Mapping Muslim assimilation: Islam’s growing social infrastructure

Posted on March 26th, 2009

Archived in Doctrine & practice, Health care, Immigration, International, Islam, Social issues

Mosques

The number of U.S. mosques, or masjids, is increasing, and attendance is growing at many of them. From 1990 to 2000, the number of mosques grew by 42 percent, and from 1995 to 2000, 60 percent of mosques experienced at least a 10 percent rise in attendance, according to a Faith Communities Today study. In 2001, another study found, there were 1,209 mosques in the U.S. While mosques had been built in larger cities with significant Muslim populations, there are now more mosques spread across different areas of the country and more cities with multiple mosques.

The Pluralism Project posts a map of the number of mosques by state in 2004.
Salat-o-matic allows users to search by state and city for mosques and schools in the United States and around the world. It provides descriptions of mosques and contact information.
The Islamic Finder allows users to search for mosques by ZIP code or city.

Social Services (General)

Aneesah Nadir is president of the Islamic Social Services Association, based in Tempe, Ariz. It has provided networking and resources for Muslim social service agencies since 1999 by promoting awareness of available services, increasing awareness of the need for culturally sensitive Muslim services among both Muslim and non-Muslim social service providers and providing professional training for social service agencies. Contact 1-888-415-9920.

Aamir A. Rehman, a research associate at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, is the author of the study Enhancing Board Performance in the Islamic Non-Profit Sector, in which he studied the roles of nonprofit board members and made recommendations for improvement. Contact aamir.rehman@rehmaninstitute.com.

A directory of Islam experts is posted by the Minaret of Freedom Institute, the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America and the International Institute of Islamic Thought in the areas of business, economic development, education, human rights, gender studies and more.

The Center for Global Understanding posts a searchable list of scholars with expertise on Muslims and Islam.

See an Oct. 17, 2006, IslamOnline.net story about Muslims’ annual Humanitarian Day, in which Muslims give homeless people food and services in cities across the country.

Education

The number of Islamic schools has grown from 50 in 1987 to 240 today, according to the Islamic Schools League of America. But it is estimated that only about 3 percent of Muslim children in the U.S. attend an Islamic school, so Muslims are working to increase the number and quality of Islamic schools as well as doing outreach to public schools, providing educational materials and teacher training in an effort to give a fuller and more accurate portrait of Muslims and Islam.

Major issues in Islamic education include:

Fund raising. Many Islamic schools struggle to raise money. Tight budgets mean many schools can’t offer courses in all subject areas, and it’s estimated that only half of teachers are certified by state education boards. About a fifth of Islamic schools are associated with a mosque; as they mature, they often become independent.
Quality of education. Muslim organizations and leaders are focused on provided more and better training for teachers and administrators.
Curriculum. Muslims debate whether Islamic schools should create their own curricula only for Arabic, the Quran and Islamic history, or whether they need their own curricula for all subject areas.
Community service. Islamic schools emphasize the need for students to contribute to their community.

ISLAMIC SCHOOLS

The Islamic Schools League of America is a national organization that provides resources and networking to help Islamic schools improve the quality of education they provide. It’s based in Falls Church, Va. Its search engine allows users to look for schools by state. Contact director of education and co-founder Karen Keyworth, 517-303-3905, kkeyworth@4islamicschools.org.

The Muslim American Society’s Council of Islamic Schools provides resources and training for full- and part-time Islamic schools. It hopes to create an Islamic School System in North America. It’s based in Falls Church, Va. Contact 703-998-6525.

The Islamic Society of North America in Plainfield, Ind., sponsors an annual Education Forum conference. A PDF booklet includes more than a dozen speakers’ presentations on such topics as teacher quality, gifted students, curriculum and more, as well as bios of each speaker. ISNA can connect journalists with sources around the country in education. Contact 317-839-8157.

IQRA is the leading U.S. publisher of textbooks and materials for Islamic Sunday schools. It’s based in Chicago and has an educational foundation in Skokie. Contact 773-274-2665, or the foundation at 847-673-4072.

The Islamic Foundation of North America creates curricula for the study of Islam and Arab- and Muslim-themed literature in parochial schools, weekend classes and for homeschoolers. Contact islamictextbooks@aol.com.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Munir A. Shaikh is executive director of the Council on Islamic Education, a national nonprofit based in Fountain Valley, Calif. It works to strengthen public school education in America and includes Muslim scholars in a variety of disciplines. Contact 714-839-2929.

The Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University offers free workshops for educators about teaching about religion, Islam and the world. They are led by Susan Douglass, an educational consultant at the center. Contact 703-442-0638, SusanD@CMCUworkshops.net.

Audrey Shabbas is founder of Arab World and Islamic Resources, which provides educational resources about Islam and the Arab world for students from elementary to high school. She leads workshops for teachers around the country. AWAIR is based in Abiquiu, N.M. Contact 510-704-0517, awair@igc.org.

The Institute of Islamic Information and Education, based in Chicago, works to provide accurate information about Islam in America. It reviews school textbooks to identify misleading or inaccurate information. Contact 773-777-7443.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, Calif., is the first Muslim seminary in the United States. It is run by two influential American clerics who received classical training abroad and who have large followings here, particularly among young American Muslims. A 2006 New York Times article credited the scholars, Sheik Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir, with countering the influence of conservative Wahhabism that has been spread in the United States by clerics trained in Saudi Arabia. Contact 510-582-1979.

Read a May 18, 2009, Associated Press article (posted by USA Today) about plans by the Zaytuna founders to open a Muslim university named Zaytuna College.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

The Muslim Students Association is a national organization that represents Muslim students in American colleges and universities. Its Web site lists chapters around the country. Contact national president Suhail Dar, president@msa-national.org.

INDIVIDUALS

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is professor of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is co-editor of Educating the Muslims of America (2009). Her scholarly interests include Muslims in the West, Islamic revolutionary movements, 20th-century Islam and the intellectual, social and political history of the Arab world. Contact 202-687-2575, haddady@georgetown.edu.

Jane I. Smith is co-editor of Educating the Muslims of America (2009) and author of Islam in America. She is a senior lecturer and associate dean for faculty and academic affairs at Harvard Divinity School. Her specialties include women in Islam and Muslim-Christian relations. Contact through assistant Matthew Turner, 617-496-2034.

Farid Senzai is a fellow and director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, which researches the Muslim community in the United States. A co-editor of Educating the Muslims of America (2009), he helped organized a 2006 conference on Islamic education in the United States; see the report. He is also an assistant professor of political science at Santa Clara University. Contact 408-551-6097, fsenzai@ispu.org.

Louis Francis Cristillo is research assistant professor of education at Columbia University. He was the principal investigator on a three-year study of the experiences of Muslim teenagers in New York City public schools; see an article. Contact 212-678-6623, lfc12@columbia.edu.

ARTICLES

See a March 26, 2008, New York Times story about the growth of homeschooling among Muslims.

Health care

Muslims have started dozens of health clinics in the last decade, most of them free or low-cost. Many begin by offering culturally and religiously sensitive services to Muslims and then expand to offer services to anyone in need. There are a large number of Muslim physicians and health professionals in America – see the list of organizations below – and many volunteer their time at Muslim clinics or do outreach to non-Muslim health providers to sensitize them to Muslims’ special needs.

ORGANIZATIONS

The Association of Muslim Health Professionals aims to be a leader in improving public health through efforts inspired by the Islamic tradition. Begun in 2004, its activities include networking, education and outreach. It posts a linked list of Muslim free clinics. Contact president Faisal Qazi, fqazi@amhp.us.

The Islamic Family and Social Services Association works to meet the physical and emotional needs of the Muslim community. A nonprofit charity, it provides emergency assistance, culturally sensitive counseling, refugee assistance and family programs. It’s based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Contact 780-430-9220.

The Islamic Medical Association of North America works with Muslim physicians and other health-care professionals to promote awareness of Islamic medical ethics and values among Muslims and among the wider health-care community to provide humanitarian and medical relief and advocacy on behalf of Muslims. Contact 630-932-0000.

Muslim Mental Health Inc. provides culturally appropriate education and outreach to the Muslim community and health providers. Contact president Wahiba Abu-Ras, an assistant professor at Adelphi University in the school of social work, at waburas@muslimmentalhealth.com.

The Nathan Kline Institute posts guidelines for Muslim mental health services. It’s in Orangeburg, N.Y. Contact director Carole Siegel, 845-398-5489.

See Regional Sources for listings of individual health clinics.

INDIVIDUALS

Lance D. Laird and Wendy Cadge, fellows at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, are authors of the 2008 study “Caring for Our Neighbors: How Muslim Community-Based Health Organizations are Bridging the Health Care Gap in America,” the first report to document the development and growth of Muslim health-care organizations in the U.S. They found that most Muslim health clinics offer free or low-cost services to anyone in need, regardless of whether they are Muslim or not. Contact Laird through the Boston Healing Landscape Project of Boston University’s School of Medicine, 617-414-5465. Cadge is an assistant sociology professor at Brandeis University; contact 781-736-2630, wcadge@brandeis.edu.

Abdul Basit, a clinical psychologist, is assistant professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University in Chicago. A former Fulbright Scholar, he is editor in chief of the Journal of Muslim Mental Health and a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council. Contact 708-720-2239 or 708-767-3452, Abasit97@aol.com.

Dr. Hamada Hamid is a clinical fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Health and a resident in the combined neurology and psychiatry program at New York University. He launched the Journal of Muslim Mental Health to encourage scholarship and discussion of stress and mental health issues particular to Muslims in the U.S. as well as in the global community. The editorial board lists experts around the country. Hamid also started a culturally sensitive mental health service in New York City. Contact hamadahamid@gmail.com.

ARTICLES

Read an April 25, 2008, Arab American News article about Muslim health clinics.

Read a Nov. 3, 2007, Los Angeles Times story about a Muslim health clinic.

Read a Sept. 3, 2007, Fort Worth Business Press story about a Muslim health clinic.

Finance

Islamic finance has grown into a $500 billion industry, according to a 2009 symposium. In America, several Islamic banks and Islamic mortgage companies have been started, and many banks and law firms offer services aimed at Muslims, usually with a board of religious advisers who certify that their work complies with Islamic law. There are dozens of Islamic mutual funds, as well as a Dow Jones Islamic Index – made up of companies that do not invest in Islamically prohibited products such as alcohol, pork or pornography.

The increasing availability of Islamic financial products has allowed many U.S. Muslims to buy homes and cars for the first time; shariah, Islam’s law, bans Muslims from paying or receiving interest. However, there is much debate over what exactly Muslims in Western society need to do to comply with shariah. Some argue that some Muslim mortgages and investments overcharge clients eager to comply with Islamic law.

ORGANIZATIONS

The Arab Bankers Association of North America is a professional organization with members from the financial service industry in the U.S. and in the Arab world. Contact chief operating officer and executive director Mark A. Brady, 212-599-3030, mbrady@arabbankers.org.

INDIVIDUALS

Isam Salah heads Islamic finance and investment at the New York law firm King & Spalding. He has specialized for 15 years in the structuring of shariah-compliant finance and investment transactions. Contact 212-556-2140.

Ibrahim Warde teaches Islamic banking and finance at Tufts University in Boston. He spoke at a 2009 conference on Islamic finance and financial resilience during economic crisis. Contact him at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, 617-627-3700, iwarde@aol.com.

Khaled Abou El Fadl is an internationally recognized law professor and the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He teaches Islamic law, Middle Eastern investment law, immigration law and courses related to human rights and terrorism. Contact 310-206-5401, abouelfa@law.ucla.edu.

Sarah Bell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York addressed challenges Islamic banks face in adapting to the U.S. framework and how regulators are addressing those challenges at the 2009 Islamic Finance Symposium. Contact through the public affairs department, 212-720-6130.

Liaquat Ali Khan is a law professor at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. He has written for The American Muslim about Islamic perspectives on the economic meltdown. Contact 785-670-1671, ali.khan@washburn.edu.

Mahmoud Amin El-Gamal is chair of the economics department and chair of Islamic economics, finance and management at Rice University. Contact 713-348-6301, elgamal@rice.edu.

ARTICLES

Read an April 22, 2009, Houston Chronicle story about Muslim home mortgages.

Read a March 28, 2008, USA Today article on Islamic loans becoming a profitable business for U.S. banks.

Read “Islamic finance in the United States: A small but growing industry,” published in the May 1, 2005, Chicago Fed Letter and posted by allbusiness.com.

Charities

One of the five pillars of Islam requires Muslims to give to the needy, so Muslim charities play an important role in U.S. Muslim life. That role has become increasingly complicated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A 2004 congressional investigation of two dozen Muslim charities suspected of having links to terrorists is ongoing. And in 2009, five leaders of the Holy Land Foundation, which was once the largest Muslim charity in America, were sentenced to prison for funneling money to Hamas, which the U.S. Justice Department has designated a terrorist organization.

Muslims are necessarily wary about which organizations to give money to because of the investigations. And Muslim charities are working to find ways to finance programs for poor and vulnerable people overseas and in the U.S. in ways that don’t draw government scrutiny. In 2008, Muslim Advocates began offering a voluntary accreditation program for Muslim charities that included workshops around the country to train charity leaders in transparent business practices.

Many Muslim social services – health clinics, food banks, domestic violence programs – operate as nonprofits, and many Muslim organizations have begun charities to fund educational or outreach activities for both Muslims and non-Muslims.

ORGANIZATIONS

Helping Hand USA is an Islamic global humanitarian relief and development organization that focuses on Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Kenya and Iraq. Its American office is in Detroit. Contact 313-279-5378.

The Islamic-American Zakat Foundation provides assistance for food, shelter, clothing and transportation for poor and needy Muslims in the United States. It is based in Bethesda, Md. Contact zakat@iazf.org.

Islamic Relief USA is a California-based international Islamic nonprofit agency founded in 1984. It operates projects in education and training, water and sanitation, income generation, orphan support, health and nutrition, and emergency relief in foreign countries and in the U.S. It has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. Contact 714-676-1300.

INDIVIDUALS

Akil Vohra is counsel for the Muslim Charity Works Campaign of Muslim Advocates and has expertise about a variety of Muslim nonprofits. See an Aug. 13, 2008, NonProfit Times article about Muslim Advocates teaming with the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance to offer a voluntary accreditation program to Muslim charities. Muslim Advocates’ mission is to promote equality, liberty and justice for all by providing leadership through legal advocacy, policy engagement, and civic education, and by serving as a legal resource to promote the full participation of Muslims in American public life. Contact 415-692-1484, akil@muslimadvocates.org.

Civil rights

Muslim civil rights became a headline-making issue after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Most of the major national Muslim organizations in the United States speak out about civil rights; some organizations specialize in civil rights.

See a June 29, 2009, ReligionLink issue, Muslims and civil rights: A continuing debate. It lists major organizations as well as scholars who specialize in civil rights.

Women’s organizations

Women’s organizations are an important part of the social infrastructure of any large community. Muslim women’s groups often focus on charitable activities and educational outreach to their communities, but experts are seeing more groups take on Muslim women’s rights, domestic violence, human rights and political issues.

A 2005 ReligionLink edition gathered information and contacts for Muslim women’s groups around the country as well as national sources who can talk about their development and activities.

Domestic violence

Muslim women, health providers and some clerics are becoming more outspoken about domestic abuse in Muslim families. There are a growing number of organizations that treat and counsel victims, provide educational seminars in mosques and push for reinterpretation of Quranic verses that some use to justify abuse.

ORGANIZATIONS

The Peaceful Families Project in Great Falls, Va., is a national organization that works to end domestic violence among Muslims by providing workshops, training and resources. Contact co-directors Salma Elkadi Abugideiri and Maha B. Alkhateeb, 703-474-6870.

Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights provides counseling and legal referrals for victims of domestic violence. Contact the organization in Washington, D.C., 202-234-7302.

See Regional sources for more centers.

ARTICLES

Read a Jan. 6, 2008, New York Times story about domestic violence in Muslim families in the U.S.

Professional organizations

Muslim professionals have formed national associations for networking and advocacy. In addition to the organizations listed above, they include:

Think tanks

As the Muslim community grows in America, its members are forming think tanks that analyze public policies that affect Muslims, study their civic and political engagement, and issue goals and recommendations for future action and development.

ReligionLink’s source guide on Islam in the U.S. lists the major Muslim think tanks.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

New England Muslim Educator’s Network is an informal regional group and online network begun in 2001. Its purpose is to aid Islamic schools, Muslim teachers and Muslim homeschoolers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Contact nemen-owner@yahoogroups.com.
Mahboubul Hassan is a professor of finance at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. He has been president of a Portland, Maine, mosque and speaks frequently about Islam. Contact 603-644-3187, m.hassan@snhu.edu.
Zareena Grewal is a scholar in the MacMillan Program of the Middle Eastern Studies Department of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She gave a presentation at a 2006 conference on Islamic education in America. Contact 203-432-3197, zareena.grewal@yale.edu.

IN THE EAST

The Islamic Schools Council of the Greater Washington D.C. Area was established in June 2000 to serve as the coordinating body for the nine Islamic schools in that area. Contact Judi Amri, 571-278-0806, jamri@4islamicschools.org.
The 877-WHY-ISLAM Food Bank in Somerset, N.J., serves both Muslims and non-Muslims. Contact 877-363-ICNA
The Islamic Schools Association of New York provides resources and networking for Islamic schools throughout the state. (See a list.) It’s based in the borough of Queens. Contact 718-322-5650 or by email through the Web site.
Robina Niaz is founder and executive director of Turning Point, a nonprofit agency that helps Muslim women who are victims of domestic violence. The agency is the first of its kind in New York City. Contact 718-883-9400, info@turningpoint-ny.org.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

Timur Kuran is professor of economics and political science and Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Kuran specializes in Islam and economics. He is the author of the entry “Modern Islam and the Economy” in the New Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 6. Contact 919-660-1872, t.kuran@duke.edu.
The Red Crescent Clinic provides health services with a volunteer staff to both Muslims and non-Muslims in Tampa, Fla. Contact 813-246-5009.
The Crescent Community Clinic opened in Brooksville, Fla., in 2008 to serve the health needs of the area’s poor and uninsured. See an Aug. 25, 2008,
St. Petersburg Times story. Contact 352-799-5500.

IN THE SOUTH

M. Kabir Hassan is an associate professor of economics and finance at the University of New Orleans. He has expertise in Islamic finance. Contact 504-280-6163, mhassan@uno.edu.
The Kentucky Islamic Resource Group, in Lexington, is an outreach organization that provides education and seeks to build relationships in its community. Contact 859-219-0703.
Amiri Yasin Al-Hadid is principal of the 13-year-old Nashville International Academy, an Islamic school that serves preschool through sixth grade and has plans to expand. Read a June 9, 2009, profile by IslamOnline.net that highlights the school’s academic excellence. Contact 615-354-8014.

IN THE MIDWEST

The Michigan Islamic Schools Group is based in Detroit and includes eight Islamic schools in Michigan and two in Ohio. Members meet to network and share ideas and resources. The Web page lists the schools with contact information.
Islamic Health & Human Services provides services to the Muslim community in Detroit. It was founded in 1992. Contact 313-961-0678.
The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services offers a variety of human services for the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Mich. Contact 313-624-9401.
Islamic Family Social Services serves the Milwaukee area. Contact 414-462-4697.
The Inner City Muslim Action Network does community organizing and provides social services and arts programs in urban Chicago. Contact 773-434-4626.
The Hamdard Center for Health and Human Services in Addison, in suburban Chicago, is a shelter that caters mainly to Muslim women; it does not serve pork and has prayer rugs available. Contact 630-835-1432.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

The Cultural Cup Food Bank in Phoenix serves needy people who have religious or health dietary restrictions. It was founded by Zarinah Awad, a Muslim, but serves the wider community. Contact 602-266-8370, culturalcupfb@integra.net.
The Muslim Community Center for Human Services in Richland Hills, Texas, includes a medical clinic, eye clinic, dental clinic and domestic violence services for Muslims in North Texas. Contact program director Talaun Thompson, 817-589-9165.
Central Texas Muslimaat in Austin, Texas, is an advocacy organization for Muslim women. Its focus includes assisting victims of domestic violence. Contact 888-437-7402.
The Houston Shifa Clinic began providing health services in 1997 and opened a new, large facility in 2008. Contact 281-561-5767, ShifaClinicHouston@gmail.com.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

The University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic provides health services to Muslims and others, regardless of ability to pay, in South Central Los Angeles. It opened in 1996. Contact 323-967-0375, info@ummaclinic.org.
Al-Shifa Clinic in San Bernardino, Calif., opened in 2000 to provide free health care for uninsured, indigent and underserved people. The clinic supports itself through fund-raisers and grants. Contact 909-473-0600, contactus@alshifafreeclinic.org.
Muslim Community Services of San Diego provides social and educational services in the area. Contact 619-696-9267.
The Refugee Women’s Alliance is a multiethnic community organization that provides comprehensive services to refugee and immigrant women and families in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. Its clients include Muslims. Contact in Seattle, 206-721-0243.
The Al-Shifa Clinic in Seattle is a free clinic that provides services to Muslims and non-Muslims. Medical students at the University of Washington run it. See a Feb. 11, 2008, story in the university newspaper, The Daily. Contact lshifa@u.washington.edu.