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Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam Youssef Chouhoud 1 | Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam understanding of American Muslim Introduction doubt all the more difficult. Thus, instead of offering an overly self- This inaugural project of the assured narrative (an all too Yaqeen Institute for Islamic common occurrence when Research elaborates the dynamics Muslims are the subject of inquiry), of doubt in the American Muslim we are forthright about our community. More specifically, the research aims, inferences, and current phase examines the reasons limitations. for Muslims in America losing their belief in Islam, while later stages in To that end, rather than seeking to this multi-part endeavor will be the final word, the objective of expound on and test these findings. the following report is to offer a Through this systematic assessment, reference point for future Yaqeen aims to ultimately arrive at discussions on doubt in the a set of interventions and American Muslim community. It is adjustments to concretely address meant to provide accessible the threats to faith that American information to both experts and Muslims regularly encounter. novices. Those deeply engaged Whether in part or as a whole, this with the topic will find the issues project—the first of its kind—will we discuss familiar, but will likely provide a valuable resource to come across new perspectives to scholars and practitioners alike. enrich their understanding. For readers unacquainted with the The novelty and ambition of this subject matter, this report doubles undertaking naturally carries with it as an introductory primer. In myriad challenges. Anyone familiar essence, then, what follows is an with the increasingly varied off-the-shelf framework for American Muslim experience, for processing this dense and example, will recognize that fragmented subject. arriving at well-grounded conclusions about this population This initial offering tackles the is no easy task. This complexity larger project’s motivating coupled with a general lack of questions from the perspective of reliable data on the community (let Muslim institutional leaders across alone on the particular phenomena America. In doing so, the study we are interested in studying) highlights the considerations that makes building a comprehensive these imams, chaplains, and youth 2 | Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam mentors believe are most pertinent American Muslim community. to understanding why Muslims in From there we turn to potential America have crises of faith. As avenues that can lead to disbelief, with any methodology, there are organizing our respondents’ certain limitations to the observations around three core information gleaned from this categories: approach, which we discuss below. These epistemological constraints • Moral and social concerns notwithstanding, the rich insights • Philosophical and scientific gathered from these experts will no concerns doubt pave the way for a far more • Personal trauma. informed conversation on this pressing topic. Finally, we conclude by revisiting the report’s key contributions and The report is divided into four previewing the next phase in the sections. The remainder of this project. introductory portion outlines the impetus and aims for this phase of Impetus and Aims the project and details the methodology we employed. Next, The United States has always been we elaborate precisely what we an outlier among post-industrial mean by “doubt” and consider the countries in terms of religiosity. extent of this phenomenon in the 1 As religious attendance and 16.1% of the American populace in profession of faith have steadily 2007 to 22.8% in 2014.2 Buoying decreased across many developed this trend, in part, is the markedly societies in the decades since lower religiosity of millennials (i.e., World War II, American levels of those born between 1981 and religious practice and belief have 1996), who are consistently less more closely tracked those found in observant than any other the developing world. Yet, since generation across multiple the turn of the 21st century, there measures of religious belief and has been a stark shift in the practice.3 American religious landscape. Most notable in this regard is the rapid There are at least two reasons to growth of religious “nones” (i.e., believe that the effects of these the religiously unaffiliated) in coterminous trends may be recent years: expanding from especially impactful on American 1 | Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam Muslims. First, a clear majority of Muslims are in a uniquely Muslims in the United States are vulnerable position to succumb to either first or second generation these developments. immigrants. 4 The typical story of immigrant assimilation in America With this in mind, the broader is one in which successive project (and, to a degree, the generations progressively present study) is organized around incorporate themselves into three guiding questions: American society in part by eschewing or otherwise dampening 1. To what extent is the general their cultural peculiarities—such as trend away from organized language, dress, and, indeed, religion in America operative religious identity. Although there is in the Muslim community? evidence that second-generation 2. What are the most common American Muslims (many of whom causes spurring disbelief? came of age in the immediate 3. What viable remedies are aftermath of the September 11th available to potentially attacks) are in some ways more alleviate doubt at both an religious than their parents, 5 it is individual and communal still too early to tell whether this level? general finding will hold in the long term and if it will continue on Methodology to the next generation. To probe for answers to our guiding Second, Muslims in America are a questions, we turned first to comparatively young community. institutional leaders throughout the This is true in terms of institutions, American Muslim community. with a significant majority of Specifically, we spoke to imams, mosques no more than two or three chaplains, and youth coordinators decades old and only a handful of across the country in order to better Islamic higher education options understand their interactions with available across the country.6 More Muslims whose belief in Islam had to the point, however, Muslims are waned or altogether worn out. The the youngest religious group in interviews, which lasted about an demographic terms. 7 Thus, to the hour on average, took place extent that millennials and younger primarily over a four-month period Americans are exhibiting an beginning in February 2016. aversion to organized religion, 2 | Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam Still, sampling even this more In terms of our sample, the key limited subset of the American criterion for inclusion was Muslim community posed affiliation with an established difficulties. Since there is no institution8 that affords face-to-face authoritative data on the interaction with a local population. population of interest (i.e., This limitation narrows the pool of institutionally affiliated American interviewees to individuals that are Muslim leaders serving their co- 1) tasked specifically with attending religionists), the prospect of a to the spiritual well-being of representative sample is moot. We Muslims in America and 2) therefore turned to the best physically accessible to a particular available data: Ihsan Bagby’s 2011 and consistent community. These report on mosques in America. 9 constraints, we believe, allow us to Using the regional proportions in have a much less nebulous Bagby’s study as a guide, we conception of who would stratified our sample geographically potentially populate our sample while also aiming for some while assuring that the report measure of gender and includes those best positioned to racial/ethnic diversity. The final address its central concerns. sample included 31 total respondents (27 males and 4 Given these criteria, there are two females), broken down notable sets of potential geographically as follows: respondents excluded from the California (4), Texas (7), Midwest sample. First, the study excludes (6), New England (2), New York figures who are primarily or metro area (3), Mid-Atlantic (4), exclusively public speakers or and the South (5).10 academics, though they may be knowledgeable on this subject Although these in-depth elite matter. Similarly excluded are interviews offered valuable insights individuals whose interactions are from individuals that have both largely online or who are otherwise thought deeply about the questions not based out of a regular location, that animate this study and although they may occasionally interacted with individuals communicate with precisely the experiencing the crises of faith we types of individuals that are the wish to better understand, there focus of this project. remain two primary and interrelated limitations to this 3 | Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam research design. First, the otherwise be present in our experiences of those individuals interviewees’ perspectives. who would speak to religious leaders about their deep doubt may A second potential blind spot in be systematically different from our coverage stems from the others who silently transition out of possibility that institutional leaders the faith. Ironically, this precise themselves may be the impetus for case was related to us by one of an individual’s crisis of faith. In our respondents, Abu Noor Abdul- extreme cases, some form of abuse Malik Ryan, when discussing his may ground this negative own mindset prior to converting to association. Doubt may also form Islam: “I would have never thought through alienation with the ideas about talking to a Catholic priest and manner of those in authority. when I was a Catholic in college In either circumstance, an who had doubts.”11 individual is likely to be reluctant to talk to any religious leader. Such Thus, those who spoke with the individuals may still have some leaders in our sample were likely representation in our data, either still somehow invested in however, via the same indirect their Muslim identity or were yet to channel of family and friends settle on their beliefs.
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