Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity TodayThe treatment and role of women are among the most discussed and controversial aspects of Islam. The rights of Muslim women have become part of the Western political agenda, often perpetuating a stereotype of universal oppression. Muslim women living in America continue to be marginalized and misunderstood since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Yet their contributions are changing the face of Islam as it is seen both within Muslim communities in the West and by non-Muslims. In their public and private lives, Muslim women are actively negotiating what it means to be a woman and a Muslim in an American context. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Jane I. Smith, and Kathleen M. Moore offer a much-needed survey of the situation of Muslim American women, focusing on how Muslim views about and experiences of gender are changing in the Western diaspora. Centering on Muslims in America, the book investigates Muslim attempts to form a new "American" Islam. Such specific issues as dress, marriage, childrearing, conversion, and workplace discrimination are addressed. The authors also look at the ways in which American Muslim women have tried to create new paradigms of Islamic womanhood and are reinterpreting the traditions apart from the males who control the mosque institutions. A final chapter asks whether 9/11 will prove to have been a watershed moment for Muslim women in America. This groundbreaking work presents the diversity of Muslim American women and demonstrates the complexity of the issues. Impeccably researched and accessible, it broadens our understanding of Islam in the West and encourages further exploration into how Muslim women are shaping the future of American Islam. |
Contents
| 3 | |
2 Persistent Stereotypes | 21 |
3 Embracing Islam | 41 |
4 Practices of the Faith | 61 |
5 Gender and Family | 81 |
6 Muslim Women in the Crucible | 101 |
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activities affirm African American American Islam American Muslim women American society Amina Wadud argue Azizah believe century choose Christian concerns conservative context court cultural daughter discourse divorce efforts ethnic example faith female feminism feminist gender girls harassment headscarf hijab husband identity images imams immigrant important insist Internet interpretation Islamic centers Islamic dress Islamic feminism Islamic law Islamic marriage contract Islamic schools Islamic Society ISNA issues Kaukab leadership mahr mahr provision male marry missionaries mosque Muhammad Muslim community Muslim families Muslim Student Nation of Islam non-Muslim North America oppression organizations parents participation patriarchal political practice prayer Press Prophet Qur'an Ramadan religion religious responsibilities role says scholars secular serve sexual shahadah Shi'ite sisters social stereotypes Sufi Sufism tajwid Taliban traditional understanding United University veil Wadud wear West Western wife wives woman women in Islam workplace young Muslim
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Page 2 - I'm Laura Bush and I am delivering this week's radio address to kick off a worldwide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and the regime it supports in Afghanistan, the Taliban...