The Oxford handbook of American Islam

This Handbook offers an up-to-the-minute analysis of Islam in America by 30 of the best scholars in the field. It covers the initial growth of Islam in the US from the earliest arrivals through the beginnings of African American Islam, as well as the waves of pre- and post-WWII immigrants when Muslims had little sense of religious identity in relation to their American compatriots. Providing basic information about Sunni, Shi‘ite, sectarian and Sufi movements in America, the volume considers the role of ethnic and racial identity in religious formation. Special attention is given to the role and status of women, marriage, and family. The rise of religious and educational institutions, leadership and youth movements, along with the expansion of Islam through outreach in prisons and through volunteerism, have served to give cohesion and a growing sense of what it means to be part of American Islam. The final section of the book deals with the component pieces of contemporary Islam in America such as politics and government, intellectual life and interfaith endeavors. The process of integration and assimilation that has been intensified as a response to 9/11 has brought about a creative response in which Muslims are eager to be Muslim and American at the same time. The volume concludes with elements of Muslim culture that are part of the current creative response to the reality of American Islam, including Islamic dress and fashion, art and architecture, film and filmmaking, health and medicine, politics, and Muslim-Christian relations. Bracketing these articles on integration and assimilation are thorough investigations of both the effects of the war on terror and the continuing Islamophobia that it has engendered, and of the relationship of American Islam to international Islam.