Discourse, Identity, And Community - Abbas Barzegar

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Discourse, Identity, and Community: Problemsand Prospects in the Study of Islam in America muwo_1394 511..538

Abbas Barzegar

Georgia State University1

Introduction

The politicization of Islamic identity in the United States has a long and complex

history and has taken an especially strident tone after the attacks of September 11,2001. While the social and cultural effects of this politicization may be obvious, its

reverberations can also be felt in the scholarly research on American Muslim commu-

nities. Before 9/11, research on American Muslims often carried a tone that aimed to

demonstrate the dynamics of a complex religious community in an environment

presumably at odds with itself. Such assumptions proved unfounded, however, in light

of the breadth of African American Muslim experiences, which are a critical part of

American history itself, in addition to the plethora of immigrant Muslim encounters with

American society which go back to origins of the country itself. In fact the very richness

of African American and immigrant Muslim experiences in the United States is the causefor perhaps the most enduring problem facing the study of Islam in America: managing

the vast diversity of American Muslim communities and their multiple layers of being.

Beyond the ethnic and national distinctions, the categories of gender, class, generation,

and ideology have complicated the ability to maintain a coherent and consistent research

program across various scholarly disciplines.

For example, African American experiences with Islam are as much a part of

the history of American ethnic relations and civil rights history as they are of the history

of Islam in America more specifically. Likewise, individuals, either nominally or

self-identifying Muslims, emigrating from their various countries along with their stories

of assimilation, confrontation, and adaptation throughout successive generations, might

well be studied both as a history of immigration in American history more generally or

1 I would like to thank number of individuals who have offered much needed commentary andfeedback on this article throughout various phases of its development: most recently Julliana Hammerand Timur Yuskaev for breathing new life into the project, Omid Safi and Edward Curtis for theirfeedback at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the AAR where this was paper was first presented in its currentform, and Richard Martin, Joyce Fluckeiger, and Lee Ann Bambach for cultivating a productiveintellectual community at Emory that helped give rise to this piece.

2011 Hartford Seminary.

Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148

USA.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2011.01394.x

511


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of American Muslim history more narrowly. Coupled with the increasingly hostile

political context of Muslim identity in a post-9/11 United States, these ambiguities of

what actually constitutes the object and context of research on Islam in America have

produced a difficult terrain of inquiry, to say the least.The way in which this subfield (of American history, immigrant history, Islamic

history?) has developed is also heavily related to its interdisciplinary nature. While this

has undoubtedly benefited the field and accounts positively for the breadth of material

covered, it has simultaneously been the largest impediment towards the subjects

maturation at the conceptual and methodological levels, precisely because what

constitutes the field is the data Muslims and not the method of inquiry. The result

has been the accumulation of fragmented, and often overlapping, case studies,

narratives, ethnographies, and analyses.

The situation has been further complicated by the entrance of the subject intomainstream political discourse. This has led to the proliferation of a range of popular

oriented publications designed either to assuage or to exacerbate the myth American

Muslims and their religious devotion constituting a potential fifth column in American

society. Representative Peter Kings senate hearings in the radicalization of the American

Muslim community along with the anti-Shariahlegislation movements in various states

were just two examples in 2010 and 2011 of the political institutionalization of this myth.

This acute politicization of the field has undoubtedly led to new opportunities and

challenges for scholars both in and outside of the confines of the university. I would

argue however that this imposed politicization and the unarticulated, yet ever-present,demand placed upon scholars to answer a public concern, has further blurred the

conceptual and methodological parameters surrounding research on Islam and Muslims

in America.

The aim of this essay, therefore, is to propose one methodological framework that

offers the possibility to manage the conceptual and substantive obstacles facing the

study of Muslim diversity in America and its corresponding Islamic traditions. To do so,

I begin with the rudimentary relationship between Islam and Muslim identity in order

to investigate the ways in which Islamic hermeneutics, whether formal or informal,

shape the articulation of American Muslim identity. The primary methodological andtheoretical contribution of this essay is, therefore, to prioritize Islamic discourses over

the various sociological categories of Muslim groups as a way to better understand the

complex dynamics of Islam in the United States. Ultimately, this essay argues that the

ways in which Muslims articulate matters Islamic or American are more determina-

tive of community activity and behavior than presumed sociological or demographic

categories, which are often dangerously equated with behavioral determinants.

This paper proceeds in three main sections. The first accounts for what I consider

to be prominent conceptual and methodological trends currently used in the study of

Muslims in the United States. After reviewing why I consider ethnic or other sociologicalcategories limiting, specific attention is placed on the unproductive ambiguity surround-

ing the concept of identity as a heuristic. The paper then draws upon a range of

The Muslim World Volume 101 July 2011

512 2011 Hartford Seminary.


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anthropological works on Islam and Muslims, which employ the concepts of discourse

and community formation, as an example through which to better articulate the

methodological obstacles in the study of Islam in America. The last section presents six

dominant discursive themes in Muslim American communities, arguing that throughthem, instead of sociological determinants, new ways of understanding community

dynamics are enabled.

Sociological Categories and the Question of IdentityOn May 22, 2007, the Pew Research Center released the report, Muslims in America:

Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream. It was self-championed as the first ever nation-

wide survey to attempt to measure rigorously the demographics, attitudes and experi-

ences of Muslim Americans.2 Like other surveys conducted by Pew, sociologicalcategories such as age, national origin, and ethnic distinction were employed as

categories through which to better understand patterns in participants responses. The

results were nuanced and informative even if the majority of the press coverage proved

myopic and alarmist.3

By prioritizing sociological categories this study offered a broad overview of Muslim

attitudes and opinions on a range of topics. However, by emphasizing sociological

distinctions the study necessarily neglects the question of Muslim hermeneutics. That is,

what is the relationship, if any, between the interpretation, definition, and articulation of

Islam by participants in the study and the attitudes and opinions expressed in theirresponses to the poll? For example, one learns that, Large majorities of Muslim American

liberals (77%), moderates (66%) and conservatives (70%) express support for a bigger

government that delivers more services.4 However, we know little about the ways in

which the respondents understanding of Islam informed such an opinion. As the title

suggests, we learn that Muslim attitudes and values are fairly consistent with American

values more generally, but we are left wondering about the place of Islam in the

formation of such values.

I would argue that the prioritization of sociological categories in the Pews study

mirrors many academic surveys of Muslim American communities. Kambiz Ghanea-Bassiris formidable survey of Muslims in Los Angeles, Competing Visions of Islam in

America, may be regarded as one such example (although his most recent work

markedly moves away from sociological methods and sets a new standard in the

2 http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans, last accessed May 18, 2011. For the purposes offull disclosure, I was commissioned by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, whichpartnered with PEW on the preparation of this report, in 2006 to coordinate a focus group of African

American Muslim participants in Atlanta, GA.3

For example, Fox News headlined (a day after the report was released): Poll: 1 in 4 U.S. YoungMuslims OK With Homicide Bombings Against Civilians, from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274934,00.html, last accessed on July 7, 2008.4 The report is available at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans, p. 44.

Discourse, Identity, and Community



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field).5 While the study illuminates the diversity of American Muslim attitudes and

opinions, it does not provide a metric that accounts for the ways in which Islam as

interpreted and practiced by participants affects the substance of that diversity.

Another common methodological problem of sociological surveys is the issue ofparticipant access. For example, GhaneaBassiri notes that access to an Iranian Sufi

order and Muh ammads Mosque No. 27 of the Nation of Islam was not provided;

therefore these communities were not represented in the study.6

In my own studies, I have faced similar issues of restricted access, which at times

may be based on simple problems of communication. However, on other occasions I

have had to endure a long series of interrogations over the nature and purpose of the

inquiry I was pursuing.7 On one occasion my community sources, in addition to

establishing my professional credentials, were deciding whether their participation in

my research conformed to their Islamic obligations and duties. In the end, the group didnot want to participate which may be telling of a larger methodological issue. The refusal

by particular communities to participate in our studies does more than simply render a

void in our research; namely, such non-participation may in fact be an expression of

a particular religious sensibility that is simply elided in our research. That expression, in

itself, is as much a part of the story of Islam in America as is the story of the engaged

community citizen or willing research subject. In a post-9/11 environment, it is

increasingly the case that studies of Islam and Muslims in America rely largely upon the

amount of access given to researchers by community members. Those willing to provide

access to scholars and journalists may in fact make such decisions based upon aparticular interpretation of Islam. The inverse is also a possibility. A methodological

approach that does not account for such nuance runs the risk of eliding a very important

dimension of the American Muslim experience.

One of the few studies that attempt to integrate Muslim opinions and attitudes

with participants perceptions of Islam is the report prepared by Ihsan Bagby for the

Institute of Social Policy and Understanding entitled, A Portrait of Detroit Mosques:

Muslim Views on Policy, Politics, and Religion.8 In order to gauge the Islamic Approach

of participants, the study asked respondents to identify themselves according to their

understanding of how the Quran and Sunnah should be practiced. That is, with oneparticular madhhab, the salafschool, in accordance with great scholars of the past, in

5 Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Competing Visions of Islam in the United States: A Study of Los Angeles(London: Greenwood Press, 1997); idem, A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the NewWorld Order (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).6 Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Competing Visions of Islam in the United States: A Study of Los Angeles(London: Greenwood Press, 1997) p. 14.7 This particular exchange occurred in my research for the article Atlanta in the Encyclopedia of

American Muslim History.8 Ihsan Bagby, A Portrait of Detroit Mosques: Muslim Views on Policy, Politics, and Religion (ClintonTownship, Michigan: Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2005). For the purposes of fulldisclosure, as of January 2011, I became a Fellow at the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding.




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a flexible fashion, in light of modern circumstances and the opinions of modern

scholars or should be accepted but not necessarily practiced.9 The study then

proceeds to correlate respondents answers to this question with their answers to a range

of issues.While, the ambiguous demarcation and definition of these categories deserves note,

the primary limitation of the categorical taxonomy is that it relies upon informants

self-perception of their religiosity instead of an analysis of already present Islamic

discourses vis--vis pre-existent issues. Here the question of how Islamic interpretive

strategies affect opinions and behaviors remains opaque. For example, we learn that

those who identified as Salaf are least likely to agree that Sunni-Shiite cooperation is

a priority, but we dont know what kind ofIslamic discourseaffects that position, or how

exactly such positions are constituted vis--vis an understanding of the Quran and

Sunnah. Instead, we are left to understand that something about being Salaf (whateverthat may be) informs the position that Sunni-Shiite reconciliation is a low religious

priority.

Another severe limitation of mosque oriented surveys is that they presume an

already reified demographic: mosque attendees. In so doing, such studies by definition

do not account for the wide range of Muslim American activity that takes place outside

of the mosque or its immediate environs. It is not surprising therefore that the ISPU

report finds that virtually all mosque participants accept the sacred texts of Islam as

obligatory and as the word of God.10 Wouldnt one expect as much from Muslims

attending Friday prayers where they were handed questionnaires about their religiouscommitment?

The dominant mode, however, through which the scholarly literature has

approached the subject of diversity and difference among American Muslims, is through

the use of identity as a category of analysis. Unfortunately, there is little to no clarity, much

less consensus, on what exactly constitutes the notion of identity in the first instance

throughout this literature. This is the case despite the fact that the concept of identityis

subject to rigorous theoretical discussion in the related fields of sociology and anthropol-

ogy. Studies on Muslims in the American context have largely chosen not to enter into a

theoretical interrogation of the concept of identity itself. A standing exception, however,is the recent work on American Muslim identity formation conducted by Lori Peek, who

acknowledges a similar theoretical void in the scholarship.11

It is not my aim here however to offer an alternative understanding of identity for use

in the study of Islam in America. Rather, I simply hope to highlight the various ways

identity is used in the literature as a heuristic of Muslim diversity in order to offer the

9 Bagby, A Portrait of Detroit Mosques, p. 34.10

Bagby, A Portrait of Detroit Mosques, p. 35.11 Lori Peek, Becoming Muslim: The Development of a Religious Identity in Sociology of Religion,vol. 66, no. 3 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 219221. See also idem, Behind the Backlash: Muslim AmericansAfter 9/11 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010).




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notion of discourse as an alternate mode of analysis. To do so, I review the exemplary

work of Yvonne Haddad and Edward Curtis, two scholars who have heavily influenced

the direction and tone of scholarship on Islam in America. Without their contributions,

the methodological critique offered in this essay would not even be possible, whichmakes this article indebted to their contributions. To borrow from the words of Talal

Asad, Criticism . . . is most useful when it aims at reformulating the questions underly-

ing a work, not at demolishing it.12 Therefore, I hope that the points raised here are

received in the same spirit of collegiality with which they were written.

Yvonne Haddad describes the notion of identity and its relevance to American

Muslims in her article, The Dynamics of Islamic Identity in America in the volume

Muslims on the Americanization Path? co-edited with John Esposito.13 Although

Haddads use of the term identitydoes not represent every usage of the concept across

the literature, her influential role in shaping the study of Islam in America needs littleelaboration and provides an opportunity through which to gauge the ubiquitous

category.

Although she does not offer a working use of the concept, Haddad begins by stating

that identity formation and definition are amongst the most important mechanisms by

which nation-states have organized themselves in a post-colonial world. She posits that

an emergent pan-Islamic ideology, in the place of socialism and nationalism, has swept

the Muslim world and continues to be a powerful ideological force in the development

and maintenance of Muslim communities even in the western world.14 Noticing that

many national Islamic organizations have hosted conferences and forums dedicated tothe question of identity, she states that it may even be the mother of all issues 15 That

is, how will they develop an identity relevant for their lives as both Muslims and

Americans? Like many observers, she notes that American universities and college

campuses have been centers where immigrant students have experimented with

Islamic worldviews. She comments that in such environments, they have sought to

forge links of friendship and common purpose, providing a nucleus for an international

network of leaders committed to the creation of an Islamic state or Islamic world order.16

Whether or not this is, or ever was, an adequate description of immigrant Muslim

experiences, identity emerges as something to be developed and produced. It is aprogrammatic and conscious social phenomenon; a strategy of being tethered to the

notion of Islamic revival and enacted by immigrants.

12 Talal Asad, Reading a Modern Classic: W.C. Smiths The Meaning and End of Religion in History ofReligions, vol. 40, no. 3 (Feb. 2001), pp. 205222; p. 206.13Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and John L Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path? (New

York: Oxford University Press, 2000).14 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path, p. 20.15 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 22.16 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 21.




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Turning to African American Muslims she curiously cites correctional facilities as a

comparable American institution of Muslim reflection and identity.17 She then goes

on to state that prison alumni focus their efforts at home and that they seek the

redemption of African-American society through the teaching of responsibility, familyvalues, and accountability, hoping eventually to save their children from a future of

violence and the drug-infested ghettos of America.18 Such invocations recall the familiar

trope of African American Islam being a strategy of resistance and liberation as a

strategy, identity is also presented here as formulaic and functionalist.

Haddad then introduces three pioneering American Muslim intellectuals, Fazlur

Rahman, Ismail al-Faruqi, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. In particular she spends time on

Ismail al-Faruqi and his advocacy of an adoption of Islamic ideology or vision 19 that

can help define and give meaning to a Muslims experience and identity in the United

States; being beyond that of a economic sojourner to that of a contributor to an Americansociety that can benefit, if not be saved20 from the contributions of Islam.

In sum, for Haddad, identity is related in some way to the ideas of function, purpose,

or mission. Implicitly then, Islamic identity is a strategy or course of action. Explicitly,

it is tantamount to the notion of ideology. Fundamentally then, if what is being

described is the concept of orientation or ideology, with identity simply used as a

synonym, then the term may only be useful in a verbal sense. That is, how does an

American Muslim or Muslim American institution identify with a particular strategy or

ideology of being Muslim and expressing Islam in the United States in the current

moment? Moreover, how are American Muslim developing their strategies of being?While the conceptual reduction of identity to ideology is concerning, what may be

more limiting in Haddads formulation is the priority to which she gives sociological

categories in the determination of such ideologies (read identities). For Haddad, the

prefix African-American determines the type of Islamic identity Black American Muslims

assume. Likewise, Muslim Student Associations (MSA) around the country, by virtue of

being filled with immigrant Muslims from around the world, are necessarily equated with

hubs for Islamist political visions. Whether immigrant or MSA is the operative prefix in

this scenario, what is clear is that the discourse of Islamic identity is a product of a

sociological category or organizational affiliation. At best, such assumptions elide themultiplicity of ways of being Muslim and American. At worst, such assumptions over

determine that diversity through demographic distinctions like ethnicity or national

origin a logic which if followed to its end seems rather dangerous.

That the concept of identity in the study of Islam in America is constituted in terms

of strategy or method can also be seen in various studies of African American Islam

where such notions are attached to the theme of liberation. Edward Curtiss text Islam in

17

Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 21.18 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 21. Emphasis mine.19 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 30.20 Haddad and Esposito (eds.), Muslims on the Americanization Path?, 31.




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Black America: Identity, Liberation and Difference in African American Islamic Thought

has been applauded in recent years for its theoretical contributions and historiographical

nuance.21 It also seems set to replace earlier studies as a preferred textbook in courses

on Islam in America.Curtis discusses how African American thinkers, prophets and activists, such as

Edward Wilmont Blyden and Noble Drew Ali discussed Islam as a vehicle through which

black identity was articulated and contested. In the same moment, the political agendas

of liberation, self-determination, and social reconstruction were expressed in various

ways vis--vis shifting notions ofIslam. Albeit proffering different conceptions of Islam

these hermeneutical strategies, according to Curtis, all engage with the tension between

the particularism of African-American Islamic identity or black identity more generally

and the universalistic claims of the Islamic tradition. By demonstrating this tension Curtis

highlights the profound range of difference in the Black American Muslim historicaltradition at the same time as he makes the case for this tradition to be understood within

the framework of Islamic history more generally.

Another one of Curtiss laudable accomplishments is to resist the trend endemic in

the study of African American Islam that characterizes early movements as inauthentic,

heterodox, or simply nationalistic and political. Such assumptions depend upon a

normative definition of what Islam is and is not a practice, he argues, scholars of

religion should avoid. Echoing Wilfred Cantwell Smiths well-known approach to the

definition of religion, Curtis argues that wherever and whenever a person calls himself

or herself a Muslim, scholars should include this person voice in their understanding ofwhat constitutes Islam.22 Despite radical distinctions within a singular tradition,

managing difference in Islamic hermeneutics can be done by examining the historical

interpretations of Muslims themselves.23 The result is to recognize the many Islamsof

the African American Muslim experience and accept that they are authentically Islamic

(that is, by virtue of being claimed as such).

While the incorporation of African American Muslim history into Islamic history

more generally is a valuable contribution to the literature, the result of such an

approach nonetheless illuminates (and reifies) more the sociological category that

Curtis begins with African American Muslim than it does demonstrate theIslamic dimensions involved in the continuity and change of the tradition he exam-

ines. If the great differences within the variety of black American Muslim Islams

can all be subsumed under the sociological category of African American, then it

follows that there should be something distinct and denominative about beingAfrican

American a conclusion Curtis actively resists given that that is in fact one of the

objects of his study.

21

Edward Curtis, Islam in Black America: Identity, Difference, and Liberation in African AmericanIslamic Thought (New York: State University of New York Press, 2002).22 Curtis, Islam in Black America, p. 6.23 Curtis, Islam in Black America, p. 4.




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Nonetheless, in historical works that begin with the notion of African-American

Muslim experiences, thought, and so forth, the profound range of Islamic hermeneutical

differences practiced by black American Muslims are often subsumed under the category

of African American Islam (by which it is often meant islams) without a thoroughdescription of how they are Islamic in the first instance. Instead, such differences are

often treated as putativelyIslamicand as examples of shifting sensibilities of oppression

and liberation in the Black Muslim community. For example, Curtis says,

All of the figures covered in this study . . . have sought to liberate themselves

and their fellows from some form of oppression. But their understandings of

oppression and their strategiesfor liberation from it have been incredibly diverse

and complex.24

Here, Curtiss description of African American Muslim experiences and identities as a

strategy forsocial liberation parallels Haddads use of the term identity.

If the theme of liberation is meant to counter the essentialism inherent in a category

like African-American Islam, it seems to dissolve immediately when scrutinized by the

same divergence it was meant to capture. That is, how meaningful of a descriptor does

the idea of liberation remain if its diverse articulations by various African American

Muslims are in contradiction with one another? For example, consider the differences

between the Honorable Elijah Muh ammads understanding of the Quranic verse,

. . . we have made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another25

as ahistorical reference to the scientist Yakubs creation of the white devil race some 6,600

years ago and Wallace Deen Muh ammads employment of the same verse to suggest

divine approval for diversity26 as a platform for pragmatic pluralism in the United

States. This difference, remember, taking place between father and son in the evolution

of one institution. Furthermore, in what sense does liberationremain a viable category

of African American Muslim experience if for example, a Wahhabi interpretation of Islam

practiced by black Americans advocates an abandonment of any element of ethnic

affiliation while at the same time a Five Percenter interpretation assumes, in Islamic

terms, the divinity of the Black Man.I am not arguing that such examples disprove that the social reality of African

American subjugation in American history has been a prominent feature of the various

ways in which Islam has been interpreted and practiced in the United States by black

Americans. Rather, I am pointing out that the construction of historical narratives are

always prone to essentialism and often elide otherwise illuminating points of difference

in the process. This is especially the case when self-representations are taken as prima

facie descriptions of the subject. How differently, then, would a study of African

24 Curtis, Islam in Black America, p. 15; emphasis mine.25 Curtis, Islam in Black America, p. 75.26 Curtis, Islam in Black America, p. 125.




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American Islam proceed if the object of inquiry were not a reified sociological category

but, more immediately, the distinct discursive practices and rhetoric engaged by

members of that purported group?

Two problems have been raised in this review of the use of the concept ofidentity in the study of Islam in America thus far: first, is the equation of identity with

a strategy or an ideology; second, is the dominance of sociological categories used to

describe the articulation of that strategy. Like the surveys conducted by Pew, ISPU, on

GhaneaBassiri, reviewed above, representations of Muslim identity formation, atti-

tudes, or values predicated upon sociological distinctions elide or restrict the dynamic

processes of Islamic hermeneutical practices, leaving an important question unan-

swered: how are the different articulations of American Muslim identity constituted in

terms of Islamic discourse. That is, how are they rendered Islamic? More importantly,

how do these different discursive practices interact with one another in the dynamicsocial worlds inhabited by American Muslims today? To answer this question, I

suggest bracketing the notion of identity as a static category, presumed and fixed, in

favor of an approach that approaches the study of Muslim identity in America in

terms of competing Islamic discourses in constant articulation and contest with one

another.

Before turning to a description of a discourse centered approach to the study of

Islam in America, a final comment on the scholars position vis--vis the definition of

Islam is in order. It is worth noting that Muslim American experiences, thought,

identities, and so forth, are often investigated through an analysis of prominentcommunity leaders statements, interviews, and writings intended for reception by

various audiences. Such an approach risks eliding everyday practices of Muslim

American activity that are certainly related to, but not identical with, the views of such

leaders. In the same way that we should be aware of the ways in which community

accessibility textures our findings, we should also be mindful of the ways in which

Muslim self-representations are in themselves performative acts informed by a range

of preexisting discourses. In this way, it is imperative to understand the ways in which

Islam in America is constituted through discursive practices a notion that is not

synonymous with describing the ways it is articulated by its adherents, participants, andleaders themselves. In fact, Muslim self-representations may often not be congruous with

an ethnographic description of Muslim discourse in America.

While it is rightly the case that scholars ought not become the arbiters of what

counts as genuinely Islamic, they ought equally not to forgo the question howthe very

notion of the Islamic is constituted in a Muslim community by simply accepting the

inverse of the original problem. Accepting the position that wherever and whenever a

person calls himself or herself a Muslim is enough to identify them and their practices

as Islamic elides the profound differences and multiple ways of being involved in the

creative social practices of American Muslims. This is a potentially dangerous oversightin the study of Muslims in America an amorphous group often internally divided over

the very issues of difference in Islamic interpretation.




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In an effort to overcome some of the conceptual and methodological problems

raised thus far, this essay hopes to provide a preliminary framework through which to

better understand and analytically manage the diversity of Americas Islams a goal

that the concept of identity and sociological surveys seem unable to fully capture.It does so by offering a discourse-centered approach as a supplement to the

sociological-centered approach common to most current research programs.

A Discourse Centered ApproachThe problems raised in the preceding discussion are not new to the study of Islam.

The question of how to conceptualize Islam as an analytic category has been an

ongoing discussion in cultural anthropology for decades. One of the more enduring

positions was articulated by Talal Asad in his brief but insightful article, The Idea of anAnthropology of Islam, in which he suggests understanding Islam as a discursive

tradition.27While Asads contributions have influenced scholars of the Islamic tradition

in various fields since its publication in 1986, only recently have students of Islam in

the United States embarked upon a study of American Muslim discourse. By adopting

a discourse-centered approach to the variegated and multi-faceted dynamics of

the Muslim population residing in the United States, the Islamic practices of

various communities and the relationships between them may be seen in different

dimensions.

A discourse-centered framework focuses on the use of language and its performancein everyday events and within ordinary community settings in order to understand how

certain discourses by engaging and interacting with the primary discourses of Islam, such

as the Quran, Had th, Sra(Life of Muh ammad), Shara, or other aspects of an Islamic

worldview, authorize,28 a practice, community norm, or act to actually become and be

understood by community members as Islamic. For Asad, the authorization of such

discourse is an informal, but distinctly social and pedagogical affair; it can be constituted

by the teaching of an alim, a khatib, a Sufi shaykh, or an untutored parent.29 What

remains critical then to a discourse-centered framework is the pedagogical dimension;

that is, the performative context of Muslim discursive practices, which may be seen incommunity organizations, Fridaykhutbas(sermons), hip-hop concerts, online forums or

any other social setting. Islamic discursive traditions can be understood as discourses

that seek to instruct practitioners regarding the correct form and purpose of a given

practice.30

27A useful review of Talal Asads impact on the discussion is Ovamir Anjum, Islam as a DiscursiveTradition: Talal Asad and His Interlocutors, in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the MiddleEast Volume 27, Number 3, 2007, pp. 656672.28

Talal Asad, The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, WashingtonD.C., 1986, 1415.29Asad, The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam, p. 15.30Asad, The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam, ibid, p. 14.




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Grounding the source of religious meaning and authority, that is the way Islam is

constituted as authentic, within the patterns, traditions and speech acts of Muslim

practices complicates the frail unity of sociological categories, not to mention the

generalizing assumptions they produce. Instead, it focuses attention on how variousexpressions of Islam are achieved in the first instance. Such an approach also relieves the

anthropologist of the awkward and troublesome burden of having to define what Islam

and Muslims are prior to the onset of the investigation, but at the same time does not

simply surrender to the boundless approach of defining an infinite variety of Islamic

articulations as equally Islamic.

The understanding of Islam as a discursive tradition has been employed by

anthropologists of Muslim societies around the world. John Bowens well-known text,

Muslims through Discourse, an ethnographic account of a village community in the Gayo

highlands of Sumatra, traces these articulations regionally and historically, identifyingtraditional and modern pedagogical traditions.31 He argues that these traditions

constitute the boundaries of a Muslim public sphere in the village because they

authorize and authenticate, or delegitimize and reform, existing practice through their

continuous deployment in everyday settings. A considerable achievement of Bowens

study is that it demonstrates the connections between the local performance of Islam and

the allegedly non-local greater historical tradition of Islam (a goal similar to Curtiss

above) by tracing the networks and institutions of Islamic discourses to their interna-

tional and historical intellectual traditions.

The theme of social network as a site to better understand knowledge production isthe central focus of the recent and celebrated work, Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip

Hop edited by miriam cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence. The editors define networks as

phenomena that are similar to institutionalized social relations, such as tribal affiliations

and political dynasties, but also distinct from them, because to be networked entails

making a choice to be connected across recognized boundaries. They argue that both

the networked nature of Islam and the impact of Muslim networks on world history are

pivotal. Yet neither has received its due from scholars.32 The volumes chapters proceed

to illuminate the discursive relationships between Muslim scholars, activists, women,

students, rulers and other sociological categories in various parts of the world,throughout history.

In an important essay analyzing the cosmopolitanism of pre-modern religious

scholars (ulama), Qasim Zamans contribution to the volume focuses on the way in

which the discourse of Islamic scholarship forges and facilitates relationships and

affiliations amongst the ulema and political rulers in the pre-modern and modern

31John R. Bowen, Muslims through Discourse: Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society (Princeton:Princeton University Press, 1993); see also idem, Pluralism and Normativity in French Islamic

Reasoning, in Hefner, Robert W., editor, Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democ-ratization, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005. I thank Timur Yuskaev for this reference.32 Miriam Cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence (eds.), Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip Hop (Chapel Hill:University of North Carolina Press, 2005), p. 1.




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contexts.33 In doing so Zaman also highlights the simultaneous limits and obstacles that

discourse engenders in order to suggest that the networks and relationships between

different actors are the products of the discourse that constitute them. In this way one can

begin to approach the subtle but important distinction between sociological categoriesand discursive formations that has been central to this essay thus far: sociological sites,

be they demographic categories or institutional distinctions, should be seen as the

products of the discourses that unite them. In this way, Muslim networks offer a more

precise site through which to understand Muslim societies, but they equally run the risk

of becoming a presumed sociological site (and subject to similar problems reviewed

above) if not coupled with an equally precise analysis of the antecedent Islamic

discourse that binds them.

There are other discourse-centered approaches to the study of Muslim communities

which have made formidable interventions in their respective arenas and are worthy ofnote. Saba Mahmoods highly acclaimed The Politics of Piety makes use of such an

approach to unpack the complicated processes involved in the various constructions of

subjectivity in play in Muslim womens mosque activities in Egypt.34 Likewise, Brinkley

Messicks The Calligraphic State is an anthropological history of religious authority in

Yemen that relies upon similar methodological and conceptual foundations to demon-

strate the connections between the literary processes behind the constitution of

authority in texts and the social and political processes involved in articulating the

authority oftexts.35 As such, it is an invaluable anthropological an account of Islamic

tradition as it encounters colonial modernity. Charles Hirschkinds study The EthicalSoundscape: Cassette Sermons and Islamic Counterpublicsexamines the ways in which

the popular practice of listening to khutbas recorded on cassettes has impacted the

political geography of the Middle East.36 These studies all focus on the production of the

Islamicas seen in the interplay between Muslim practices, social networks and Islamic

discursive traditions. How might a similar approach be employed in the study of Islam

in America and what kind of new research avenues might this engender?

33 Qasim Zaman, The Scope and Limites of Islamic Cosmopolitanism & the Discursive Language of theUlema in miriam cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence (eds.), Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip Hop(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005), pp. 84104.34 Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005). This text was the winner of the 2005

Victoria Schuck Award, American Political Science Association and Honorable Mention, 2005 AlbertHourani Book Award, Middle East Studies Association.35 Brinkley Messick, The Calligraphic State: Textual Domination and History in Muslim Society (Los

Angeles: University of California Press: 1993), p. 1. Messicks text was awarded the Albert Hourani BookAward by the Middle East Studies Association.36

Charles Hirschkind, The Ethical Soundscape: Cassette Sermons and Islamic Counterpublics (NewYork: Columbia University Press, 2006). This text was awarded the 20072008 Sharon Stephens FirstBook Prize from the American Ethnological Society and a Clifford Geertz Prize Honorable Mentionfrom the Society for the Anthropology of Religion.




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Discursive ThemesThe aim of this essay has been to problematize the way in which the subject

of Muslim diversity in America has been managed analytically and to configure a

provisional framework wherein the diversity of the Muslim practices in the United States

can be organized under a coherent methodological and conceptual umbrella. Such a

paradigm hopes to supplement, if not challenge, existing approaches such as the

immigrant/indigenous bifurcation, class analyses, sectarian demarcations and ethnic

distinctions. Instead, a discourse-centered approach focuses upon patterns of language,

rhetoric and practice that underlie the many ways in which Islam is constituted in the

United States.

Ongoing ethnographic research has shown that there exist dominant patterns and

themes of discourse across various Muslim communities in the United States and that

these patterns are not confined to the sociological distinctions mentioned above.

Through these dominant discursive themes a number of questions and concerns are

negotiated and it is also through these themes that larger orientations, ideologies and

identities are formed. Often, these themes function as discursive nexuses upon which

various articulations of Islam are built.

It is important to stress the diffuse, permeable, overlapping and fluctuating nature of

discourse before we present this taxonomy. Discourse is the product and function of

language, it is constantly shifting because it is produced, debated, and transformed in

social settings of human interaction. It should be expected then that any attempt to

circumscribe a body of discourse and pigeonhole it into a contrived category will forever

remain a tenuous project. Rather the following discursive themes simply organize and

make note of what I consider to be discrete and salient patterns in the language used in

the United States to articulate Islam, America, and so forth. These themes are often fluid

and mutually embedded in various social settings, but at times, they are also antagonis-

tically opposed to one another. The following descriptions are based upon on-going

ethnographic research throughout the United States, most especially Atlanta, as well as

data made available through other studies.37

I have given provisional titles to what I consider to be some dominant discursive

themes in the American Muslim community. I have no particular commitment to these

labels, but imagine that they represent the thrust of each discursive theme. They are 1)

the Abrahamic-American, 2) the Social Activist, 3) the Salaf -Sunn, 4) the

neo-traditionalist, 5) the Progressive Reformist and, 6) the Homeland Homesick. Each of

these themes maintains distinct uses of language and emphasis but may often overlap

with one another in various community settings. As will be seen, many of these themes

37

Abbas Barzegar, Atlanta in Encyclopedia of Muslim American History, edited by Edward Curtis(New York: Facts on File, 2010); and idem, Dominant Themes in Muslim Communities of the UnitedStates: A Survey of Five Organizations in Denver, Colorado, Masters Thesis, Department of Religion(Boulder: University of Colorado at Boulder, 2004).




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are discursively connected to transnational Islamic institutions and their respective

networks.

Abrahamic AmericanismAbrahamic-Americanism fuses Islamic concepts and American civic discourses of

citizenship, constitutionalism, and pluralism. It advocates the inclusion of Islam in the

Judeo-Christian foundation myth of the United States. Such discourse is regularly

encountered in the communities and institutions affiliated with the leadership of Warith

Deen Muh ammad. Large umbrella organizations such as the Islamic Society of North

America (ISNA) also deploy such rhetoric in their public relations and community

development campaigns. Ismaili communities under the leadership of the Agha Khan

advance similar messages in their public engagements. This theme often speaks of the

American constitution as an embodiment of Islamic tenets and cites (that is creates) anumber of shared beliefs and principles between the American and Islamic civilizational

projects. Abrahamic-Americanism is ecumenical towards both Muslims and non-Muslims

and constitutes the discourse of inter-faith dialogue.

Abrahamic-American discourse can be seen and heard in a variety of settings and

institutions not exclusive to ethnic or sectarian distinctions. The Atlanta Masjid of

Al-Islam is one of the more common sites in Atlanta where Abrahamic-American Islamic

discourse has become an integral part of the communitys self-understanding and

dominant mode of Islamic interpretation. Affiliated with the leadership of Imam W.D.

Muh ammad, the Atlanta Masjid has been one of the nation-wide communitys mostprominent examples of his work and vision. The mosque was headed by Imam Plemon

El-Amin from 1985 to 2010. He has integrated his community into the inter-religious

landscape of dialogue and cross-confessional community building. Imam Plemon served

as the head of the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta (FAMA) from 2004 to 2007. He has also

been a lead coordinator and participant of the World Pilgrims, a project of FAMA and

outgrowth of President Jimmy Carters Friendship Force, which is an Atlanta based

network of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interfaith leaders and lay practitioners that

organizes tours twice a year to historic locations of inter-religious encounter such as

Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Spain, and Yemen.In one Friday khutba (sermon) upon returning from a World Pilgrims tour Imam

Plemon set out to describe the event to the audience. He began the sermon by quoting

the Quranic verse: Travel the earth and see how Allah did originate creation . . .38

Grounding his interfaith activity in an Islamic context he said,

As Muslims we really are blessed, as Muslims we should be at the forefront of the

inter-faith movement in all places because in the Quran is speaks of the Jews, and

speaks of the Christians, and even speaks of other faiths . . . Interfaith is natural to

us as Muslims really . . . all the other people are connected as well, not only by

[that] we believe in the previous scriptures, the Gospels and the Torah, but really

38 Q. 29:2022.




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it calls those that submit to the Prophet Moses, submit to the Christ, Jesus, and

those that submit to the leadership of the other Prophets. He [God] calls those

people Muslims, following or surrendering themselves to the will of God. See,

Muslim is really not this narrow term. God said he created everyone Muslim.Everyone is surrendering, submitting to the will of God.39

Such an ecumenical posture towards Jews and Christians has long been part of W.D.

Muh ammads larger vision for an authentic Muslim contribution to American society, a

message Imam Plemon readily assimilates into his various engagements both in and

outside the Muslim community. The same set of messages can now be heard in the

sermons, teachings, and public statements made by the new younger leadership of the

community.

It is often also the case that Abrahamic-American discourse is espoused by various

immigrant communities, individuals, and institutions as well. In these settings, the

rhetorical emphasis of the discourse shifts away from religion exclusively and towards

American civic values more generally. Statements equating Islamic ethical principles

with American social and political values are commonplace for example, that the

practice ofshura (consultation) by the Prophet and his companions is essentially similar

to democratic political processes. Such discourse is regularly seen in the official

orientation of leading Muslim American institutions such as the Islamic Society of North

America (ISNA) or the writings of prominent immigrant Imams and scholars such as

Feisal Abdul Rauf and Muqtader Khan.40

One Palestinian community leader from Denvers largest Islamic center, Masjid Abu

Bakr explained,

If you study the Constitution of the United States, if you really study it, and take out

a few words here or there, it is 99% an Islamic constitution. You know, the freedom

of religion . . . this is Islam la ikraha f l-dn [there is no compulsion in religion],

this is Islam. All social programs [social security, welfare] are essentially Islamic.41

Such statements are reflections of a common sentiment amongst a number of Muslims

that find equivalence between Islam and American political ideals. For example, Imam

Feisal Abdul Rauf argues,

Democracy and liberty, in a peculiarly American way, provide a manifestation

of the Abrahmic ethic. Politically, the American creed expresses itself in the

values and rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the

39 The Earth is a Masjid recorded Friday khutba, April 7, 2006.40 See the work of Muqtedar Khan in general, but especially his two main texts, American Muslims:Bridging Faith and Freedom (Amana Publications, 2002); and Islamic Democratic Discourse: Theory,

Debates, and Philosophical Perspectives (Lexington Books, 2006).41Abbas Barzegar, Dominant Themes in Muslim Communities of the United States: A Survey of FiveOrganizations in Denver, Colorado, Masters Thesis, Department of Religion (Boulder: University ofColorado at Boulder, 2004), p. 41.




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Constitution . . . Socially it means an egalitarianism and a concern for vulnerable

members of society . . . Although some see in this American horizontal dimension

of religion a kind of secularized Puritanism . . . we can equally assert that at its core

this expresses the Abrahamic, and equally the Islamic, ethic.

Abdul Rauf then goes on to argue that because of this parity, America can actually be

conceived of as a Shariah compliant state.42 In fact, Imam W.D. Muh ammad also

considered the U.S. Constitution a document compatible with Islamic values.43 Similar

sentiments can be found in the writings of Eboo Patel, Dr. Umar Abdullah, and at times,

Hamza Yusuf.

Other immigrant communities in the Atlanta area that can be seen sharing similar

outlooks are the Istanbul Center for Culture and Dialogue, a center that regularly

promotes the teachings of the Turkish doyen and leading global intellectual figure,

Fethullah Glen. The Shiite Agha Khan Ismaili community also regularly hostsconferences promoting the cultural dialogue and exchange along with formidable

fundraising activities for humanitarian work which is consistent with the general

platform of the Agha Khans much larger global orientation and ecumenical vision. The

Atlanta Branch of the Islamic Speakers Bureau (ISB) under the exemplary leadership of

Somouya Khalifa is another institution where Abrahamic American Muslim discourse can

be regularly encountered.44 In fact, the Istanbul Center, the Ismaili community, members

of Atlantas ISB, and members of W.D. Muh ammads community are regularly seen in

attendance and mutual participation in Atlantas wider inter-faith landscape.

Rehabilitative Social ActivismRehabilitative Social Activism is born out of historical African American Muslim

experiences with Islam, though it is no longer confined to that community exclusively.

It focuses on community building and employing Islam as a social and religious force of

collective empowerment which seeks the holistic betterment of the African American

community in particular, the redressing of socio-historical inequalities, and thereby, the

healing of American society in general. In the words of Sherman Jackson it might be best

described as functionally pragmatic and virulently anti-assimilationist.45

It maintains anever-present and often explicit critique of American society for failing to live up to its

promise of justice and equality. Focusing on the body, family and community as the sites

42 Feisal Abdul Rauf, Whats Right with Islam: A New Vision for Muslims and the West (San Francisco:Harper Collins, 2004), pp. 856.43 Bruce Lawrence, The Quran: A Biography (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006), p. 165: TheConstitution of America is influenced by Quranic teachings . . . The idea of human dignity thatthe Constitution expresses is more in accord with the concept of man in the Qur an than it is with theconcept of man in the Bible.44

For more on the organization see Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta, www.isbatlanta.org, lastaccessed May 21, 2011.45Jackson, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the third resurrection (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2005), p. 157.




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of Islamic empowerment, this discourse emphasizes local grass-roots activism as a

means to better the ummahas a whole while concentrating efforts on local projects. It

seeks to establish and develop local communities, programs and services which may

serve the needs of underserved populations be they Muslim or otherwise. While thisdiscourse has its historical roots in groups like the Moorish Temple Scientists, the Nation

of Islam, and the Dar al-Islam, in the last thirty years, it has been increasingly

incorporated as a dominant mode of understanding by activist immigrant Muslims,

second generation immigrants, and other American ethnic Muslim groups.

The focus on mental and physical health in this type of American Islamic discourse

can be seen perhaps most explicitly in Elijah Muh ammads text, How to Eat to Live. Even

before that, it has been a constant feature of an African-American subculture in the

United States to promote the use of herbal medicines, organic foods, and natural

products as part of a holistic approach to socio-political liberation. In this way, suchdiscourse can be seen as part of a much wider African-American cultural phenomenon.

It is no surprise then that Imam Jamil Al-Amins Community Masjid in the West End

neighborhood of Atlanta, which is a revival of the Dar al-Islam, is just a few blocks from

the centers of Shrine of the Black Madonna and the African Hebrew Israelites of

Jerusalem.

Although the discourse of natural medicine, food consumption consciousness, and

general physical wellness are part of a larger cultural phenomenon of African American

alterity, its performance in community practice is understood as an entirely natural

component of Islam itself. For example, Imam Jamil writes in the chapter Gods Dietin his Revolution by the Book,

In the physical sense, fasting allows you to gain health. It helps you promote

health. Fasting produces a spiritual state which, in turn, generates a mental state,

the proper conduct, the guidance and understanding that leads one to think, act

and eat correctly. . . . When [C. Everett] Koop was Surgeon General [19821989] in

this country, he did a report that may have been his undoing. For the summation

of his report brought out that the greatest cause of disease in this country is

gluttony, is overeating. To repeat, the greatest cause of disease in this country is

gluttony, overeating . . . The Prophet (PBUH) pointed out that the Muslim eats inone intestine; an unbeliever, an atheist, eats in seven.46

On Fridays, after Juma prayers at the West End Community Mosque and the Atlanta

Masjid of Al-Islam, local Muslim farmers sell their organic and naturally grown produce

to mosque attendees or others in the neighborhood.

Psychological health is also part of this Islamic discourse, leading many individuals

and groups towards calibrating Islamic principles in this direction. The current Imam of

the West End community, Nadim Ali, is a licensed and practicing counselor. He

encourages patients to reflect on the spiritual aspects of drug rehabilitation programs by

46 Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Revolution by the Book: The Rap is Live (Beltsville, MD: Writers Inc.-International, 1994), p. 44.




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thinking about Quranic verses or sayings of the Prophet Muh ammad although some

patients may not know that such phrases and principles are actually religious texts. 47

Imam Nadim is but one of many Muslims in the Atlanta area that are professional mental

health workers.48 Sisters United in Human Service Inc., is another Atlanta based Muslimsocial service program.49

Individual psychological well-being is considered a fundamental necessity for the

overall goals of creating a strong Muslim community which depends upon having stable

and successful marriages. It is no surprise then that the Center of Islamic Guidance and

Counseling of Jonesborough, GA announces on the flyer of its Sixth Annual Strength-

ening the Muslim Family Conference, Strong Family Equals Strong Ummah. The 2006

conferences opening morning program, for example, began with Quranic recitation,

followed by panels on, Conflict Management/Counseling and Arbitration, Etiquettes

of Communication, and Community Responsibility in Islam.50

The 2007 First Annual Conference of the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA)

represents a nation-wide manifestation of Rehabilitative Social Activism. It describes

itself as

a national network of masjids, Muslim organizations and individuals committed to

work together to address certain urgent needs within the Muslim community.

These needs include the great social and economic problems that are challenging

Muslim communities especially in the inner city; the need for the involvement of

masjids and Muslims in community service projects which are aimed at improving

society as a whole . . .51

While it is the case that most of the lead organizers of MANA are senior figures in the

African-American Muslim community, it is important to point out that MANA has

integrated cooperation from other prominent Muslim American figures and organiza-

tions from various backgrounds as well. For example, Dr. Altaf Husain, the former

president of the Muslim Student Association National, whose parents are from Hydera-

bad, India is on the executive board of MANA. Earning his Ph.D. from Howard University

in Social Work, his long activist tenure of social service in America Muslim communities

readily integrates his leadership skills in MANA. Likewise, second generationPalestinian-American Rami Nashashibi serves on the MANA Shura Council. Nashashibis

IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network) strives to make activism and the plight of

Americas poor a natural concern of American Muslims.52

47 Steven Barbozo, American Jihad: Islam after Malcom X (New York: Doubleday, 1994), pp. 1834.48 For Nadim S. Ali see: www.nadimali.com. Dr. Sakinah Rashid is another Atlanta area mental health

worker who fuses Islamic discourse with the professional therapeutic practices; see for example herarticle, Muslims seeking help and personal growth available at http://www.mana-net.org/pages.php?ID=activism&ID2=&NUM=216, last accessed on May 21, 2011.49

http://www.sistersunited.org/About.htm, accessed July 29, 2008.50 http://www.islamiccounseling.org/home2.php. accessed July 29, 2008.51 http://www.mana-net.org/subpage.php?ID=about, last accessed July 27, 2011.52 Islamica Magazine, 2007.




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In many ways, the work of IMAN and MANA represent a growing trajectory of

Muslim American activity that transcends ethnic barriers. In this way they are reflective

of a particular interpretation and understanding of Islam. Sherman Jackson notes,

The plight of poor people in America, even poor Muslims in America, has not been

on the radar screen of the immigrant Muslim community. They have been much

more interested in monument-building . . . With Rami, hes trying to reconfigure

our thinking, particularly as Muslims, so that these needs appear more obvious to

us.53

Although such activity is now reaching the new levels of organization and nationwide

coordination, it has long been part of the American Muslim experience and has been a

primary vehicle through which many converts have been attracted to Islam.

Increasing conversion rates among Latinos in the United States in inner cityenvironments are often linked to this phenomenon. Alianza Islamica, a center originally

established in Spanish Harlem over 30 years ago is composed primarily of Puerto Rican

converts and has directed its activities towards social service activities. Similar Latino

Muslim organizations can be found in nearly every major metropolitan center in the

United States. That is not to say however, that all Latino Muslim activity in the United

States can be subsumed under Rehabilitative Social Activist discourse. In fact the

emergent Latino Muslim community is more multifaceted than one might imagine.54

Salaf-SunnSalaf-Sunn discourse emphasizes everyday acts of religious obligation and piety as

interpreted through a close reading of primary Islamic textual materials, namely the

Quran itself and the canonical h adth. The theme concentrates on the moral and ethical

teachings of Islam as embodied in the teachings and actions of the Prophet Muh ammad,

his early companions and their followers, collectively taken as the al-Salaf al-salih , the

pious predecessors. This themes most salient dimension rejects the conventional

madhhab system of Islamic jurisprudence and focuses instead on a direct, literal, and

under-mediated reading of Islamic texts. Another noticeable characteristic of this

discourse is its ardent attempt to remove what is seen as innovation (bida) or deviationfrom the true teachings of the Quran and Sunna from contemporary religious practice.

While the subject of what actually constitutes salafism is the topic of a wide area

of scholarship, in the American context it is best to understand this discourse in

non-institutional terms. Nonetheless, one can still find the intellectual genealogy of such

53 http://living-tradition.blogspot.com/2006/05/activist-muslim-profile-rami.html, accessed July 28,2008.54 For a cursory introduction see Abbas Barzegar, Latino Muslims in the United States: An Introduction

in the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology, vol. 23, no. 2, Fall, 2003; 125130. A morethorough treatment of the subject is now available in Hjamil A. Martinez-Vazquez, Latina/o Y Musulman: The Construction of Latina/o Identity among Latina/o Muslims in the United States

(Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications: 2010).




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Al-Farooq regularly hosts the Al-Maghrib Institute whose innovative programs have

drawn a considerable following around the country particularly amongst the youth.58 In

many ways Al-Maghrib epitomizes Salaf -Sunn discourse in the American contexts. Its

programs travel across the United States and take place over the course of two fullweekends. The modules are designed to be comparable to semester courses which will

eventually be able to provide students with a Bachelors degree. The institute does not

explicitly teach any particular madhhab, however, a review of many of the instructors

biographical information shows a predominant trend towards institutions of learning

located in Saudi Arabia, which would indicate a Wahhab leaning.59

Neo-TraditionalismNeo-Traditionalism is also a conservatively religious mode, but stands in direct

contradistinction to the Salaf-Sunn project in that it seeks to revive participation in the

traditional Islamic sciences inclusive of the madhhabsystem and Sufi institutions of

pedagogy and ritual as a means to improve the condition of the ummahas a whole.

In doing so, it emphasizes acquiring Islamic knowledge in a more formalized manner

such as through reliance upon a particular set of teachers and conventional systems of

knowledge transmission. Embedded in this process is the certification system of the

ijaza, wherein students are authorized to teach particular texts by scholars who have

themselves been authorized by a chain of historical authorities. A clear and recent

example of this renewed emphasis on ijaza can be seen in Hamza Yusuf Hansonsrecent edited translation of the classic theological treatise, al-Aqda al-T ahawiyya.

60

Written by Abu Jafar al-T ah aw al-H anaf (d. 935), the text has long been used by

various Sunni scholars from different intellectual traditions as a primary text in Islamic

theology. The distinct feature of Yusufs edition is the chapter heading, License to

Translate and Transmit (ijaza) written by Shaykh Muh ammad b. Ibrahm al-Yaqub, of

Damascus (b. 1962) who himself provides documented authorization to teach the

text extending back to Imam al-T ah awi himself.61 The discursive practice of ijaza

58 http://www.almaghrib.org/index.php, last accessed May 15, 2011. Little by way of academic workhas been done on al-Maghrib, but one of its founders and most prominent public faces, Dr. Yasir Qadhi,

was featured in a recent New York Times article: Andrea Elliot, Why Yasir Qadhi want to talk aboutJihad in New York Times Magazine, March 17, 2011. Dr. Qadhi holds a M.A. from the Islamic Universityof al-Madinah and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University.59 For example: Founder Shaykh Muh ammad Alshareef, University of al-Madina, Islamic Law 1999; VicePresident, Shaykh Waleed Baysooni, Ph.D. Imam Muh ammad University, studied with Ibn Baz and

Abdul Razzaq al-Afify; Yaser Birjas, University of al-Madinah, student of Shaykh al-Uthaimeen; HakimQuick, University of al-Madinah. For a full list see http://almaghrib.org/instructors, last accessed onMay 21, 2011.60

Hamza Yusuf (ed.), The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi: al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya (Berkeley: ZaytunaInstitute: 2008).61 For more on Shaykh Muh ammad al-Yaqub see www.sacredknowledge.co.uk, last accessed May 23,2011. Sacred Knowledge is a UK based organization that translates Islamic pedagogical materials and




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transmission is one of most distinct features of neo-traditionalist discourse in the United

States. Moreover, it is one of the many conduits through which American Muslim

pedagogical practices are linked to transnational centers of teaching.

A tremendous focus is placed in neo-traditionalism on the presumed grandeur ofmedieval Islamic civilization and the repute of medieval scholars. In fact, the former and

latter are presumed to be mutually exclusive; that is, the historical accomplishments of

Islamic Civilization be they in Timbuktu, Grenada, Baghdad, or Istanbul are

assumed to be the by-product of the inextricable relationship between the classic

religious sciences, pious devotion, and cultural achievement. As such, the contemporary

heirs to the medieval Islamic pedagogical tradition are seen as embodying an aura of that

grandeur.

Wedded to the classical institutions and traditions of the pre-modern Islamic world,

it is not surprising to find neo-traditionalist discourses accompany various Sufi practices,which is one of the primary causes for schisms between it and Salaf -Sunn discourse. In

terms of pedagogical structure, neo-traditionalist discourse will often accompany the

tarqa system of classic Sufism, inclusive of the shaykh/disciple relationship, which is

often concretized by an oath of allegiance (baya). Even when such formal institutions

are not explicitly made part of neo-traditionalist practices, curriculum, or events, a

clear aura of heightened reverence is afforded to religious leaders. Ritualistically,

neo-traditionalist discourse will often incorporate practices from the classic tasawwuf

traditions such as group dhikrand recitation ofnashds.

Like the Salaf-Sunn movement, this theme concentrates more upon personal andcollective piety than on local or international politics. Hamza Yusuf Hanson and Zaid

Shakirs Zaytuna Institute is one of the best examples of an institution that deploys

neo-traditionalist rhetoric (although Zaytuna has increasingly become an outlet for

Abrahamic American sentiments as well). The Dar al-Islam Center in Abique, New

Mexico, is an even older institute where such discourses prevailed.

One of the common ways in which neo-traditionalism has taken root in the United

States is through Deen Intensives, which are designed to immerse students in the

traditional study of Islam for short durations of time. The more elaborate deen intensives,

often also called rih la, function as coordinated travel retreats either in international ordomestic locations. The Deen Intensive Foundation for example sponsors summer and

winter Deen intensives. The organizations website proclaims:

The sound and systematic transmission of the knowledge that was embodied by the

Islamic civilization remains one of humanitys greatest achievements. It was

through a rigorous process of transmission and scholarship that Islam was able to

inspire generations of people to produce creative and beautiful societieswhere

learning and faith were celebrated and lived. . . . Our programs seek to connect

hosts regular events for teaching and worship, which was founded under the guidance of Shayhal-Yaqub.




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participants to the rich intellectual heritage that we have inherited from our

scholars. Following the educational model outlined by our Noble Messenger.62

Their summer program takes place in Mecca and Medina and is taught by world-

renowned scholars such as Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir, Abd al-Hakim Murad, and

university professor of religion at the University of Georgia, Abdel Hadi Honerkamp.

There has been a proliferation of educational institutions both on-line and housed in

physical campuses that materialize neo-traditionalist discourse in their pedagogical

forums. In Atlanta, the Risala Institute, often hosts courses on theology, law, and classic

Arabic taught by instructors with documented ijazas.

Comparable programs that take place in various locations around the world are

sponsored by the al-Madinah Institute of Baltimore. One of al-Madinas leading scholars

is Shaykh Muh

ammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy, who until the fall of 2010 was a resident and

local Imam in Atlanta. While he was in Atlanta, Shaykh Ninowy emerged as one the

premier resources in Atlanta for students seeking training in the traditional Islamic

methods of knowledge transmission. He led regular study circles for interested students

and covered the major areas of the Islamic sciences, including theology, law, h ad th, and

tasawwuf. Other study circles affiliated with traditional scholars and Sufi tarqas exist

throughout the city and often meet in private homes or through internet forums.

Progressive Reformism

The Progressive Reformist theme is perhaps the most diverse of all of the themes andmost difficult to delimit. In distinction to a revival of conventional Islamic sciences or a

simple return to foundational texts, which both might be considered as acts of reform,

progressive reformism calls into question not only the conventional interpretation of

primary texts but the epistemological context in which those interpretations took place

as well. It thereby calls for a radical reformulation of Islamic practice and belief based

upon a rigorous reengagement with the primary sources themselves. Secular-humanist,

environmentalist, feminist, post-colonial and post-modernist intellectual traditions are

braided within the discourse of progressive reformism.

More prominent examples of this type of discourse are likely familiar to students ofmodern Islamic history. The Sudani reformer, Mah mud Muh ammad T ahas call for an

inversion of the principle of Quranic abrogation (naskh) whereby Medinan verses

would be overruled by Meccan revelations is one such example of the radical approach

to reform taken by progressive reformists.63

A distinguishing characteristic of such discourse is its alienation from conventional

structures, networks, and institutions in the American Muslim community. That is, such

discourse is typically generated and maintained not in mosques, Islamic centers, or

conventional Muslim American organizations, but in recently formed community

62 http://www.deen-intensive.com/about.htm, accessed July 29, 2008. Emphasis mine.63 Mahmud Mohamad Taha, The Second Message of Islam translated by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim(New York: Syracuse University Press, 1987).




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organizations, non-profits, advocacy groups, and cyberspace networks. A not so

unpredictable development over the last forty years has been that the strongest

institutional centers of progressive reformism have been housed and nurtured in North

American and European universities.Although this discourse has received tremendous attention in recent years largely

due to the public politicization of Islamic discourse, its efforts stem from decades of work

of Muslim reformers throughout the Islamic world. At the core of the movement is the

belief that Muslims should be able to read Islamic texts individually, unbound by

conventional interpretations of the traditions authoritative figures, and that individuals

have the authority to transform the tradition to meet the various demands of its

constituents.

Gender equality and sexual ethics are common features of the theme. The 2005

mixed gender Friday prayer led by the American Muslim scholar, Dr. Amina Wadudbrought such discourse into international headlines. Saleema Abdul Ghafur, also a senior

sponsor and organizer of the women-led prayer movement is a resident and activist in

the Atlanta area. She recently toured the city promoting her edited volume Living Islam

Outloud: American Muslim Women Speak Out, which is a provocative discussion of

issues of gender and sexuality in Islam.

Progressive Reformist discourse is not exclusively related to gender however. It

involves a critical debate about the boundaries of Islamic hermeneutics and authority.

One of the most senior figures of this international movement is Abdullahi Ahmed

An-Naim, student of Mah mud T aha (featured above) and current professor at Emory LawSchool.64An-Naim presides over a number of projects that involve scholars and activists

from around the world.

An-Naim also helped sponsor the Muslim Heretics Conference in Atlanta in March

2008. In many ways the conference functioned as a reunion for many former affiliates of

the movement started by the Egyptian Sufi reformist Rashad Khalfa, who claimed that

the Quran contained a divine signature in the form of a mathematic code based on the

number nineteen. His reformist teachings, which were decidedly radical in terms of

conventional hermeneutics, are believed to have led to his assassination by members of

another American Muslim organization, Jamaat al-Fuqra.65 Amina Wadud and IrshadManji were also featured speakers and attendees along with An-Naim at the conference.

64 For the purposes of disclosure, I worked closely with Dr.An-Naim while a graduate student at EmorysGraduate Division of Religion and especially so towards the production of his Islam and the SecularState (Harvard, 2009).65 For background on the assassination of Khalifa see Yvonne Haddad and Jane Smiths account inMission to America: Five Islamic Sectarian Communities (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida:

1993), pp. 137168. Major developments in the prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of crimehave been made in recent years; most recently Glen Cusford Francis, a former student of Khalifas, whohad been living in hiding in Calgary, Canada lost his appeal on May 12, 2011 not to be extradited to theUnited States.




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The Muslim Heretics conference is one of many examples in which various strands of

Progressive Reformist discourse can be seen to merge with one another.

Homeland HomesickThe last theme, homeland homesick, is meant not as a specific discourse but as a

loose label to describe the innumerable Muslim communities around the United States

that serve primarily as cultural enclaves of specific ethnic immigrant communities. In

these centers one often finds a community that aims to replicate as much as possible the

traditions and habits as experienced in the country of origin. It is often the case that

religious instruction and community programming in such centers takes place in a

homeland language and that language instruction for children is typically a top priority

for the group. These communities are often isolated from the dynamics of the largerMuslim American community in terms of local coalition building or national organiza-

tion. Careful attention to the dynamics of these localized communities, especially as they

cater to their growing youth populations that is when questions about Islamic and

American identity often intensify yields considerable insight into the intra-community

politics of American Muslim discourse.

In the Atlanta area it is interesting to note that most Shiite communities of all brands

exemplify this description. For example, Iranian, Pakistani, and Indian Twelver Shiiite

communities all have different centers, though they may be in relative proximity to one

another. This may be due in part to the more ritualistic nature of Twelver Shiite religiouspractices that involve the recitation of prayers in local languages. Although the

leadership and public face of the community is Abrahamic American, Ismaili commu-

nities, nonetheless, display such tendencies practices in their internal dynamics, that is,

as much as one can discern given that access to ritual spaces is prohibited for

non-Ismailis. Atlantas large refugee population of Muslims from Bosnia and East Africa

also readily conform to this type of community formation.

Conclusion: Narrative and Normativity after 9/11At the time of writing this essay, the field of Islamic studies was undergoing a series

of critical reflections in a number of different venues. In 2010, the American Academy of

Religions Study of Islam section hosted a special pre-conference workshop entitled,

Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism, which coincided with

the release of Richard Martin and Carl Ernsts edited volume with the same title. 66 Both

the volume and the workshop asked scholars to critically reflect upon the methodologi-

cal and conceptual parameters associated with the contemporary study of Islam. In the

same year, Richard Martins article Islamic Studies in the American Academy: A Personal

Reflection in the Journal of the American Academy of Religionoffered a unique insight

66 Richard Martin and Carl Ernst (eds.), Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitan-ism (University of South Carolina Press, 2010).




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into the major personalities that helped shape the tone and scope of Islamic studies in

the United States.67 Then in 2011, Method and Theory in the Study of Religionpublished

a special edition on the study of Islam, which also tackled the subject of the conceptual

parameters of the field through an engagement with an accusatory intervention made byAaron Hughes and a rejoinder by Richard Martin.68

A central theme in each of these publications and public forums was the question of

normativity; specifically, the issue of intellectual and political proximity between

scholars of Islam and Muslim communities themselves. For example, has the overt

politicization of Islam in American society to

Discourse, Identity, And Community - Abbas Barzegar

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