This study seeks to begin the process of articulating a new understanding of conceptualizing Islam in North America. Unlike previous studies that examine North American Islam from the perspectives of sociology or history, what follows attempts to use certain questions formulated by the anthropology of religion. This calls for examining the complexity and messiness of Islams, especially as they relate to equally unstable factors such as culture and society. From there, this study focusses on the relationship of various Islams to multivalent North American urban spaces, showing how such spaces affect Muslim understandings of gender, sexuality and religion.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, Charles J.1967 "The history of religions and the study of Islam ." In J. M. Kitagawa (ed.), The History of Religions: Essays on the Problem of Understanding, 177-93. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2.
Abu Laban, Baha1983 "The Canadian Muslim community: The need for a new survival strategy." In Earle H. Waugh, Baha Abu-Laban and Regula B. Qureshi (eds.), The Muslim Community in North America, 75-92. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
3.
Aswad, Barbara C. and Barbara Bilgé, eds. 1996Family and Gender among American Muslims: Issues Facing Middle Eastern Immigrants and Their Descendents . Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
4.
Azmi, Shaheen1997 " Perceptions of the welfare response to wife abuse in the Muslim community of metropolitan Toronto." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Toronto.
5.
1998 "Canadian social service provision and the Muslim community in metropolitan Toronto." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs17, 1: 153-66.
6.
Bagby, Ihsan, Paul M. Perl and Bryan T. Froehle2001The Mosque in America: A National Portrait. Washington: Council on American-Islamic Relations.
7.
Barazangi, Nimat Hafez1991 "Islamic education in the United States and Canada: Conception and practice of the Islamic belief system." In Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (ed.), The Muslims of America, 157-74 . New York: Oxford University Press .
8.
Berger, Adriana1994 "Mircea Eliade: Romanian fascism and the history of religions in the United States." In Nancy A. Harrowitz (ed.), Tainted Greatness: Antisemitism and Cultural Heroes, 51-74. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
9.
Berns McGown, Rima1999Muslims in the Diaspora: The Somali Communities of London and Toronto. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
10.
Brown, Karen McCarthy1991Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press .
11.
Clifford, James and George E. Marcus1986Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography . Berkeley: University of California Press.
12.
Denny, Frederick Mathewson1994 "Islamic theology in the new world: Some issues and prospects ." Journal of the American Academy of Religion62, 4: 1069-84.
13.
Eck, Diana L.2001A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperCollins.
14.
Eliade, Mircea1954Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return . Translated by Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row.
15.
1958Patterns in Comparative Religion. Translated by Rosemary Sheed . New York: Meridian.
16.
1959The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Translated by Willard R. Trask. New York: Harvest/HBJ.
17.
Geertz, Clifford1973The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
18.
GhaneaBassiri, Kambiz1997Competing Visions of Islam in the United States: A Study of Los Angeles. West-port, CT: Greenwood Press.
19.
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck1991 "American foreign policy in the Middle East and its impact on the identity of Arab Muslims in the United States." In Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (ed.), The Muslims of America, 217-35. New York: Oxford University Press.
20.
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and John L. Espositio, eds. 1998Muslims on the Americanization Path?Atlanta: Scholars Press.
21.
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and Richard Lummis, eds. 1987Islamic Values in the United States: A Comparative Study. New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and Jane Idelman Smith1994Muslim Communities in North America. Albany: State University of New York Press.
23.
Hamdani, Daood Hassan1999 "Canadian Muslims on the eve of the twenty-first century ."Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs19, 2: 197-209.
24.
Hasan, Asma Gull2000American Muslims: The New Generation. New York: Continuum.
25.
Hermansen, Marcia2000 "Hybrid identity formation in Muslim America: The case of American Sufi movements." The Muslim World90, 1-2: 158-97.
26.
Hussain, Amir2001 "The Canadian face of Islam: Muslim communities in Toronto ." PhD dissertation, University of Toronto .
27.
Kaufman, David1999Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue "Center" in American Jewish History. Hanover: University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press.
28.
Kugle, Scott Siraj al-Haqq2003 "Sexuality, diversity and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims." In Omid Safi (ed.), Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, 190-234. Oxford: Oneworld.
29.
Lovell, Emily Kalled1983 "Islam in the United States: Past and present." In Earle H. Waugh, Baha Abu-Laban and Regula B. Qureshi (eds.), The Muslim Community in North America, 93-110. Edmonton : University of Alberta Press.
30.
Metcalf, Barbara Daly, ed. 1996Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe. Berkeley : University of California Press.
31.
Müller, F. Max.1899Introduction to the Science of Religion. London: Longmans, Green.
32.
Murray, Stephen O. and Will Roscoe, eds. 1997Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature. New York: New York University Press.
33.
Nimer, Mohamed2002 "Muslims in American public life." In Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (ed.), Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens, 169-86. New York: Oxford University Press.
34.
Nyang, Sulayman1999Islam in the United States of America. Chicago: ABC International Group.
35.
Orsi, Robert A.1996Thank You, Saint Jude: Women's Devotion to the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes. New Haven: Yale University Press.
36.
1999 "Introduction: Crossing the city line." In Robert A. Orsi (ed.), Gods of the City: Religion and the American Urban Landscape, 1-78. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
37.
Rowson, Everett and J. W. Wright, eds. 1997Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
38.
Rushdie, Salman1991Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991. London : Granta Books.
39.
Safi, Omid, ed. 2003Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism. Oxford: Oneworld.
40.
Smith, Jane I.1999Islam in America. New York: Columbia University Press.
41.
Smith, Jonathan Z.1978Map is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
42.
Velcamp, Theresa Alfaro2002 "Muslims in American public life." In Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (ed.), Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens, 278-92. New York: Oxford University Press.
43.
Walbridge, Linda S.1997Without Forgetting the Imam: Lebanese Shi'ism in an American Community. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
44.
Waugh, Earle H.,Sharon McIrvin Abu-Laban and Regula Burckhardt Qureishi , eds. 1991Muslim Families in North America . Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
45.
Waugh, Earle H.1994 "Reducing the distance: A Muslim congregation in the Canadian north." In James P. Wind and James W. Lewis (eds.), American Congregations, 572-611. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
46.
1998 "Beyond Scylla and Kharybdis: Fazlur Rahman and Islamic identity ." In Earle H. Waugh and Frederick M. Denny (eds.), The Shaping of an American Islamic Discourse: A Memorial to Fazlur Rahman, 15-36. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
47.
Wolfe, Michael2002Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith . Emmaus, PA: Rodale.
48.
Wormser, Richard2002American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in America. New York: Walker.
49.
Yousif, Ahmad F.1992 "The maintenance of Islamic identity formation in Canadian society: Religious observances, psychosocial influences and institutional completeness of the Muslim community in the Canadian national capital region ." PhD dissertation, University of Ottawa.
50.
1993Muslims in Canada: A Question of Identity. Ottawa: Legas.
