DOCSLIB.ORG

The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Identity and Community Commissioned by the One Nation Bay Area Project

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Identity and Community Commissioned by the One Nation Bay Area Project MAY 2013 STUDY THE BAY AREA MUSLIM StUDY: ESTABLISHING IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY Commissioned by the One Nation Bay Area Project Farid Senzai, Ph.D. Hatem Bazian, Ph.D. Director of Research - ISPU, UC Berkeley Professor, Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University Zaytuna College Co-Founder Institute for Social Policy and Understanding One Nation Bay Area The One Nation Bay Area project is a collaborative funded by Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, Marin Community Foundation and Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) in partnership with the One Nation Foundation. Over the past two years the One Nation Bay Area project: distributed almost $500,000 to support American Muslims and non-Muslims partnering on community issues to enhance civic engagement in the Bay Area Muslim community; supported convenings to strengthen relationships between American Muslim and non-Muslim community partners and generate knowledge to inform philanthropy; and commissioned the Bay Area Muslim Study—Establishing Identity and Community, a benchmark study to inform philanthropy, public agencies, and the private sector. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) is an independent nonprofit think tank committed to education, research, and analysis of U.S. domestic and foreign policies issues, with an emphasis on topics related to the American Muslim community. For more information and to view our other reports, please visit www.ispu.org. © 2013 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding normally does not take institutional positions on public policy issues. The views presented here do not necessarily reflect the views of the institute, its staff, or trustees. May 2013 STUDY About The Authors FARID SENZai is a fellow and the director of research at ISPU, as well as an assistant professor of political science at Santa Clara University. Dr. Senzai was previously a research associate at the Brookings Institution, where he studied American foreign policy toward the Middle East, and a research analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he worked on the Muslim Politics project. He served as a consultant for Oxford Analytica and the World Bank. At the present time, Dr. Senzai serves on the advisory board of The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, where he has contributed to several national and global surveys on Muslim attitudes. He is a co-author of Educating the Muslims of America (Oxford University Press, 2009). His most recent book is Political Islam in the Age of Democratization (Palgrave, 2013). Dr. Senzai earned an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in politics and international relations from Oxford University. HatEM BAZian, a senior lecturer in the department of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley, is co-founder and Academic Affairs Chair at Zaytuna College, the first four-year liberal arts Muslim college in the United States. Dr. Bazian is founder and co-editor-in-chief of University of California, Berkeley’s Islamophobia Studies Journal. From 2002 to 2007, he served as an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law at University of California, Berkeley. He teaches courses on Islamic law and society, “Islam in America: Communities and Institutions,” “De-Constructing Islamophobia and Othering of Islam,” religious studies, and Middle Eastern studies. In addition to Berkeley, Dr. Bazian is a visiting professor in religious studies at Saint Mary’s College of California and adviser to University of California, Berkeley’s Religion, Politics, and Globalization Center. In the spring of 2009, he founded at Berkeley the Center for the Study and Documentation of Islamophobia, a research unit dedicated to the systematic study of othering Islam and Muslims. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy and Islamic studies from University of California, Berkeley. Acknowledgements This research project has benefited from the time and contributions of many individuals. In particular, we would like to thank Reem Javed for her assistance with the focus groups and analysis of the transcripts; Ashwak Hauter for her assistance in recruiting the focus group’s participants, Daniel Hummel for his assistance with the qualitative analysis, Anwar Hijaz for her detailed assistance with the quantitative analysis, Paula Thompson and Ahmed Zamani for helping coordinate the surveys, and Ziaulhaq Emal for his assistance with the translation and survey research. We also want to thank Rasheeda Plenty, Nadia, Adnan Patel, Suzy Abu-Nie, and Naheed Hasnat for their assistance with the data entry. Thanks also to the students at Zaytuna College and University of California, Berkeley Asian American Studies 128AC, “Muslims in America,” for assisting with the survey across the Bay Area. We would like to thank Abid Malik and his team at the Strategic Research Circle for their assistance with Bay Area maps. We would also like to thank the many individuals at ISPU, especially Siwar Bizri, Shireen Zaman, Hena Khan, Zahra Jamal and Alejandro Beutel, for their support at various stages of this project. In addition, we wish to thank the One Nation Bay Area project partners, including Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Marin Community Foundation, the Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and the San Francisco Foundation for providing a generous grant to make this report possible. Special thanks to the One Nation Steering Committee, including: Tessa Rouverol Callejo, Prasanjit Gupta, Manuel J. Santamaria, Mauricio Palma, Shirin Vakharia, Laila Mehta, Mahvash Hassan, and Lucia Corral Peña. 2 The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Identity and Community May 2013 STUDY A CALL TO ActiON: A Letter from the Funders The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse regions in the United States. More than 30% of its population is foreign-born, and close to two-thirds of its residents under the age of 18 are the children of immigrants. Nearly 250,000 Muslims–one of the highest concentrations of Muslims in the country–live, study, volunteer, work and contribute to the economies and communities of the Bay Area. With a history of supporting and funding the American Muslim community, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, the Marin Community Foundation and Asian Americans/ Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) partnered with the One Nation Foundation to create the One Nation Bay Area project in 2010. The One Nation Bay Area project complements the community foundations’ and AAPIP’s social justice and interfaith understanding, civic engagement and immigrant integration grantmaking portfolios. The One Nation Bay Area project commissioned the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding to help us—and the Muslim community members themselves—better understand who is in the community, what languages they speak, what their educational attainment levels are, what their immigration status is, what the levels of employment are, what civic engagement means to them, and to honor their resilience in the face of continued misperceptions about the American Muslim community. This benchmark study provides historical, religious, and cultural context for a community that is often misunderstood and misrepresented – in our schools and communities. For the first time, this report gathers quantitative and qualitative research about the needs of the Bay Area Muslim community and suggests recommendations for philanthropy, public agencies, and the private sector. We invite you to join us in responding to this study’s call to partner with American Muslims in the Bay Area in order to leverage their strength and resilience, and to address the complex challenges of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, socioeconomically diverse community of enormous potential. Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D. Sandra Hernãndez, M.D. CEO and President Chief Executive Officer Silicon Valley Community Foundation The San Francisco Foundation Thomas Peters, Ph.D. Peggy Saika President and CEO President and Executive Director Marin Community Foundation Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy 3 4 The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Identity and Community May 2013 STUDY Table of Contents 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Benchmark Nature of the Study Methodology & Limitations Key Findings Challenges Strengths Recommendations 19 INTRODUCTION Benchmark Nature of the Report Methodology Research Limitations 25 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF BAY AREA MUSLIMS Bay Area Centers and Institutional Development Pre-1980 1980-1990 1990-2012 Civic and Cultural Institutions Outside the Mosque 39 DEMOGRAPHIC DATA Demographic Information Race and Ethnicity Education Socioeconomic Status Community Health and Government Assistance 59 IDENTITY Religious Identity Hijab (Headscarf) Racial and Ethnic Identity Profession as Identity 73 MUSLIM CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Types of Civic Engagement 95 CHALLENGES External Challenges Internal Challenges 107 STRENGTHS 109 RECOMMENDATIONS For Muslim Community Leaders and Institutions For Foundations and Philanthropists For Educators and Academics For Policymakers Future Research and Closing the Gap 115 APPENDIX A: Terms 117 APPENDIX B: Questionnaires and Focus Group Form 131 APPENDIX C: Community Organizations and Businesses 5 TABLES AND GRAPHS
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Real Democracy in the Occupy Movement
    NO STABLE GROUND: REAL DEMOCRACY IN THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT ANNA SZOLUCHA PhD Thesis Department of Sociology, Maynooth University November 2014 Head of Department: Prof. Mary Corcoran Supervisor: Dr Laurence Cox Rodzicom To my Parents ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is an outcome of many joyous and creative (sometimes also puzzling) encounters that I shared with the participants of Occupy in Ireland and the San Francisco Bay Area. I am truly indebted to you for your unending generosity, ingenuity and determination; for taking the risks (for many of us, yet again) and continuing to fight and create. It is your voices and experiences that are central to me in these pages and I hope that you will find here something that touches a part of you, not in a nostalgic way, but as an impulse to act. First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Laurence Cox, whose unfaltering encouragement, assistance, advice and expert knowledge were invaluable for the successful completion of this research. He was always an enormously responsive and generous mentor and his critique helped sharpen this thesis in many ways. Thank you for being supportive also in so many other areas and for ushering me in to the complex world of activist research. I am also grateful to Eddie Yuen who helped me find my way around Oakland and introduced me to many Occupy participants – your help was priceless and I really enjoyed meeting you. I wanted to thank Prof. Szymon Wróbel for debates about philosophy and conversations about life as well as for his continuing support.
    [Show full text]
  • Chuck Wooten
    JANUARY 2012, VOLUME 39, NO. 1 DONATION $1 San Diego police haul off Occupy San Diego protesters as they remove tents and structures from the Civic Center Plaza in San Diego. photo/ GreGory Bull, AssociAted press INSIDE: Breaking Corporate Grip 2 Detroit Under Seige 4 DEMOCRACY Ohio Repeals Anti-labor Law 4 Occupy Wall Street 6-7 UNDER ATTACK BY West Coast Port Shutdown 8 Santa Clara Immigration Victory 10 CORPORATE POWER Benton Harbor School District Takeover 12 Read Story on Page 3 An economic system that doesn’t feed, clothe and house its people must be and will be overturned and replaced with a system that meets the needs of the people. To that end, this paper is a tribune of those struggling to create such a new economic system. It is a vehicle to bring the movement to- gether, to create a vision of a better world and a strategy to achieve it. Labor-replacing electronic technol- ogy is permanently eliminating jobs and destroying the founda- tion of the capitalist system. The people’s needs can only be met by building a cooperative soci- ety where the socially necessary means of production are owned by society, not by the corporations. We welcome articles and artwork from those who are engaged in the struggle to build a new society that is of, by and for the people. We rely on readers and contributors to fund and distribute this paper. The People’s Tribune, formerly published by the League of Revolu- tionaries for a New America, is now an independent newspaper with an editorial board based in Chicago.
    [Show full text]
  • Defend Occupy Oakland with the Muscle of Organized Labor
    DEFEND OCCUPY OAKLAND WITH THE MUSCLE OF ORGANIZED LABOR Demonstrators in downtown Oakland Oakland North protesting the bank-driven economic crisis were brutally attacked by police from 18 Bay Area agencies on Tuesday Oct. 25. Mayor Quan, who was supported by ILWU Local 10 in the recent elections, ordered this bloody assault. Cops used potentially lethal weapons to break up the occupation of Frank Ogawa (now renamed Oscar Grant) Plaza just as they did in the port against anti-war protesters in 2003. That police attack was even criticized by the UN Human Rights Commission and ended up costing Oakland over $2 million in civil suits. Then-Local 10 longshoreman Billy Oakland teachers march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland, Oct. 26. Kepo’o was hit in the hand by a police tear gas canister causing a bloody mess. Now, Iraqi war vet, Scott Olsen, was hit in the head with a police projectile, causing a fracture and putting him in critical condition in Highland Hospital. This is exactly what killed one of the strikers in Seattle in the Big Strike of 1934. That history of police violence against strikers is why our Local 10 Constitution bans cops from membership in our union. Last year, Local 10 shutdown all ports to protest the police killing of young Oscar Grant. This year ILWU has been supporting Occupy Wall Street. Just last Monday the San Francisco Labor Council declared the Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Wall Street “sanctioned union strike lines” offering the protesters an umbrella of union protection. ILWU is under attack from PMA employers, not just here in the port of Oakland but especially in Longview, Washington.
    [Show full text]
  • Passage of Change
    PASSAGE OF CHANGE PASSAGE OF CHANGE LAW, SOCIETY AND GOVERNANCE IN THE PACIFIC edited by Anita Jowitt and Dr Tess Newton Cain Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/passage_change _citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry Title: Passage of change : law, society and governance in the Pacific / edited by Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton Cain. ISBN: 9781921666889 (pbk.) 9781921666896 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Jurisprudence--Pacific Area. Customary law--Pacific Area. Pacific Area--Politics and government. Pacific Area--Social conditions. Other Authors/Contributors: Jowitt, Anita. Cain, Tess Newton. Dewey Number: 340.5295 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Emily Brissenden Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2010 ANU E Press First edition © 2003 Pandanus Books CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Table of Abbreviations viii Table of Cases x Table of International Conventions xiii Table of Legislation xiv Notes on Contributors xvii INTRODUCTION Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton-Cain 1 SECTION 1: THE CONTEXT OF CHANGE 1. Modernisation and Development in the South Pacific Vijay Naidu 7 SECTION 2: CORRUPTION 2. Corruption Robert Hughes 35 3. Governance, Legitimacy and the Rule of Law in the South Pacific Graham Hassall 51 4. The Vanuatu Ombudsman Edward R. Hill 71 SECTION 3: CUSTOMARY LAW 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Democratic Change in the Arab World, Past and Present
    ERIC CHANEY Harvard University Democratic Change in the Arab World, Past and Present ABSTRACT Will the Arab Spring lead to long-lasting democratic change? To explore this question, I examine the determinants of the Arab world’s demo- cratic deficit in 2010. I find that the percentage of a country’s landmass that was conquered by Arab armies following the death of the prophet Muhammad statistically accounts for this deficit. Using history as a guide, I hypothesize that this pattern reflects the long-run influence of control structures developed under Islamic empires in the premodern era and find that the available evi- dence is consistent with this interpretation. I also investigate the determinants of the recent uprisings. Taken in unison, the results cast doubt on claims that the Arab-Israeli conflict or Arab culture or Muslim theology is a systematic obstacle to democratic change in the region and point instead to the legacy of the region’s historical institutional framework. ill the Arab Spring lead to long-lasting democratic change? With WIslamist parties and candidates performing well in elections across the Arab world, many observers have begun to predict that the recent upris- ings will usher in a wave of Islamist-dominated autocracies instead of the democratic institutions many protestors initially demanded. These observ- ers often point to the political trajectories of non-Arab, Muslim-majority states such as Iran and implicitly claim that Islamist-dominated states cannot be democratic. Others note that the emergence of democratic regimes in Indonesia and Turkey demonstrate that Islamists can play a con- structive role in democratic institutions.1 One challenge for those interested in forecasting the evolution of institu- tions in the Arab world is that there is little consensus regarding the factors that led to the region’s democratic deficit before the recent uprisings.
    [Show full text]
  • The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2021
    PERSONS • OF THE YEAR • The Muslim500 THE WORLD’S 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS • 2021 • B The Muslim500 THE WORLD’S 500 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS • 2021 • i The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Chief Editor: Prof S Abdallah Schleifer Muslims, 2021 Editor: Dr Tarek Elgawhary ISBN: print: 978-9957-635-57-2 Managing Editor: Mr Aftab Ahmed e-book: 978-9957-635-56-5 Editorial Board: Dr Minwer Al-Meheid, Mr Moustafa Jordan National Library Elqabbany, and Ms Zeinab Asfour Deposit No: 2020/10/4503 Researchers: Lamya Al-Khraisha, Moustafa Elqabbany, © 2020 The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre Zeinab Asfour, Noora Chahine, and M AbdulJaleal Nasreddin 20 Sa’ed Bino Road, Dabuq PO BOX 950361 Typeset by: Haji M AbdulJaleal Nasreddin Amman 11195, JORDAN www.rissc.jo All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro- duced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanic, including photocopying or recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Views expressed in The Muslim 500 do not necessarily reflect those of RISSC or its advisory board. Set in Garamond Premiere Pro Printed in The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Calligraphy used throughout the book provided courte- sy of www.FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com Title page Bismilla by Mothana Al-Obaydi MABDA • Contents • INTRODUCTION 1 Persons of the Year - 2021 5 A Selected Surveyof the Muslim World 7 COVID-19 Special Report: Covid-19 Comparing International Policy Effectiveness 25 THE HOUSE OF ISLAM 49 THE
    [Show full text]
  • 1 United States District Court for the District Of
    Case 1:13-cv-00595-RMC Document 18 Filed 03/12/14 Page 1 of 31 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) RYAN NOAH SHAPIRO, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 13-595 (RMC) ) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ) ) Defendant. ) ) OPINION Ryan Noah Shapiro sues the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and the Privacy Act (PA), 5 U.S.C. § 552a, to compel the release of records concerning “Occupy Houston,” an offshoot of the protest movement and New York City encampment known as “Occupy Wall Street.” Mr. Shapiro seeks FBI records regarding Occupy Houston generally and an alleged plot by unidentified actors to assassinate the leaders of Occupy Houston. FBI has moved to dismiss or for summary judgment.1 The Motion will be granted in part and denied in part. I. FACTS Ryan Noah Shapiro is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Compl. [Dkt. 1] ¶ 2. In early 2013, Mr. Shapiro sent three FOIA/PA requests to FBI for records concerning Occupy Houston, a group of protesters in Houston, Texas, affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street protest movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011. Id. ¶¶ 8-13. Mr. Shapiro 1 FBI is a component of the Department of Justice (DOJ). While DOJ is the proper defendant in the instant litigation, the only records at issue here are FBI records. For ease of reference, this Opinion refers to FBI as Defendant. 1 Case 1:13-cv-00595-RMC Document 18 Filed 03/12/14 Page 2 of 31 explained that his “research and analytical expertise .
    [Show full text]
  • Mayor Bloomberg Announced That the Very Act of Challenging Wall Street Would Be Treated As a Crime
    SPRING 2012 ISSUE 6 vote every day deep democratic moment, something most of us have never seen and scarcely imagined, turned a small park A near Wall Street into the center of a global storm. Everybody knows the deck is stacked. But it turns out not every- body is willing to put up with it. Without asking permission, hundreds converged on the financial district to stop the machine. People convened open assemblies to think out loud together. Kitchens were built and volunteers served hundreds of thousands of meals. Books were borrowed and lent at the People’s Library with no need for a card. Nobody did it for the money. Occupy Wall Street changed not just what we think is realistic, but what is actually possible. Then the 1% hit back. “If you want to get arrested, we’ll accommodate you,” is how Mayor Bloomberg announced that the very act of challenging Wall Street would be treated as a crime. “Nobody can hear you when everybody’s yelling and SPRING TRAINING AT LIBERTY SQUARE: Eight months into direct democracy and screaming and pushing and shoving.” Funny stuff. fear is still not on the agenda. Learning direct action and consensus decision-making In school, we were taught that we are free to speak and free — to keep the pressure on Wall Street. PHOTO: Jed Brandt to assemble. Now we’re told we have “First Amendment Rights Areas” located inside steel barricades. Over the last eight months, ST nearly 7,000 have been arrested and occupations in dozens of cit- ies have been systematically evicted.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping the Global Muslim Population
    MAPPING THE GLOBAL MUSLIM POPULATION A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population October 2009 About the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life This report was produced by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. The Pew Forum delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Pew Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Communications and Web Publishing Luis Lugo, Director Erin O’Connell, Associate Director, Communications Oliver Read, Web Manager Research Loralei Coyle, Communications Manager Alan Cooperman, Associate Director, Research Robert Mills, Communications Associate Brian J. Grim, Senior Researcher Liga Plaveniece, Program Coordinator Mehtab S. Karim, Visiting Senior Research Fellow Sahar Chaudhry, Research Analyst Pew Research Center Becky Hsu, Project Consultant Andrew Kohut, President Jacqueline E. Wenger, Research Associate Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President Kimberly McKnight, Megan Pavlischek and Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research Hilary Ramp, Research Interns Michael Piccorossi, Director of Operations Michael Keegan, Graphics Director Editorial Alicia Parlapiano, Infographics Designer Sandra Stencel, Associate Director, Editorial Russell Heimlich, Web Developer Andrea Useem, Contributing Editor Tracy Miller, Editor Sara Tisdale, Assistant Editor Visit http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=450 for the interactive, online presentation of Mapping the Global Muslim Population.
    [Show full text]
  • Arran Edmonstone Skype Logs Redacted
    [9/19/11 1:23:28 PM] mary eng: Please add me as a contact. mary eng [9/19/11 1:23:40 PM] Arran Edmonstone: Arran ET Edmonstone has shared contact details with mary eng. [10/1/11 8:25:27 AM] Arran Edmonstone: I am stuck in a violent, meat-eating house with people who argue with eachother :) [10/1/11 8:25:54 AM] Arran Edmonstone: Doesn't that make you feel happy for me? [10/1/11 8:26:03 AM] Arran Edmonstone: I'm so happy :) [10/1/11 8:26:47 AM] Arran Edmonstone: It makes me feel so safe knowing that there is a legally-owned firearm behind the couch where I am sleeping! [10/1/11 8:28:17 AM] Arran Edmonstone: And the smell of bacon penetrating the air in the morning - mmmm..... [10/1/11 8:29:29 AM] Arran Edmonstone: Thanks again for offering your help and not going with your word! Much love <3 [10/1/11 8:41:42 AM] Arran Edmonstone: Seriously, though. I am happy I have a place to stay and a roof over my head. I am happy I know people who care enough about my well-being to provide that for me when I am in need. I am very sensitive to the violence, though. It make me feel unsafe. [10/1/11 8:43:19 AM] Arran Edmonstone: I'm sure you understand. [10/2/11 1:23:25 AM] mary eng: i miss you. listen. i need sleep. i have zero time for drama.
    [Show full text]
  • Munich PP.Pdf (660.4Kb)
    Islam in the Pacific A paper presented to the European Society for Oceanists’ conference, Munich, 2017. Philip Cass is Senior Lecturer in the Master of International Communication programme at Unitec in Auckland, New Zealand. It goes without saying that this paper will, of necessity, present the merest sketch of an extremely complicated topic. In order to make this manageable, I have concentrated on Melanesia and Polynesia and omitted Micronesia and the metropolitan powers, Australia and New Zealand. Literature on the topic is scarce certainly in comparison with the libraries of books written about the Christian missions and churches. Flower’s work on Islam in Papua New Guinea is a good example of what might be achieved on a country by country analysis, but even a single volume synthesis of the existing work would be welcome. I suggest that we have to consider the idea of Islam in the Pacific of existing in four stages: • The presence of its adherents as individuals or in very small numbers, functioning essentially as individuals expressing their faith through their daily lives and observances of religious customs • As a proselytising religion actively seeking converts outside the Islamic community • As an organised presence centred around a mosque and an Imam • Self-sustaining locally integrated communities with a clear local identity and evidence of interculturation and syncretism. Dutch and British influence The growth of Islam since it was first expounded by Prophet Mohammed in the seventh century was meteoric, yet its presence in the Pacific came relatively late. Its original presence in the Pacific can be traced to the Dutch presence in Indonesia and through the British in Fiji.
    [Show full text]
  • Islam and Democracy: an Empirical Examiniation of Muslims' Political Culture
    Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 6-2004 Islam and Democracy: An Empirical Examiniation of Muslims' Political Culture Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Fattah, Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel, "Islam and Democracy: An Empirical Examiniation of Muslims' Political Culture" (2004). Dissertations. 1098. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1098 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINIATION OF MUSLIMS' POLITICAL CULTURE by Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan June 2004 ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF MUSLIMS' POLITICAL CULTURE Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2004 This dissertation focuses on the following empirical puzzle: Do the attitudes of ordinary educated Muslims stand as an obstacle toward the adoption of democracy? This research question calls for empirical/behavioral methodological tools that bring into focus contemporary Muslims' attitudes rather than ancient jurists' contributions. In other words, the dissertation shifts attention from ancient Islamic texts to contemporary Muslims' mindsets through written and web-based surveys in 32 Muslim societies.
    [Show full text]