The Influence of Religious Identity, Culture, and Values on the Practice of American Muslim Physicians

Abstract

Many believe religion has no place in modern medical and professional fields. Nevertheless, recent studies show that religion remains integral to many people’s lives and professional practices, such as physicians. This study addresses the significance that American Muslim physicians (AMPs) attribute to their religious values in shaping their identity; and examines how the values held by self-identified Muslim physicians affect their medical practice, specialization, public roles, and civic engagement. This paper also discusses how complex lives may not be adequately addressed by theories of value derived from modernization theory and more normatively conceived Muslim ethical principles. Individual interviews were conducted with 62 AMPs. Grounded thematic analysis guided the processing of qualitative interview data. The results suggest that many of the AMPs’ religious values converge with shared cultural and professional values in the United States and elsewhere. The authors suggest that focusing on how AMPs articulate their values will lead to more humane professional, community, and healthcare settings. Regardless of the religious beliefs of professional providers, they should not ignore the impact of religion on their medical practice, especially since religion is still a vital part of many patients’ lives.

1. Introduction

There has been considerable debate about the influence of religion on professional practice, mainly when religion is associated with conflict and violence. The congruence of religious and occupational values can influence mental health professionals’ experiences and outcomes positively or negatively; conflict may arise between patients and clients when values do not align (Pelechova et al. 2012). As a result, some professions demand a complete separation of personal identity and professional identity, demanding that they adhere to primary standards known as professional values. These values serve as a framework and provide the guidelines and motivation for professional behavior (Lai and Lim 2012). However, several studies examining the influence of religion on occupational practices in allied health show that religious identity profoundly impacts occupational practices and affects how people do their work (Carlisle 2016; Héliot et al. 2020; Kwan et al. 2020; Musa 2017; Smyre et al. 2018). The values that professionals such as social workers, psychologists, and medical professionals employ throughout their lives are constantly modified, changed, and rearranged due to several factors, including historical and cultural factors (Kørup et al. 2020) and religious, economic, and social factors (Poorchangizi et al. 2017). Recent medical and allied health changes make it more critical for medical professionals to understand their professional values when providing patient care (Poorchangizi et al. 2017). In addition, health and social care are among the front lines where public professionals encounter a great diversity of cultures, belief systems, religions, and non-beliefs (Dinham 2018). Here, it may be crucial to know how their religious and personal values influence their medical practice and engagement with their patients and communities.

Despite their growing presence in North America, Muslims’ professional and reli-gious identities have received little attention. Since 9–11, Muslims have been likened to outposts of the Islamic World within the Western world; however, Muslim individuals and communities in places like the United States are both transformed by and trans-form their societies rather than existing as distinct cultures (Schumann 2007). There is an abundance of literature detailing how American Muslims constantly redefine their identity as a collective group and community and seek to readjust their twofold affiliations and bicultural identities to their host countries and the Islamic world (Schumann 2007). Schiller et al. (1995) challenged the perspective of immigrants as uprooting and becoming entirely incorporated into their new host country, presenting instead a theory of transnational migration which recognizes the interconnections that immigrants and their descendants forge and maintain between their native and host countries. Schiller et al. (1995) examines power differences across transnational social fields in relation to gender, race, class, status, poverty, second-generation, citizenship, and national identity. In the author’s view, immigration, assimilation, multiculturalism, transnationalism, and citizenship are unrelated to migrants. The transnationalism approach emphasizes the distinction between belonging and being. The effect of transnationalism on American Muslims has also been studied (Mandaville 2009, 2011), where they question whether Islamic values can coexist with western cultural values. According to Bowen (2004), Muslims in the West may use Islam rather than Western values and laws to determine what is appropriate behavior. Nevertheless, Voas and Fleischmann (2012) argue that although Muslim parents may invest in religious upbringing when raising their children, second-generation Muslims might not necessarily incorporate the cultural background of their parents into their practice of Islam.

In addition, most of the literature has focused on the general American Muslim population, thereby overlooking the experiences and voices of American Muslim physicians (AMPs). This group of professionals has endured a backlash in Europe and the United States ever since the highly publicized trial of British Muslim doctors for conspiracy on 30 June 2007, during terrorist attacks at the Glasgow International Airport (Wessely 2007) and after the executive orders by President Donald Trump on 27 January and 6 March, 2017, banning travel of citizens from specific countries into the United States (Kalra et al. 2017). AMP’s European counterparts experienced a backlash following the highly publicized trial of British Muslim doctors for conspiracy in the June 2007 terrorist attacks at Glasgow airport and London (Wessely 2007). JAMA reviewed Adam Dorin’s Jihad and American Medicine (McIsaac 2008), portraying AMPs as terrorist sympathizers. According to the article, hospitals, doctors’ offices, and surgical centers are soft targets that can be exploited to create terror (p. 734). Furthermore, the reviewer noted that “Dori points to the Achilles heel of all free systems: the assumption of trust,” adding, “One story that I found especially troubling was that of a group of physicians cheering in a Baltimore hospital on 9–11,” (McIsaac 2008). Soon after the Glasgow and London incidents, journalists in the United States began targeting AMPs. Debbie Schlussel (2007) profiled Muslim doctors as top-ranking terrorists involved in terrorist plots or providing support for them. AMPs attending national and regional conferences complained of how such discourse affected their interactions with colleagues, patients, and community members. It affected their social, religious, and professional identities. As a result, AMPs may have experienced the 9/11 attacks and anti-Muslim backlash as cultural trauma. Although studies have addressed the post-9/11 impact on Muslims worldwide, this study is the first to explore their religious values and how their religious identity impacts their medical practice.

These challenges threatened the future of the physician workforce and health care delivery in the United States and increased European and American suspicions of terrorists working among the most educated, middle-class, and legal immigrants (Abu-Ras et al. 2013), such as Muslim physicians. A national study shows that many Muslim physicians (45%) still experience career discrimination based on their religious identity (Padela et al. 2016). They also encounter questions about their religious identity, values, and culture in Muslim physicians’ medical practice. Additionally, the increased debate over the role of religion in American politics and public policy has increased the scrutiny of these professionals. As a religious minority, AMPs may encounter and thus navigate multiple identities (i.e., religion, social, culture, nationality, and ethnicity) and experience additional external and internal factors that derive, reinforce, or shape these identities.

This paper examines how AMPs view their religious values’ role in their personal, professional, and political lives. The study also aims to determine whether the medical practice values of AMPs result from their unique Islamic values, their gradual acculturation to the host country, their secularization as Muslims, or a combination of these factors. This paper is intended to shed some light on the experiences of Muslim physicians in the United States and not to represent the experiences of all Muslims or American Muslims.

1.1. Culture, Religion, and Professional Values

A standard definition of culture includes a set of values, beliefs, and habits learned in social environments that shape how people think, perceive, decide, and perform. Each professional caregiver brings a unique set of cultural values to the caring interaction with the client (Wros et al. 2004). Adler (1997), for example, defined culture as something shared by all or nearly all members of a social group, which one generation passes on to the next and which shapes behavior and perceptions of the world. Adler suggests that culture impacts our values, affecting our attitudes and behavior. Harrison and Huntington (2000, p. xv) defined culture as the “values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society.” Their book Culture Matters emphasizes the centrality of culture in understanding human behavior (Harrison and Huntington 2000).

In sociology, culture is a way of life, and society uses culture to express itself. In a society, culture is the expression of beliefs, values, and actions that people use to meet their needs. It refers to external forms such as language, clothing, and food. Geertz (1973) defines culture as a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life (p. 89). Hutchison and Cousins (2019) define culture as a system of knowledge, beliefs, values, language, symbols, patterns of behavior, material objects, and institutions that are created, learned, shared, and contested by a group of people (p. 207). A similar definition was made by Guest (2017, p. 35), which defined culture as a system of beliefs, patterns of behavior, artifacts, and institutions created, learned, shared, and contested by a large group of people. Culture is also composed of thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, and feelings (Cousins 2015) shaped by human interaction. As defined by Weber, Parsons, and Geertz (Geertz 1973), culture is a unique set of symbols (linguistic, religious, ethnic) and practices shared by a distinctive group of people that sheds light on attitudes, actions, and choices. In Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis, Muslim values and politics are viewed in a political culturalistic, or essentialist light (Huntington 1993, 1996).

Anthropologists, however, have largely abandoned such essentialist generalizations about purportedly distinct groups in favor of examining the lived experiences of individuals in local social worlds, including their intra-culturally divergent moral values (what is at stake for them) in those experiences (Kleinman and Kleinman 1995). Their approach to culture is quite different from that of other disciplines. Generally, they refer to culture as the shared values, ideas, concepts, and rules of behavior that enable a social group to function and perpetuate itself. Rather than simply the presence or absence of a particular attribute, culture is understood as the dynamic and evolving socially constructed reality that exists in the minds of social group members (Hudelson 2004). Hudelson describes culture as a normative glue’ that facilitates effective communication and working relationship between group members. Anthropologists also argue that virtually every complex society (including healthcare organizations) has multiple subcultures that coexist, overlap, and compete (Hudelson 2004).

Many conservative commentators would highlight that American culture is based on specific distinct Judeo-Christian values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and views of history (Mathews 2002). This view is part of the ideology of essential differences that Trump and others promote. Considering the above definitions, we argue that the definition of culture is vast and complicated. However, defining culture is central to addressing many social problems. Different cultures have different norms, even if they share other types of practices and beliefs.

Culture continues to play a central role in how many Americans identify themselves. Scholars debate the relationship between culture, religious identity, and professional practices. Hence, their definitions of these concepts have created some divergence and disagreement among them. Konishi et al. (2009) note that professional values are expected to be homogeneous and universal, but culture shapes and emphasizes differences. In other words, regardless of the many definitions of culture, this concept is constantly evolving due to minorities’ acceptance, social norms, and changing material customs. It is clear that culture cannot be tied firmly to one definition, but rather, it is something that cannot be static and cannot be limited in any way. It reflects the dynamic interrelationships between individuals, groups, and communities.

Values are often the focus of discussion when explaining cultural differences. Schwartz (1994) defines values as desirable goals varying in importance that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives that could motivate and justify actions, and it has been a touchstone of social scientific research for decades (p. 24). Hitlin and Piliavin (2004), in their review of current sociological scholarship, see values as a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable, which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action (p. 362). Values are commonly shared within communities that share a symbolic identity. Several ethnic groups have reported common values of family, hard work, and education, yet each group often claims them as part of their unique heritage (Waters 1990, p. 134). Values are also central to religious traditions and communities. People may seek religion because religious traditions inform and endorse their already existing value systems (Héliot et al. 2020; Leege 1996; Leege and Kellstedt 1993; Ives and Kidwell 2019; Schwartz and Huismans 1995; Verba et al. 1995; Wald et al. 2005). In turn, religious communities and traditions may nurture and transform particular values.

Considering the varying definitions above, the concept of value, as a part of culture, is very complex and can be defined in many ways. As a result, we endorse Roccas and Sagiv’s (2010) integrative approach linking cultures, values, and behavior. They argue that cultural differences affect how people use their internal attributes to guide their behavior. Values and behavior are therefore correlated differently across cultures. Culture also moderates values and behavior through normative practices. Depending on how cultures interpret behavior, seemingly similar behaviors may have different meanings. Moreover, they examined the impact of diversity, suggesting that the increasing diversity of cultures, languages and religious affiliations in modern societies may affect the relationship between values and behavior (Roccas and Sagiv 2010).

Religion has provided ideas, values, and norms for individuals, groups, and societies. Religion and ethics are intertwined because one of the components of religion is a set of ethical rules about living a good life (Banks 2020). Therefore, one must consider religion when analyzing the values and practices of people of different faiths and traditions. It is imperative to recognize that religious beliefs govern how people view and practice their work and profession. Furthermore, it is vital to acknowledge the role of religion and traditional values among medical providers, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and other professional practitioners.

As Western culture experiences a massive migration of individuals with diverse religious identities, new discourses have emerged regarding the cooperation between religion and work (Anderson 2016). It is timely since considerable attention has been paid to race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation, which are critical to highlight when discussing how religion affects workplace behavior (Etherington 2019).

A systematic review of 53 publications, Héliot et al. (2020) found connections between religious and occupational identities regarding personal preferences, religious identity compatibility with occupation-related concerns, and organization policies, practices, and expectations. Explicitly the findings emphasize that a religious identity at work has both personal and organizational consequences and conditions that encourage high congruency between religious identity and its expression at work.

Researchers have long recognized the importance of religion, culture, social patterns, and professional values in describing people’s behavior, particularly immigrants and minorities (Hitlin and Piliavin 2004; Inglehart and Baker 2000; Norris and Inglehart 2012; Schwartz and Sagie 2000; Wedeen 2002). Some claim that immigrants acculturate by gradually adapting to the host country’s culture, values, and norms to avoid marginalization, isolation, and external stresses (Kosic et al. 2005). However, Norris and Inglehart (2012) argue that immigrants’ values are shaped by collective histories, common languages, and religious traditions, so that migrant populations are unlikely to abandon their cultural roots when they settle in another country (Norris and Inglehart 2012, p. 228).

1.2. Modernization and Multicultural Theories

Based on Modernization theorists such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, culture plays a significant role in developing countries, as indicated in his most cited statement: [t]he central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society (as cited in Harrison and Huntington 2000, p. xiv). Some scholars (Stone 2021) have predicted a decline in the role of religion in shaping people’s values, assuming that for underdeveloped societies to become developed, they must adopt modern values and institutions (Inglehart and Baker 2000, p. 19). Accordingly, occupational status and economic development appear to shape people’s values. Individuals who have obtained a high position in their occupational field tend to value self-direction more in themselves and their offspring (Hitlin and Piliavin 2004, p. 370). Economic development has been coupled with rational, tolerant, and participatory values shifts.

Although the modernization theory flourished during the 1950s, its decline in the 2000s provides insight into how a social science paradigm from the 20th century failed to fulfill its promises in changing social environments. Among the critiques, Appadurai (1996) demonstrates how modernity is enmeshed in the boundaries of culture, nation, state; consumerism; identity formation; and anthropology/ethnography. According to Appadurai, modernity is shaped by disjunctive flows across ethnoscapes, technoscapes, mediascapes, financescapes, and ideascapes. The number of diasporic public spheres is growing, and global migration and electronic media development are accelerating. As a result of these forces, a growing number of individuals construct imagined worlds that profoundly influence their identities and allegiances. Nation-states and borders are being torn apart by the rise of deterritorialized imagined spaces. It is the national states, as well as diasporic flows and electronic and virtual communities, that contribute to the formation of localities. Social forms in neighborhoods are properties of social life (p. 182) articulated in actually existing social forms (p. 179). As a result of globalization, consumption patterns, identity formation, allegiances, locals, and nations are all changing. These changes are driven by movement (people and media content), affecting individual and collective imagination and producing reality. A new, modern reality has transcended traditional borders, challenging our global, national, and local notions. Yet a framework for relating the global, the national, and the local has yet to emerge (p. 188)—true in 1996 and true today (Appadurai 1996).

Hannerz (1996) discusses culture in the age of globalization. Considering both theoretical and contemporary perspectives on culture and globalization, he explores how boundary crossings and long-distance cultural flows impact established notions of the local, community, and nation. Examples include Salman Rushdie’s shouting match in a New York street, the Pope’s trip to the Maya Indians, kung-fu dancers in Nigeria, Rastafarians in Amsterdam, foreign correspondent nostalgia, and tourists’ surprising experiences in the world. Hannerz argues that national understandings of culture are inadequate in an increasingly interconnected world.

Kyianytsia (2021) critiques modernization theory by arguing three aspects: (1) rejecting dichotomous models, which are prevalent in the modernization paradigm, in which traditional and modern societies are viewed as interconnected systems with qualitatively opposite characteristics; (2) the rejection of a unitary and standard human society development model; and (3) reject the emphasis on endogenous factors of change without considering the interdependence and dependence between countries in the world system at different stages. Inglehart and Baker (2000) argue that religious values are persistent. In their analysis of the World Values Survey, the authors found that although there is merit in modernization theory, the influence of traditional value systems is unlikely to disappear, as belief systems are remarkably durable and resilient. Their empirical evidence from 65 countries indicates a mean decline of about 1% in religious activities in post-industrial societies. However, the values of these societies continue to reflect a society’s cultural heritage. They suggest that religious values hold even more strongly in non-Western societies (Akaliyski and Welzel 2020; Parker 2018).

Inglehart and Baker’s (2000) revision of modernization theory illuminates a pathway to considering culture and religion as part of more fluid communities of argument. As Wedeen (2002) points out, cultural essentialist models of Muslim societies often ignore the argument over what makes a Muslim a Muslim, what Islam means, and what, if any, its political role should be (p. 715). However, postmodern and poststructuralist anthropologists have abandoned modernization theory and its cultural essentialist generalizations. They favor examining the lived experiences of individuals in local social worlds, including their intra-culturally divergent moral values (what is at stake for them) in those contexts (Kleinman and Kleinman 1995).

1.3. Immigrants and Minority Religious Identities

While the influence of religion on the identity of Americans is well documented (Oppong 2013; Whitehead et al. 2018), far less is known about how religion impacts the identity and behavior of immigrants (Ebaugh and Chafetz 2000). Early scholarship on immigration traditionally focused on European immigrants, except Jewish Orthodox, who tended to focus on assimilating into their new home (Handlin 2002; Herberg 1960). Hitlin and Piliavin (2004) argue that with altered values come altered behaviors, as in cultural assimilation (p. 382). Studies on post-1965 immigration find increased religious expression and affiliation among immigrants, partly due to the growth and acceptance of diverse religious traditions within the United States’ pluralistic society (Warner 1993). The religious identity of these new (post-1965) immigrants often changes once they arrive (Sollors 1988); very often, it intensifies as a means of self-definition (Williams 1988; Wilson 2007). For example, Korean Americans react to social marginalization (Chong 1998; Lee 2019) associated with churches at a much higher rate after immigrating (Hurh and Kim 1990). East Asian, South Asian, and Arab American immigrants gradually lose their native languages and drop cultural practices, and the focus of their identity often shifts toward increased religiosity (Awad et al. 2021; Hathout et al. 1989; Mullins 1988; Williams 1988; Zahrawi 2020).

Muslim immigrants express their religiosity in beliefs, values, practices, and adherence to religious teaching, much like other immigrants (Warner 1993). Many have replaced their native language with English to assimilate (Warner 1993). Based on the most recent survey conducted by Pew, there is a decline in religion among American Christians. Increasingly, Americans describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”. As a result of this accelerating trend, many Americans are wondering what religion in America will look like in the future (Pew Research Center 2022a) Young American Muslims, however, are growing more religiously and socially liberal. Religiosity here differs in terms of belief, practice, and dress from older American Muslims (Pew Research Center 2021), with 47% regarding themselves as Muslim first and then as American (Pew Research Center 2007), and 65% say religion is significant to them (Pew Research Center 2017).

1.4. Schwartz Value Theory: Exploring Muslim Physicians and Religious Values

Studies of American physicians suggest that they carry their religious beliefs into all aspects of their professional and personal lives and attend religious services as frequently as non-physicians (Curlin et al. 2005, 2007; Curlin 2008; Solyom 2006). Hordern (2016) argues that good doctors understand their own beliefs and the beliefs of others. Furthermore, doctors believe the best way to protect the welfare of patients is to take seriously the possibility that religion, beliefs, values, or culture may significantly impact patients and their colleagues. From the limited data available, religion is essential to many AMPs (Curlin 2008; Curlin et al. 2007; Padela et al. 2008). Curlin et al. (2007) found that more religious physicians (including Muslims) were much more likely to conceive of the practice of medicine as a calling (Curlin et al. 2007, p. 355). Although limited, these studies suggest that religiosity may influence physicians’ attitudes and behaviors concerning activism, including political participation, community advocacy, and civic involvement.

Researchers have developed models to explain how religion promotes specific values (Roccas, Sagiv, model, we examine the values expressed by American Muslim physicians and their impact on their practice and determine whether their values are similar or different from other physicians in the United States. Schwartz and Huismans (1995) developed a universal Value Model (VM) that can be applied to various cultures and religions. Since 2001, the VM has been validated in over 60 countries as a comprehensive and cross-cultural model. It is based on ten principles that guide people in their lives: (a) Power—control or dominance over people and resources; (b) Achievement—demonstrating competence according to social standards; (c) Hedonism—pleasure and sensuous satisfaction; (d) Stimulation—excitement, novelty, and challenge in life; (e) Self-direction—independent thought and action-choosing, creating, exploring; (f) Universalism—understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and nature; (g) Benevolence—preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is frequently in contact; (h) Tradition respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide; (i) Conformity—restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms; and (j) Security—safety, harmony and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.

Numerous studies have been conducted using the same model to determine how religiosity correlates with values. Saroglou et al. (2004) conducted a meta-analysis of 12 studies involving 21 samples from 15 countries (N = 8551) to determine which values religious people emphasize and minimize. The results show that religious people are favored by tradition, conformity, security, and benevolence (self-transcendence). Nevertheless, they negatively relate to stimulation and self-direction (values promoting openness to change and autonomy), success and power, universalism, and hedonism. Additionally, religion was not associated with benevolence in most Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Greece, and Israel). The negative association between religiosity and universalism was primarily due to Israel and Turkey’s results. Additionally, the study revealed that the more socioeconomically developed a country, the less religion was associated with conservative values, and the less autonomy and hedonism were valued.

Schwartz Value Theory will guide this study, which aims to integrate healthcare practitioners’ professional and religious values. They encompass all values that guide decision-making in all cultures (Braithwaite and Law 1985). The Schwartz model also proposes a structure of value relations, which can result in compatibility and conflict between values. The Schwartz values theory has been tested across different cultures. Using Schwartz’s values framework (Schwartz 1992), we explored the influence of Muslim physicians’ values and religious identity on their medical practice.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Objectives

This paper explores how AMPs connect and integrate their perceived cultural and religious values into their personal, professional, and civic practice. Such an understanding illuminates how American Muslims articulate their own identities. This study addressed the following questions: (a) How do AMPs identify themselves (ethnic and religious identity)? (b) How do their religious identities, values, and medical practice intersect? (c) To what extent do those values influence their personal lives, community involvement, and charitable contributions? and (d) Are Muslim physicians’ values unique to their Islamic tradition and culture or a product of their gradual acculturation to their host country and profession, or a product and combination of both?

2.2. Research Methods

This study used a qualitative method to explore the complex nature of religious values among the AMPs within the United States’ current socio-political climate and contextualize them by paying attention to specific details to communicate the participants’ reality. Such information promotes a better understanding of another immigrant population, the International Medical Graduates (IMGs), by determining how their religious values impact their medical practices. Furthermore, it provides a new understanding of the interrelationship between religious and medical practice values related to practicing medicine, raising a family, building a community, and engaging in civic life.

2.3. Sample Recruitment

This study employed multiple recruitment strategies and semi-structured interviews with 62 AMPs licensed in the United States. Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with 20 physicians in New Jersey (NJ) and 22 in Arizona (AZ), and 20 interviews were conducted by phone in various states. Three recruitment steps were used: (a) obtaining a list of initial contacts from key AMPs in both Arizona and New Jersey, (b) sending email and telephone invitations to participate in a face-to-face interview, and (c) scheduling and conducting a 60- to 90-min interview. Some interviewees referred us to colleagues to generate a snowball sample.

Each participant was informed of the study’s purpose and asked to sign a consent form (verbal consent by telephone). Telephone interviews were selected from 55 physicians who indicated their interest in our quantitative survey study. After being contacted, 16 agreed to participate. The remaining four were drawn from a geographically diverse group known to the researchers. A USD 50 gift card was offered to all face-to-face interviewees and a USD 25 gift card to telephone interviewees (the difference was due to budget constraints). This study was approved by the Adelphi University Institutional Review Board (IRB) in January 2009.

2.4. Demographic Background

Most participants (67.7%) were men (n = 42), aged 24 to 72, with an average age of 45. Most physicians (86%) were married (n = 53), lived with their spouses, and had, on average, three children. All but one (a convert) were born Muslim and raised in Muslim households. The majority identified themselves as Sunni Muslims. One self-identified as Sufi, and the remainder did not answer the question. Of the 54 who answered the ethnicity question, 44% identified themselves as South Asian, 37% as Arab, and the remaining 19% as either White Caucasian or West African; one identified as Iranian American. Although 90.8% of the participants were born abroad, 20.4% graduated from an American medical school.

All participants had an MD; 8 (12.3%) had an MA or a Ph.D. One-third of the doctors specialized in internal medicine, the rest specialized in family practice, general practice, general surgery, radiology, anesthesia, allergy, ophthalmology, and similar professions. Most of them were born abroad, and very few were born in the United States to immigrant parents from South Asia or the Middle East. Many had lived in the country for years; 32.3% (n = 17) said they immigrated 40 years ago, while 53.4% had been here for about 25 years. About 83% were citizens, 13% had green cards, and the remaining participants had working visas.

2.5. Data Analysis

Grounded thematic analysis guided the processing of qualitative interview data. ATLAS.ti, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software package, developed an initial codebook of emerging themes and processes. Four interviews were coded separately, after which the coding choices were compared, and the differences were resolved by mutual agreement. Code definitions were clarified for the second round and retested after completing half of the coding. Analysts used the software to develop theme and subtheme hierarchies through constant comparison across interviews. Themes’ summaries were then integrated into theoretical memos to explore emerging perspectives on the data.

3. Thematic Results

3.1. Religious and Ethnic Identities

When asked for self-descriptions, most participants identified as Muslim and expressed pride in it: “I feel very proud to be a Muslim who practices heart surgery” or considered themselves “very strong Muslims”. Those who assigned equal significance to their American and ethnic identities also highlighted their religious identity: “I am [an] American of Indian origin and a Muslim, and that is how I think of myself”. The vast majority referred to themselves as either “Muslim American” or “American Muslim”.

Most felt that identifying with their birth country is misleading because they have integrated into American culture, and thus their values reflect the country’s values. One said:

They are two parts of my heart; I love them almost equally. The first one is my cultural… identity that I grew up with, a necessity, the history… and the new world is my new society and its culture, this heritage. I love both of them probably equally.

(AMP#1)

In a few cases where religious identity was considered less important, the interviewees spoke about secularism and freedom and noted that they are now part of this country or “We are American first, and that is the beauty of this country: that you are [an] American person [more] than whatever you are. So, you are treated equally” (AMP#5). Only three respondents identified themselves in ethnoreligious terms without mentioning their American background: “Egyptian-Muslim” or something like “Palestinian first of all and then Muslim”.

3.2. Practicing Religion

When asked how they practiced religion, respondents cited different types of practicing, including praying, community involvement, raising their children with religious values, attending religious services, honoring Islamic traditions and festivals, making the pilgrimage to Mecca, adhering to Islamic dietary standards, and wearing the hijab (Islamic headscarf- for female participants).

Many AMPs consider themselves more religious now than before. Most female participants who wore the hijab said they started to do so after immigrating because it facilitated greater piety and practice of Muslim values: “For me, covering my hair was basically an act of piety towards… my Lord” (AMP #3). The few respondents who said they practice very little emphasized the importance of universal human values over any single religion: “I don’t subscribe officially to any religion. I strive to have moral values… and consider myself a member of the larger society of humanity” (AMP#20).

Some found it easier to practice Islam here; others found it more challenging. Many mentioned practicing Islam as a lifestyle by incorporating its values into simple, everyday tasks. For example, one considered driving the children to school and cooking for the family as forms of worship, while another said that “it [may be] the act of smiling for every patient… that makes a difference” (AMP#12).

AMPs gave several reasons for increased levels of practice, such as new technologies that help one understand Islam, involvement in the local Muslim community, and the attempt to preserve their religious identity. For example, one physician (AMP#2) became more religious during the 1980s (10 years after she arrived) by taking online courses. At the same time, a female physician (AMP#8) who converted after marriage described educating herself about Islam by taking classes and learning Arabic.

3.3. Religious Upbringing and Family Values

To address their identity and religious upbringing, we asked participants open-ended questions about Islam’s role during their early years. Based on narrators’ self-characterizations and descriptions of their families of origin, we found that participants generally fell (almost equally) into three researcher-generated categories: weak, moderate, and or strong religious upbringing. Many in the first group also spoke of becoming more religious later in life and after immigrating.

Most moderate religious upbringing respondents tended to have early exposure to westernization, liberalism, and secularism. They described themselves as “moderate, more towards the liberal side”:

“In Pakistan, the higher socioeconomic groups are more westernized. … I was more towards the westernized side, and I started looking at things more with a wide-open brain, open mind”.

(AMP#11)

The group with the “strong religious upbringing” either had parents who stressed Islam’s importance or grew up in a culture that emphasized religion. One participant said:

My parents always stressed our religion, and they argue that these choices and differences in values are not solely influenced by religious views but also by social and political debates related to abortion and sexual orientation. These controversial debates affect Muslim physicians and the entire American public. They always made it very important… [You] cannot give up your religion or your religious beliefs or practices that [someone] finds uncomfortable.

(AMP#10)

Many participants’ parents were involved in developing American Muslim communities. For example, one participant’s father helped build mosques (AMP#27), and another said: “My mom also did a lot [for] the community as far as teaching things” (AMP#24). Helping the poor was also prominent in descriptions of family values. One physician (AMP#31) mentioned her father’s work on one of the poorest [American Indian] reservations in the country as formative. Another described a childhood visit to a South Asian village where she saw a man blind with a cataract and thought: “What a blessing it would be to make somebody see” (AMP#44).

3.4. Relevance of Religion and Cultural Values to Medical Vocation

Family and religious values derive from service and charity. Some spoke of how their families supported and encouraged their choice of profession:

because it is a field that requires you to work hard, and I think my parents wanted me to work hard. I think social responsibility is something that comes from them because growing up and even up to now, they’ve always been involved with different social projects. My mom has always been involved with social welfare organizations serving women, and my dad has done that, in not as a formal way, but [he’s] always [been] involved in charities.

(AMP#52)

Another spoke of religious values that condemn the material aspect of their profession, particularly greed: “That’s because of my background and because of the culture that I came from; the people go into medicine to help others” (AMP#59). Many spoke of their early exposure to medicine, having parents or relatives as doctors; thus, they grew up in a medicine-oriented environment. Another participant spoke of the intellectual challenge of extending this inclination: “We have to know it all. I like to know everything” (AMP#37).

Others emphasize the critical nature of the hundred percent focus of an operation and their specialty as satisfying. The social prestige of becoming a physician was a significant motivating factor. Some respondents spoke about parents who wanted prestige, while others felt some parental pressure: the financial status the social status of a physician (AMP#44); “in Pakistan, … the parents used to choose your profession. [You] must choose; we had either to be a doctor or be an engineer or join the army and be an officer” (AMP#57); “When I was little, my mother probably had… whispered into my ear many times, ‘You are going to be a doctor’” (AMP#48). Family circumstances drove others. One physician considered his aging parents and problems with Medicare, remarking that “[i]t says a lot about a society who does not take [care] of their elderly… we are basically moving away from a value system that has made us strong as a nation” (AMP#27).

Several physicians spoke of Islam’s role in their professional decisions. Although the majority highlighted the importance of religious values, some remarked that they were good physicians who strove to provide the best care. Others linked Islam more directly to professional values and clinical practice. These values became particularly visible when they considered how to treat their patients. Those who spoke about incorporating Muslim values felt you could not separate your faith, for it is the source of morality. One said: “I treat my patients as our way of worship” (AMP#30).

Some participants explicitly linked the medical profession to Islam. For instance, a convert spoke of divine direction:

I think it was just with invisible hands, I was directed (AMP#62). Another recalled: I remember the word calling from one of the movies called A River Runs through It when he sat down with his son and said: ‘What is your calling?’ My calling was medicine… because I have a spiritual aspect that also helps me recognize my calling.

(AMP#49)

Another physician said: “You want to do what is good to the best of your ability to please God” (AMP#33). This desire to please God is related to ethical concerns about the choice of specialty. For instance, one participant remarked:

I don’t really have to work as a Muslim [woman] and to see… men, all without clothes and like that; and this is against Islam… That’s why I changed it, and I wanted to be a pediatrician.

(AMP#54)

Many considered Islam’s basic tenets to go hand in hand with practicing medicine because “compassion, caring, taking care of others, and charity are all… very important in Islam; especially kindness [and] charity” (AMP#21). Charity and service were paired with honesty and conscientiousness. One physician, for instance, felt that Islam is best exemplified when physicians perform medical procedures regardless of the patient’s financial background. Others said: “The most basic value is my religion, and consciously or subconsciously, you have it with you even when you’re not practicing medicine” (AMP#16). One participant, interpreting President Obama’s call to choose what’s best for the patient, not what’s most expensive, saw this as a Muslim value:

This is us. We’re Muslim. This is what we do. Your conscience comes first. You’re serving the patient first and utmost, as opposed to serving… whomever you work for… The Muslims will be the front runners in providing this kind of service, kind of attitude.

(AMP#40)

In the words of another participant: “I just want to make a difference here in this world, and I tell myself that I am here for a reason, I am just doing what I’m supposed to do…and that is helping people” (AMP#51). Many of our respondents mentioned a religious obligation to serve their communities:

I need to be content with everybody and do things for everybody, that’s it. That is what Islam is about (AMP#35). Respondents spoke of human differences and respecting them while reaching out to those who need help. Some reported using Islam to help patients cope with specific difficulties.

One physician said she:

liked the idea of working in a place where you’re really serving other people, where you’re really making an impact on people every day. … One of the things mentioned repeatedly in Islam is the importance of being good, serving people, and helping people. I see that it’s one of the most important parts of your life. … [In Islam], charity is really important; and charity isn’t just, you know, giving out money. I think that that should be the role of every American Muslim to improve the healthcare of the population they serve.

(AMP#47)

Many participants most often proclaimed their desire to pursue medicine as a way of satisfaction, as an internal desire to help people, for instant gratification, and for intensive monitoring and treatment to solve problems. One participant spoke of his decision as an argument about being a responsible Muslim:

One of my mentors said: ‘[Being a physician] is more civically involved in the community, if you are a person with principle, practicing Muslim and… you are on a mission to spread the word of God and try to help other people also find their way’.

(AMP#18)

3.5. Public Service

Some participants suggested a duty that encourages physicians to serve their local community. A pediatrician spoke of the value of serving:

I [would] like for them [my children] to be involved in life around them, not to be selfish, to do voluntary work, civic work, to get involved in the life in America, you know, to be modest, to be generous.

(AMP#56)

She contrasted this with younger American physicians today, whom she sees as practicing medicine to maintain a high standard of living. Several respondents expressed a sense of responsibility to serve locally rather than in an imagined Muslim world because they perceive American healthcare as a disaster for many Muslims and others without insurance. They felt that they must fix their situation. Most of them affirmed their service was for everyone:

We are all human beings. We are one, we are very connected, and we must be good to each other. We have social obligations toward each other, help each other, and render service regardless of borders, religions, and sexual orientation….

(AMP#14)

Others prioritize service within the local Muslim community:

[AMPs] have to save their community; a portion of their practice, 35% should be for their community. … There must be established clinics and Islamic centers that screen for diabetes and heart disease and drugs that people do not have access to and teaching the American medicine in mosques and universities….

(AMP#61)

Such service, however, seems to be secondary to that of the larger neighborhood and general patient populations with whom AMPs interact daily. Some expressed a commitment to justice and peace and a solid commitment to creating a more ethical society. One articulated this obligation as a “unique contribution… [to] put things together… We have the responsibility of contributing to this country” (AMP#43).

Some see the American Muslim community maturing to the point of playing a more public role, of being able to inject more morality in society, more ambition, more meaning to life in many ways, and, particularly as established scientists and researchers, able to balance some of the mistaken views of Muslims in American society. Several participants saw their role as primarily contributing to the country’s broader healthcare policy discussion. For others, involvement in public life has been a more gradual process. One physician spoke of being part of the system:

Muslim physicians are part of the system and society. I am part of it; this is my country. Now, this is my home… Thus, whatever makes the system better… I think we must work together to make it better.

(AMP#23)

4. Discussion

As per Schwartz’s Theory (Schwartz 2012), the study results reasoned that fundamental human values might be derived from considering the most basic needs of human beings, which he divides into three broad categories: our biological needs as individuals, our need to coordinate our actions with others, and the need of groups to survive and flourish. According to this theory, ten basic values are universally recognized (Benevolence, Universalism, Self-Direction, Security, Conformity, Hedonism, achievement, Tradition, Stimulation, and Power).

The AMPs in our study displayed values that are the product of their traditional religious identity and identification with broader American culture. They indicated that religion is an essential aspect of their lives, often increasing with age and after immigration, which correlates with previous studies (Warner 1993; Sollors 1988; Williams 1988). Other studies have confirmed the high level of religious identity, although its impact on their professional lives remains unclear (Curlin et al. 2007; Padela et al. 2008). Like other immigrants, they may also be more prone to a religious renaissance once they arrive and face pressure to assimilate (Leege and Kellstedt 1993). Additionally, if most people in one’s birth country practice the same religion, it may be taken for granted. In pluralistic countries, however, religion may feel more self-defining and meaningful. Finally, Muslim immigrants may value traditional principles and religious identity to preserve a tie to their home cultures while strengthening their minority identity in mainstream American society.

Most participants expressed a sense of responsibility to portray Muslim values (e.g., hard work, caring for others, and strict ethical behavior). They wish to share their faith and religious values with others, serve their local community and country, and live productive and peaceful lives. As AMPs that serve their communities in the United States, even if simply to eliminate negative perceptions of Islam, they also uphold what Schwartz (1994) calls modern- values of achievement based on social standards, success, and motivating citizens to increase their social status.

Some may argue that their active endeavors to raise the status of Muslims in American society are evidence of the acquisition and incorporation of a modern value through acculturation and assimilation. It is important to note that the process of assimilation and acculturation began before immigration for Muslim physicians, as most of these professionals receive their medical education in universities, schools, and hospitals that adhere to secular educational standards, practices, and values (Elzamzamy and Keshavarzi 2019).

The AMPs’ traditional ideals and newly acquired modern values shape professional paths. In a pilot study of AMPs’ values, Padela et al. (2008) reported a trend toward viewing Islam as enhancing virtuous professional behavior or as being an asset to good medical practice (p. 368). Our results confirm this view and suggest that practicing Islam enables participants to be compassionate, honest, conscientious, and charitable professionals who can pursue intellectual challenges, self-improvement, and excellence. The second finding of Padela et al. (2008, p. 368) is consistent with our study that Islam sets boundaries on career choices, defines acceptable medical procedures, and affects social interactions among physician peers. Even though our sample was larger, this boundary setting theme was less prevalent than in Padela et al.’s (2008) study, despite our specific questions about what physicians felt they could not do as a Muslim. Padela et al. (2008) note that those who feel their religious commitment may prevent them from performing specific medical procedures or examinations often avoid such specialties. AMPs in this study made choices regarding opposite-gender adult physical examinations, cosmetic plastic surgery, abortion, and other controversial obstetric and reproductive technologies. According to a Pew Research Center (2022b) survey, 42% of Americans believe that abortion is not morally wrong, and that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. However, based on Gallup’s (2021) and Pew Research Center’s (2022b) surveys, no significant changes have occurred regarding abortion. Both surveys indicate that 48% and 46% of Americans still viewed abortion as legal only under certain circumstances. A recent survey (Economist/YouGov Poll 2022) showed that 57% opposed the Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and wanted abortion to be legal in all or most cases, compared to 33% who would like it to be illegal in all or most cases. We argue that these choices and differences in values are not solely influenced by religious views but also by social and political debates related to abortion and sexual orientation (Elzamzamy and Keshavarzi 2019). These controversial debates affect Muslim physicians and the entire American public. Following Schwartz’s (1994) concept of value consensus, the decisions made by AMPs regarding these matters are an expression of and thus shaped by the collective values that become central to the nation.

Religious identity and values have become salient issues in understanding Muslim immigrant experience, behaviors, and attitudes in the United States (Giuliani et al. 2018; Hashem and Awad 2021; Jamal 2005; Mubarak 2007; Phalet et al. 2018; Saroglou et al. 2004) and European countries (Hashemi et al. 2020; Van Der Noll et al. 2018). Like other minorities, most Muslim immigrants tend to assimilate, for it helps them negotiate their relationship with the dominant culture (Asfari and Askar 2020; Everett Marko 2019; Pew Research Center 2007; Haddad 2011; Khan 2009). However, Asfari and Askar (2020) noted that Muslims who identify themselves strongly as Muslim were limited in their assimilation, while some American Muslims see their religious identity as integral to promoting their and their children’s assimilation (Karam 2020) upward. In their most recent study, Norris and Inglehart (2012) found that Muslim migrants living in Western societies are located roughly in the center of the cultural spectrum, integrating Islamic and Western values. The authors concluded that these findings contradict the idea that immigrants simply import an unmodified version of the values of their own country into their new host country. In the long term, the basic cultural values of migrants appear to change in conformity with the predominant culture of each society (Norris and Inglehart 2012, p. 247). This conclusion correlates with Khan’s (2009) argument that religious education strongly influences American Muslim identity development, for it facilitates ways for young Muslim Americans to see themselves as both Muslims and Americans (p. 127). Wuthnow (1988, 2004) also suggests that immigrant religious groups commonly adopt mainstream cultural idioms about the values of voluntarism and serving everyone. Laird and Cadge (2010) posit that Muslim community-based health clinics, which provide a space for similar themes to emerge, help normalize the community’s symbolic and political needs by articulating values that serve the larger society. Thus, we argue that traditional identities and cultural assimilation work jointly to shape American Muslims’ worldviews, experiences, and values. Participants in this study are part of the transnational Muslim community in the United States who, throughout their social network, were able to make decisions, express concerns, take actions, and develop their own transmigrate identities. This has been supported by Schiller and Salazar’s (2013) arguments using transnationalism to describe the new type of migrants as transmigrants. The authors refer to transnationalism as a process by which immigrants build social fields that link their homeland and the country where they settle. In addition to maintaining multiple relations spanning borders, transmigrants develop and maintain economic, social, organizational, religious, and political ties. Our study findings correspond with Byng’s findings (Byng 2017), indicating that second-generation Muslim Americans position themselves in the United States based on belonging. They reject the ethnic identity of their parents, which would create a barrier between American and Muslim while constructing their Muslim identity as an American identity. In other words, transnationalism describes the way social connections influence a person’s identity and how they interact with others across national boundaries (Byng 2017). Afzal (2014) has also supported the discourse on transnational identity and belonging by emphasizing how religion intersects with transnationalism. In particular, he examines how Pakistani professionals, activists, and entrepreneurs negotiate transnational Islam, diasporic nationalism, and neoliberal capitalism (p. 18) in class and sectarian terms.

Medical ethics, based on moral, religious, and philosophical ideas and principles, are shaped by the physicians’ surroundings and medical culture. Many participants cited benevolence, universalism, and justice as reasons they chose their specialization, emphasizing accepting others as equals and concern for their welfare. They express these values in compassion, kindness when caring for the sick, charity/benevolence to the poor and the underserved, and treating all people equally. These values are consonant with the ethics statements set forth by the American Medical Association (2002), which serve as the basis for honorable professional conduct to provide competent medical care with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights… to be honest in all professional interactions… and to support access to medical care for all. In Muslim countries, medical ethics are based mainly on and shaped by Islamic principles. Many physicians in Muslim countries and those participating in American Islamic medical associations take the Oath of Muslim Doctors, which includes a promise to protect human life in all stages and under all circumstances; to be, all the way, an instrument of God’s mercy, extending medical care to near and far, virtuous and sinner, and friend and enemy (Daar and Al-Khitamy 2001, p. 61). Other Muslim scholars have demonstrated that questions of patient autonomy (a primary principle in secular bioethics), in particular, become problematic when trying to follow God’s will and preserve the community in making end-of-life or other medical decisions (Sachedina 2009). The AMPs in our study indicated no such conflict in their professional decision-making. Thus, while certain medical ethics are positively associated with Muslim religious identity, the highly democratic cultural and medical climate of the United States may also be responsible for the development of, and adherence to, such values.

While Padela et al. (2008) suggest that AMPs perceive a need for greater development of religious expertise in biomedical issues, our data suggest that many can navigate ethical quandaries independently. Many feel that their religious background and practice provide positive support for conventional biomedical professional ethics and practice and that Islamic tradition is less ethically restrictive than commonly perceived. Like Padela et al. (2008), our respondents consistently remarked that they would treat all patients equally, regardless of sexual orientation or addiction, despite religious proscriptions against such orientations and behaviors. As suggested by Inglehart and Baker (2000), the study results illustrate the position of Muslim migrants in the middle between the values of the dominant culture of the host society and their Islamic values. Results also suggest that Muslims are gradually integrating some values of their host country and the secular bioethics of their profession and are not exceptionally resistant to the integration process.

In contrast to Saroglou and Galand’s (2004) study, AMPs embrace universalism values. For example, many AMPs ensured the inclusion and protection of gay and lesbian patients, highlighting the Islamic ethic to serve people indiscriminately despite Qur’an 7:80–81 (often interpreted as prohibiting homosexuality). According to Islamic medical principles, a doctor should offer his [or her] medical care to the poor and rich, to the cultural and illiterate, to Muslims and non-Muslims, and white and black (Serour 1994, p. 86).

5. Conclusions

American Muslim physicians, while ethnically diverse, present standard healthcare professional values and similar challenges in dealing with controversial topics such as abortion due to their religious beliefs. Vetting Muslim doctors for radicalism may prove ineffective and will doubtless create a civil liberties problem. In conclusion, participants who identified themselves as Muslim and practicing physicians in the United States spoke respectfully of their traditions, patients, and fellow Americans. While all AMPs shared the values that Schwartz (1994) identifies as tradition, universalism, security, and benevolence, they also balanced the values of conformity, security, stimulation, self-direction, and achievement. Many physicians expressed values against hedonism, mainly making personal sacrifices to provide free medical services and charity work. Our interviewees expressed themselves as incorporating religious values into every aspect of their personal, community, and medical practice with varying specificity. Although we did not explicitly examine the influence of religion and religiosity measures on AMPs’ values, our study results agree with Schwartz and Huismans’ (1995) findings that the impact of religion on values is strong and evident. We have also indicated the existence of a considerable overlap and convergence in the lives of AMPs as regards professional, cultural, and religious values in the United States.

This study shows that religious and cultural identities, values, and medical practice intersect in many areas of an immigrant’s life. Previous generations of various socio-cultural and religious groups have carved their religious and cultural identities into this country’s fertile soil and given meaning to the migration process. The diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious identities they brought to the New World became new strands in the United States’ vast pluralistic tapestry. By being allowed to cultivate and develop their trends, directions, and challenges, they engage with those who arrived before them in the ever-changing process of entering the American mainstream. This is the case for many AMPs who have come here, as have countless others, to start a new life and career. Overall, this study highlighted how AMPs link their personal goals and motivations to their religious tradition, cultural heritage, and modern values in family life, community involvement, and the choices for and within their professional lives.

The findings of this study also indicate that culture is constantly changing, so it is impossible to view culture as a monolith. Moreover, while it provides context, ethics, and values for large segments of Muslims, there is tremendous diversity and nuance in how Muslims view, interpret and are influenced by culture. In medical ethics, moral, religious, and philosophical principles are relevant according to the culture practiced; an ethical practice in one culture may be unethical in another (Serour 1994). Islam and Muslims, including Muslim physicians, in the United States, do not constitute a monolithic cultural or societal group. As immigrants, they bring varied heritages, discourses, transnational engagements, thought processes, and actions with them (Shams 2021). Accordingly, Muslim is a term used to refer to people who adhere to Islam rather than ethnic groups (Shams 2021). This paper is intended to shed some light on the experiences of Sunni Muslim doctors in the United States and not to represent the experiences of all Muslims or American Muslims. Muslims’ cultural beliefs and spiritual values affect their medical care assessments and practices like doctors from other religious affiliations. There are common underpinnings of Islam, including the value or responsibility to follow Islamic ethics consistently (Zailani et al. 2016). In healthcare settings, this may include halal medical practices and preserving Muslim patients’ religious beliefs during their medical stay (Rahman et al. 2018). The present study explored how the participants’ Islamic identities, ethics, and values have shaped their medical practice.

The sample does not represent the entire Muslim physician population in the United States. Our recruitment methods involved snowball sampling beginning with AMPs active in ethnic or religious professional organizations and mostly Sunnis. This study nevertheless provides insight into the diverse ways in which Islam and being Muslim emerge in their personal, family, professional, and public lives. The results should help healthcare providers better understand their Muslim colleagues and deliver care that respects a broad range of Muslim patients’ beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors. AMPs, both immigrant and native-born, play an essential role in representing Islam in the public sphere. Understanding Muslim identity and values in social and professional spheres and the diverse and creative ways in which they construct should encourage scholars to pursue further studies that shift our focus from studying congregations to everyday religion (Ammerman 2007) of those who are both American and Muslim; but who also represent a more complex living community of argument than these labels suggest.

Contrary to the modernization approach, AMPs support the strong influence of religion on their practice and its existence worldwide. Nevertheless, modernization-induced secularization captures an integral part of how these professionals view their cultural and religious values and identities and find their personal life and career shaped by their resulting sense of existential security despite being one of the vulnerable populations subjected to the post-9/11 backlash. The authors argue that feelings of vulnerability due to physical, societal, and personal attacks and backlashes are one of the critical drivers of their religious identity and values. Moreover, these feelings demonstrate that religious practices, values, and beliefs are found among members of the most prestigious social elite living in such affluent and secure post-industrial societies as the United States.

This study suggests that although religious and cultural identities and values influence AMPs’ practice, it should not overlook that these identities and values are influenced by the same forces that affect their patients and other professionals of different faith groups. In addition, as many AMPs must consider their own religious beliefs and cultural values, they also need to examine how their values might influence their delivery of care so that they do not cause further personal and religious biases based on their religious beliefs and values to be directed toward them.