the estimated one billion Muslims globally, those in the U.S. do possess a distinctive and potentially valuable economic identity, at least when one speaks generally. American Muslims include an unusually large proportion of highly educated professionals, especially physicians and engineers, who have arrived in this nation since the sweeping reform of federal immigration laws in 1965.
Their presence helps distinguish American Muslims as "the best educated elite in the Muslim world," writes Haddad, in an essay in the book, Muslims on the Americanization Path? (University of South Florida, 1998). And this professional cadre sharply distinguishes American Muslims from their counterparts in immigrant communities in Europe, says Sheik al-Awlaki. "In Europe, they're the working class," he explains. "In America, they're professionals and intellectuals."
Imam Magid looks to the next generation of American Muslims to shape an Islamic identity in this country. "The children of American Muslims play together without recognizing ethnic backgrounds," he notes. "When our children ask each other, 'Where do you come from?' They answer, 'I come from America,' or 'I come from Virginia."' The implicit message, he says, which he shares with parents at the mosque, is: "America has the ability to create a collective identity, even though you come from different cultural backgrounds."
By raising the issue of children, he touched on a central issue of concern among American Muslims. How the next generation will carry on the faith is a question that has always concerned religious minorities in the U.S. But its urgency among Muslims can be glimpsed on an Internet site that specializes in selling audiotapes of prominent Islamic scholars. The number one lecture listed there focuses on retaining the loyalty of Muslim children to their faith.
Carnegie Corporation of New York:*Muslims in America
Nevertheless, a predictable by-product of the tragedy has been a rapid escalation of public curiosity about Islam in general and American Muslims in particular. Sales of the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, shot up in the attacks' wake, as did books by such academic writers on Islam as Karen Armstrong, John L. Esposito and Bernard Lewis.
Still, among the estimated one billion Muslims globally, those in the U.S. do possess a distinctive and potentially valuable economic identity, at least when one speaks generally. American Muslims include an unusually large proportion of highly educated professionals, especially physicians and engineers, who have arrived in this nation since the sweeping reform of federal immigration laws in 1965.
Their presence helps distinguish American Muslims as "the best educated elite in the Muslim world," writes Haddad, in an essay in the book, Muslims on the Americanization Path? (University of South Florida, 1998). And this professional cadre sharply distinguishes American Muslims from their counterparts in immigrant communities in Europe, says Sheik al-Awlaki. "In Europe, they're the working class," he explains. "In America, they're professionals and intellectuals."
Imam Magid looks to the next generation of American Muslims to shape an Islamic identity in this country. "The children of American Muslims play together without recognizing ethnic backgrounds," he notes. "When our children ask each other, 'Where do you come from?' They answer, 'I come from America,' or 'I come from Virginia."' The implicit message, he says, which he shares with parents at the mosque, is: "America has the ability to create a collective identity, even though you come from different cultural backgrounds."
By raising the issue of children, he touched on a central issue of concern among American Muslims. How the next generation will carry on the faith is a question that has always concerned religious minorities in the U.S. But its urgency among Muslims can be glimpsed on an Internet site that specializes in selling audiotapes of prominent Islamic scholars. The number one lecture listed there focuses on retaining the loyalty of Muslim children to their faith.
Carnegie Corporation of New York:*Muslims in America
