MUSLIMS IN THE UNITED STATES Edited by Philippa Strum Danielle Tarantolo Division of United States Studies MUSLIMS IN THE UNITED STATES Demography, Beliefs, Institutions Proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Division of United States Studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars June 18, 2003 This conference was supported in part by a grant from PaL-Tech Planning Committee Zahid Bukhari Charles Butterworth Yvonne Haddad Omar Kader Ibrahim Kalin Philip Mattar Aminah McCloud Seyyed Hossein Nasr Sulayman Nyang Philippa Strum Danielle Tarantolo Amina Wadud ©2003 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. www.wilsoncenter.org Cover image courtesy of the United States Postal Service. According to the Postal Service, the stamp, which was first released September 1, 2001, “commemorates the two most important festivals—or eids— in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. On these days, Muslims wish each other ‘Eid mubarak,’ the phrase featured in Islamic calligraphy on the stamp. ‘Eid mubarak’ translates literally as ‘blessed [feast],’ and can be paraphrased as ‘May your religious holiday be blessed.’” WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS LEE H. HAMILTON, DIRECTOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair; David A. Metzner, Vice Chair. Public Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Roderick R. Paige, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education; Colin L. Powell, Secretary, U.S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Private Citizen Members: Joseph A. Cari, Jr., Carol Cartwright, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Daniel L. Lamaute, Tamala L. Longaberger, Thomas R. Reedy WILSON COUNCIL Bruce S. Gelb, President. Diane Aboulafia-D'Jaen, Elias F. Aburdene, Charles S. Ackerman, B.B. Andersen, Cyrus A. Ansary, Lawrence E. Bathgate II, John Beinecke, Joseph C. Bell, Steven Alan Bennett, Rudy Boschwitz, A. Oakley Brooks, Melva Bucksbaum, Charles W. Burson, Conrad Cafritz, Nicola L. Caiola, Raoul L. Carroll, Scott Carter, Albert V. Casey, Mark Chandler, Peter B. Clark, Melvin Cohen, William T. Coleman, Jr., Michael D. DiGiacomo, Sheldon Drobny, F. Samuel Eberts III, J. David Eller, Mark Epstein, Melvyn J. Estrin, Sim Farar, Susan Farber, Joseph H. Flom, John H. Foster, Charles Fox, Barbara Hackman Franklin, Norman Freidkin, Morton Funger, Gregory M. Gallo, Chris G. Gardiner, Steven J. Gilbert, Alma Gildenhorn, David F. Girard-diCarlo, Michael B. Goldberg, Gretchen M. Gorog, William E. Grayson, Ronald Greenberg, Raymond A. Guenter, Edward L. Hardin, Jr., Jean L. Hennessey, Eric Hotung, John L. Howard, Darrell E. Issa, Jerry Jasinowski, Brenda LaGrange Johnson, Shelly Kamins, Edward W. Kelley, Jr., Anastasia D. Kelly, Christopher J. Kennan, Michael V. Kostiw, Steven Kotler, William H. Kremer, Raymond Learsy, Abbe Lane Leff, Perry Leff, Dennis LeVett, Francine Levinson, Harold O. Levy, David Link, Frederic V. Malek, David S. Mandel, John P. Manning, Jeffrey A. Marcus, Jay Mazur, Robert McCarthy, Linda McCausland, Stephen G. McConahey, Donald F. McLellan, J. Kenneth Menges, Jr., Philip Merrill, Kathryn Mosbacher, Jeremiah L. Murphy, Martha T. Muse, Della Newman, John E. Osborn, Paul Hae Park, Gerald L. Parsky, Michael J. Polenske, Donald Robert Quartel, Jr., J. John L. Richardson, Margaret Milner Richardson, Larry D. Richman, Carlyn Ring, Edwin Robbins, Robert G. Rogers, Otto Ruesch, B. Francis Saul, III, Alan Schwartz, Timothy R. Scully, J. Michael Shepherd, George P. Shultz, Raja W. Sidawi, Debbie Siebert, Thomas L. Siebert, Kenneth Siegel, Ron Silver, William A. Slaughter, James H. Small, Thomas F. Stephenson, Norma Kline Tiefel, Mark C. Treanor, Anthony G. Viscogliosi, Christine M. Warnke, Ruth Westheimer, Pete Wilson, Deborah Wince-Smith, Herbert S. Winokur, Jr., Paul Martin Wolff, Joseph Zappala, Nancy M. Zirkin, Richard S. Ziman ABOUT THE CENTER The Center is the living memorial of the United States of America to the nation’s twenty-eighth president, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1968 as an international institute for advanced study, “symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relation- ship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs.” The Center opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees. In all its activities the Woodrow Wilson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, sup- ported financially by annual appropriations from Congress, and by the contributions of founda- tions, corporations, and individuals. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that pro- vide financial support to the Center. | iv | TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Philippa Strum PART ONE:DEMOGRAPHY,IDENTITY,POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION Demography, Identity, Space: Defining American 7 Muslims Zahid H. Bukhari Black Orientalism: Its Genesis, Aims and Significance 21 for American Islam Sherman A. Jackson Muslim-American Politics: Developments, Debates 39 and Directions Agha Saeed Social and Political Institutions of American Muslims: 45 Liberty and Civic Responsibility Mohamed Nimer Open House: Visibility, Knowledge and Integration 63 of Muslims in the United States Kathleen M. Moore A Challenging Intellectual Heritage: A Look at the 79 Social and Political Space of African-American Muslims Aminah Beverly McCloud Islamic Schools in the United States: Perspectives 95 of Identity, Relevance and Governance Zakiyyah Muhammad | v | Imams and Mosque Organization in the United States: 113 A Study of Mosque Leadership and Organizational Structure in American Mosques Ihsan A. Bagby PART TWO:MUSLIM AMERICANS IN THE WORLD American Islamic Intellectual Activity and the 137 Islamic World Seyyed Hossein Nasr The Intellectual Impact of American Muslim Scholars 151 on the Muslim World, with Special Reference to Southeast Asia Osman Bakar The Role of Women in the American-Muslim 171 Community and Their Impact on Perceptions of Muslim Women Worldwide Amina Wadud American Public Opinion about Muslims in the 185 U.S. and Abroad Scott Keeter and Andrew Kohut GLOSSARY 203 PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES 205 | vi | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY* PHILIPPA STRUM n June 18, 2003, leading scholars of the American Muslim communities spoke to a Washington audience of 175 drawn O from the executive and legislative branches of the federal gov- ernment, the media, Muslim-American organizations, secular civil socie- ty organizations, universities, and the general public. The conference, “Muslims in the United States: Demography, Beliefs, Institutions,” spon- sored by the Division of United States Studies of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, began a discussion that is continued in these pages. A short summary of the proceedings appears below. The papers writ- ten for the conference, which follow, suggest that that Muslim communi- ties in the United States are in a state of transition, developing from a people seeking tolerance to a body of citizens boldly and proactively defining their own place in the nation. They nonetheless continue to face serious problems of group identity and integration. Among the specific points made by conference participants: • Demography: While no definitive count exists, an estimated six million Muslims live in the United States. Roughly 68 percent of them were born outside the United States, in over 80 countries. The largest number (over 30 percent of the total) are South Asians; approximately 17 percent are African Americans. American Muslim communities as a whole are younger, better educated, and more well-off financially than the general public in the United States. The * Susan Nugent, Program Assistant, Division of U.S. Studies, was central to the organization of the conference. She and U.S. Studies Program Associate Ann Chernicoff provided invaluable editorial assistance as we prepared this publica- tion. We are grateful as well to U.S. Studies intern Nicole McKimmie for her help in tracking down elusive footnotes and to Derek Lawlor of the Center’s Outreach and Communications Department for publication design. | 1 | Philippa Strum percentage of Muslims who have graduated from college (58%) is more than double the national rate, and half of American Muslim families have an annual income of over $50,000. • September 11: Many members of the Muslim-American commu- nities reacted to September 11, 2001 by reaching out to non-Muslim Americans and to law enforcement agencies. Their efforts have had a mixed result. Non-Muslim Americans are fairly tolerant of American Muslims but skeptical about what they see as Islamic anti- Americanism around the world. While younger, better educated non-Muslim Americans are more accepting, the non-Muslim popu- lation as a whole is inclined to be wary of Muslims as potential polit- ical leaders in the United States and of what it perceives as the Islamic encouragement of violence. • Civil Society and Political Involvement: American Muslims have created a wide variety of civic organizations devoted to local and international charitable efforts, but have been less active in social advocacy. While an overwhelming majority of Muslim Americans favors involvement in politics, an interest