The 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11 inevitably puts a spotlight on Islam and in particular on the growing Muslim community in the United States. That spotlight reveals both ongoing problems as well as significant progress, and ReligionLink provides a roundup of resources for covering these topics.
News that U.S. troops have killed Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, is a stunning development that is bound to spark a range of reactions — jubilation for many, anger for others, and for some believers, a debate over whether this was the moral and ethical course of action.
Popular protests continue to roil the Middle East, spreading from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain and Libya and elsewhere. Speculation is rife about what could come next, but also about the role Islam could play in reconfigured Arab countries — and what role religion is playing in sparking the current revolts.
Anxieties over Muslims in America have emerged in a spate of hate crimes as well as in high-profile controversies like the one over the construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero. Now some politicians and activists say Islam’s legal code, known as shariah, is another threat to the United States that must be countered.
The crisis over the Israeli boarding of a ship filled with activists trying to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip is continuing, and the conflict has serious ramifications for religious groups in the Middle East and in the United States.
Muslims in America today find themselves at the crossroads of many contentious issues — political, religious and cultural. So it is not surprising that controversies have again put Islam in the headlines, from a dispute over the show South Park to the cancellation of Franklin Graham’s appearance at a Pentagon prayer event.
The anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, always casts in sharp relief America’s relationship with the Muslim world, and the role of the growing Islamic community in the United States — issues that are covered in a new Pew survey and in a number of ReligionLink guides and resources, as shown below.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on or about Aug. 22, and the fasting and abstaining and feasting that accompany the observance are among the most prominent markers of North America’s growing Muslim population. But few may realize how diverse the Muslim community is.
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