Considine - Muslims in America: Examining the Facts

Muslims in America

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Examining the Facts

Craig Considine

Contemporary Debates

Copyright 2018 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Considine, Craig, author.
Title: Muslims in America : examining the facts / Craig Considine.
Description: Santa Barbara : ABC-CLIO, 2018. | Series: Contemporary debates | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018008406 (print) | LCCN 2018020515 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440860546 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440860539 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: MuslimsUnited States | IslamUnited States.
Classification: LCC BP67.U6 (ebook) | LCC BP67.U6 C66 2018 (print) | DDC 297.0973dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008406

ISBN: 978-1-4408-6053-9 (print)
978-1-4408-6054-6 (ebook)

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This book is also available as an eBook.

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Muslims in America: Examining the Facts is part of ABC-CLIOs Contemporary Debates reference series. Each title in this series, which is intended for use by high school and undergraduate students as well as members of the general public, examines the veracity of controversial claims or beliefs surrounding a major political/cultural issue in the United States. The purpose of this series is to give readers a clear and unbiased understanding of current issues by informing them about falsehoods, half-truths, and misconceptionsand confirming the factual validity of other assertions that have gained traction in the political and cultural discourses of the United States. Ultimately, this series has been crafted to give readers the tools for a fuller understanding of controversial issues, policies, and laws that occupy center stage in American life and politics.

Each volume in this series identifies 30 to 40 questions swirling about the larger topic under discussion. These questions are examined in individualized entries, which are in turn arranged in broad subject chapters that cover certain aspects of the issue being examined, for example, history of concern about the issue, potential economic or social impact, or findings of latest scholarly research.

Each chapter features 4 to 10 individual entries. Each entry begins by stating an important and/or well-known Question about the issue being studiedfor example, Do Muslims in the United States condemn the radical beliefs and actions of militant groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda? or Is Islamophobia on the rise in the United States?

The entry then provides a concise and objective one- or two-paragraph Answer to the featured question, followed by a more comprehensive, detailed explanation of The Facts . This latter portion of each entry uses quantifiable, evidence-based information from respected sources to fully address each question and provide readers with the information they need to be informed citizens. Importantly, entries will also acknowledge instances in which conflicting data exists or data is incomplete. Finally, each entry concludes with a Further Reading section, providing users with information on other important and/or influential resources.

The ultimate purpose of every book in the Contemporary Debates series is to reject false equivalence, in which demonstrably false beliefs or statements are given the same exposure and credence as the facts; to puncture myths that diminish our understanding of important policies and positions; to provide needed context for misleading statements and claims; and to confirm the factual accuracy of other assertions. In other words, volumes in this series are being crafted to clear the air surrounding some of the most contentious and misunderstood issues or our timenot just add another layer of obfuscation and uncertainty to the debate.

There has never been an America without the presence of Muslims. Yet, American Muslims have been increasingly branded as an un-American and unassimilable population that poses a societal and security threat to the United States. The faith of American MuslimsIslamhas also come under scrutiny for allegedly condoning violence against non-Muslims, oppressing women, and stifling freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Accusations against American Muslims, whether resulting from differences in religion or culture (or a combination of the two), have focused public attention on the state and lives of Muslims as well as the Islamic religion.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 (henceforth 9/11), had a significant impact on perceptions of American Muslims and even those in the United States who might be perceived to be Muslim. For some Americans, the utter indifference to the value of human life and the hostility shown toward the United States by Muslims came as a great surprise. Other Americans were confirmed in their beliefs that the United States is undergoing a civilization war between Western civilization and the Muslim world. This perceived war is rooted in a struggle against terrorism , a term often linked to Muslims, even though the overwhelming majority of violent attacks on American soil have been perpetrated by non-Muslims.

The 9/11 attacks also initiated social and institutional responses that resulted in the marginalization of Muslims in the United States. Some of these processes led to hate crimes against Muslims, surveillance of Muslim communities and mosques, racial profiling, and immigration policies that are widely regarded as discriminatory toward Muslims. American Muslims have responded to these measures by speaking out against anti-Muslim racism and standing firmly for American values, such as the separation of church and state, equal rights for all, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

Despite the integration of Muslims into mainstream American culture, they remain under the microscope. Media outlets, religious leaders, far-right organizations, and politicians have depicted Muslims as a foreign and threatening religious minority population. The term Islamophobia , which refers to a dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force, is now part of the American lexicon. Some chart the popularization of this term to the Runnymede Trust, a liberal British think tank that, in 1997, published a report entitled Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All. Edward Said, the postcolonial theorist, is regarded as the first scholar to reference the term in the English language, claiming in his article Orientalism Reconsidered that hostility to Islam in the modern Christian West has historically gone hand in hand with, has stemmed from the same source, has been nourished at the same stream as anti-Semitism. Critics of the term Islamophobia , as Nathan Lean (author of The Islamophobia Industry ) points out, often lambast it on the basis of an etymological deficiency, insisting that it thwarts the possibility of critiquing Islam as a religion while simultaneously suggesting the presence of a mental disorder on the part of those who do.