Search Results (48)

Emerging from the Bengali Muslim char-dwellers in the riverine environments of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, the Miya Poetry movement is a unique environmentalism of the marginalized in contemporary Assam, India. Writing as a native scholar of Assam, I look at how the poetry movement displays the ethos of an ecopolitical spirituality that embodies the riverine ecology, environmental politics, and sacrality and how it challenges the majoritarian state’s narrative of the Bengali Muslim char-dwellers being denigrated as the “environmental waste producers”. My concept of “ecopolitical spirituality” is in tandem with Carol White’s ‘African American religious naturalism’, which elucidates the remembrance and evocation of traditional environmental relationships of and by the marginalized communities with the purpose of healing and rehumanizing themselves. I begin with a short history of the Miya Poetry movement among the Bengali Muslim char-dwellers in Assam. It narrates how the leading Miya poets adopt the local “Miya” dialect to express the traditional and continued relationships of Bengali Muslim char-dwellers who find themselves entangled with and nurtured by the land, rivers, plants, and animals. I then examine how Bengali Muslims have been framed by the majoritarian state and Assamese society as “environmental waste producers”. With climate change-induced destructive floods, along with post-colonial state’s rampant building of embankments leading to violent floods and erosion, Bengali Muslim char-dwellers are forced to migrate to nearby government grazing reserves or national parks. There, the majoritarian state projects them to be damaging the environment and issues violent evictions. In state reports too, the Bengali Muslim char-dwellers have been equated with “rats”, “crows”, and “vultures”. I use the concept of “environmental racism” to show how this state-led denigration justifies the allegation of the Muslim char-dwellers as “environmental waste producers” and how the Miya Poetry movement counters the racist allegation with new metaphors by highlighting the traditional relationships of the marginalized community with the riverine environment. In the final section, I look in detail at the characteristics and reasons that make the poetry movement ecopolitically spiritual in nature. I thus lay out an argument that the ecopolitical spirituality of the Miya Poetry movement resists the statist dehumanization and devaluation of Miya Muslims by not mocking, violating, or degrading the majoritarian Assamese but by rehumanizing themselves and their relationship with the environment. Full article

The number of refugees across the world is increasing rapidly, as is the prevalence of Islamophobia. This flow of people and changing perceptions of them usually result in negative attitudes and hostility toward Muslims and refugees since they are perceived as the “outgroup”. This globally prevalent trend is usually attributable especially to refugees being perceived as a social, economic, or security threat. The goal of this paper is to understand Americans’ perception of outgroups and how they are related to anti-refugee and anti-Muslim sentiment by using a data-driven approach. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to determine whether there were any latent classes concerning outgroup attitudes in the US. Our results showed that people fall into four different categories regarding how they perceive Muslims, refugees, and minorities. At the same time, there were five different latent classes regarding how they perceive immigrants. This paper aims to explore this complex issue and help to reduce prejudice and intergroup conflict, ameliorate negative attitudes, and provide these groups with a stable social support system. Full article

The architecture of Jerusalem has for centuries been defined by its being a space sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The end of World War I marked the beginning of British Mandatory rule, which lasted until 1948. During this period, Jerusalem witnessed a proliferation of architectural projects that repositioned religion within modern typologies representing the city’s communities. This research investigates four such buildings: the British Rockefeller Museum, the Palestinian Palace Hotel, the American YMCA Building, which functioned as a community center and hostel, and the new Zionist Executive Building. The integration of religious elements into these edifices is examined using the concept of inter-religious engagement and by applying the theory of purification and hybridization. The research demonstrates that British and American Christians, Zionist Jews, and Muslim Palestinians, used different strategies to produce inter-religious engagement—either intentionally or because of British-dictated political constructs. British and American Christians embedded religious elements within modern typologies to reflect peaceful co-existence, while Zionist Jews and Muslim Palestinians used them to construct national identity. Although conceived as “purely” secular, these modern typologies were hybridized by the integration of religious spaces or emblems, revealing further dimensions to our understanding and assessment of 20th-century urban secular architecture and its intersection with religions. Full article

This article investigates the evolving landscape of religious agitation in the digital age, focusing specifically on the religious propaganda activities of female bloggers in the USA and Europe. In today’s society, religious discourse is increasingly being held on various social media channels, shaping a new trend in religious agitation. Muslim female bloggers are emerging as influential voices on these platforms, employing diverse preaching methods and discussing certain feminine topics aimed at Muslim women. This research employs a mix of quantitative, qualitative, and empirical methodologies to discover the peculiarities of the sermons delivered by them. An extensive analysis was performed to evaluate their rising influence, audience interaction, and how they differ from their male counterparts. Additionally, this study examines how Muslim female bloggers are transforming the face of the Islamic call in the USA and Europe by adopting a feminist approach. Importantly, our research work highlights the activities of non-hijabi Muslim bloggers who are influencing Western Muslim women in social media. We examine the religious discourse of Western female and male Muslim bloggers by juxtaposing their preaching activities. Besides, a comparison is made between the female Muslim bloggers in Western regions and the Islamic world. This article underscores the profound influence of social media on religious discourse and highlights their contributions to religious discourse in the digital age. Full article

Objective: The present study explores the cross-cultural validation of neuropsychological assessments and their clinical applications in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), focusing on culturally adapted CBT (CA-CBT) across diverse populations and settings. Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted in multiple academic databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Keywords related to cognitive behavioral therapy, cultural adaptation, and specific populations were used. The inclusion criteria encompassed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pilot studies that assessed CA-CBT for various mental health conditions. Results: The review included studies involving Chinese Americans, Latino caregivers, Syrian refugees, Jordanian children, Malaysian Muslims, Afghan refugees, Iraqi women, Japanese children and adolescents, and Tanzanian and Kenyan children. CA-CBT demonstrated significant effectiveness in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and psychosis. For instance, research has shown that CA-CBT is more effective than standard CBT in reducing depressive symptoms among Chinese Americans and in significantly lowering PTSD symptoms in Syrian refugee women. This method has been well-received and is feasible for use in diverse populations, such as Jordanian children and Afghan refugees. The long-term benefits are promising, with sustained improvements being reported in various studies. Additionally, digital and remote delivery methods have demonstrated potential for expanding the accessibility of CA-CBT. Conclusions: CA-CBT is a valuable and effective intervention for diverse cultural populations, significantly improving mental health outcomes. However, future research must address limitations such as small sample sizes, short follow-up periods, and variability in assessment tools. Future studies should include larger and more diverse sample sizes, longer follow-up periods, rigorous control groups, and comprehensive outcome measures to further validate and enhance the application of CA-CBT across different cultural contexts. Full article

Breast cancer mortality rates vary across ethnic groups in Israel, where protective factors such as high fertility and breastfeeding rates may be moderated by socioeconomic factors and mammography rates. We aim to investigate disparities in breast cancer mortality between Jewish and Muslim Arab women in Israel and examine how sociodemographic variables and number of children are associated with mortality. Our retrospective follow-up study uses data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics and multivariable Cox regression models, adjusting for age, number of children, country of origin, locality size, and socioeconomic status. Compared to Jewish women, Muslim Arab women exhibited lower breast cancer mortality rates. However, after adjusting for multiple sociodemographic variables, no significant differences persisted between Jewish and Muslim Arab women. Having more than three children was associated with lower mortality among Muslim Arab women but not among Jewish women. European/American origin, larger localities, and medium socioeconomic status were associated with higher mortality. Sociodemographic factors may therefore explain the disparities in breast cancer mortality between Jewish and Muslim Arab women in Israel. Targeted intervention programs that consider the unique characteristics and risk factors of different ethnic groups are needed to reduce disparities and improve outcomes. Full article

This study explores the relationship between linguistic behaviors of Americans of Southwest Asian or North African descent (SWANA Americans) and their ethnic rootedness, religion, and locality. SWANA Americans are an understudied community in the field of sociolinguistics but could be highly visible in society. SWANA Americans have historically and legally been classified as white in the US despite the social perception that they are not white. The linguistic analysis in the present paper will reflect the social discrepancies between the top-down perspective of assigning all SWANA Americans a statistical race category versus the bottom-up perspective of examining the social implications of this community’s nuanced internal composition differences. Labovian Sociolinguistic Interviews were conducted with 54 SWANA Americans in the Upper Midwest and Southern California, and an ethnic rootedness metric was designed to measure individual speakers’ ethnic rootedness. The results show that higher ethnic rootedness, being a Muslim (in the more careful speech style), and being from Dearborn, MI, are significant predictors of higher rates of “reracializing” indexically bleached ethnically affiliated lexicon (words such as Ali, Muslim, Iraq, Mohammad, etc.) in the speakers’ English speech. Full article

This study sheds light on the identity negotiation processes inside the African American Muslim communities and the post-1960s immigrant Muslim communities both before and after 9/11, and the various hurdles that have impeded the development of a pluralistic American Muslim identity. It locates the American Muslim experience within the omnibus context of religious pluralism and draws on Barbara McGraw’s “the American Sacred Ground” theoretical framework (2003) to gauge advances and setbacks in such identity negotiation processes. While gleaning insights from the works of scholars of Islam and religious pluralism in America, this study is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the USA between 2002 and 2006. After 9/11, both communities came to realize that it is vital to engage in a process of self-critique and confront the challenges of reinventing themselves on the American pluralistic tapestry. While the African American Sunni communities tried to reinvent themselves as ‘new Muslims’, the immigrant communities found themselves compelled to reinvent themselves as “new Americans”. In studying some facets of such an inter- and intracommunity identity (re)negotiation process, this article argues that perennial internal factionalism and the promotion of changing US foreign policy agendas in the Muslim world still represent a major stumbling block towards developing an American Muslim identity that draws on its many streams. Full article

Building on previous studies on a mid- and late-twentieth-century recasting of Islam’s doctrine of monotheism, or tawhid, as a distinctly Islamic framework for liberative praxis, this article considers the interplay between the particular and the universal in the tawhidic paradigms of Iranian lay theologian Ali Shariati (1933–1977) and African-American pro-faith and pro-feminist theologian amina wadud (b. 1952). The article proposes that although it was developed in a distinctly Islamic register by means of Quranic exegesis and intrareligious conversations, the tawhidic paradigm has always been conversant with a range of non-Islamic liberative paradigms, and these conversations have been integral to the negotiation of a more inclusive concept of tawhid. To continue to recast tawhid in a more inclusive register, the article further argues, requires taking account of the non-Muslim ‘other’ as an equal moral agent in liberative struggles and embracing Islam’s theological and ideological ‘others’ as equally significant repositories of liberative potential. Full article

American Muslims regularly encounter a tacit distinction between the civic and religious spheres of their daily lives. Islamic legal norms are not invoked incessantly to highlight the differences between Muslims and their fellow citizens, but instead are considered relevant for particular issues at particular times. Through examining examples of how Muslims engage with the American economic and legal system, it is shown that much of one’s engagement with the civic structures of American life is seen as unproblematic. Understanding this distinction helps Muslims participating in American life to properly conceptualize the relationship between their religious faith and their roles as citizens in the larger body politic. Full article

Despite being a foundational practice in Islam, deeply rooted in law and reflected in the theological and spiritual concepts of wealth and sustenance (rizq), discussions of applying obligatory alms (zakāh) rulings to majority non-Muslim countries are limited. The Muslim’s spiritual attitude toward finances is informed by a theological view that all forms of wealth ultimately belong to God. Sunni Muslim theologians define rizq to be what one actually (not potentially) consumes and benefits from (not possesses), which, alongside plentiful verses and Prophetic traditions, continuously motivate philanthropic giving without fearing scarcity. This article aims to investigate some major issues resulting from the unregulated procedures of zakāh collection and disbursement as practiced by North American Muslim organizations and religious leaders. The article (1) doctrinally analyzes how North American practices diverge from the rules of Islamic law (fiqh) regarding zakāh distribution, (2) examines the ramifications of contemporary Eastern–Western legal opinions (fatāwā) expanding the eligibility of charitable institutions to receive zakāh, and (3) investigates the practices of administering zakāh resources. Full article

This article examines the contested nature of American efforts to expand America’s twentieth century notion of tri-faith idealism—the unity of the three monotheistic faiths of Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism—to include Muslims both at home and abroad. It does so through a contextual, historical study of the construction and dedication of the Islamic Center of Washington. The construction of the Islamic Center ultimately proved a lightning rod that electrified competing wings of Protestant Christian nationalism within in the United States—namely “inclusivist ecumenists” and “exclusivist populists.” Full article

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. Full article

This paper will explore ways in which dynamics of visibility/invisibility of American Muslim women activists are transformed in secular places like USA, while these women struggle surviving on the borderlands. Borderland and boundary are perceived as lived spaces that are culturally hybrid and are seen as a theatre for radical action. In this paper I contend that Muslim women activists in the USA operate from geographies of borderland and while inhabiting this hybrid third space they generate discourses of dissent that challenge stereotypes about them. Hailing from diverse backgrounds and countries, with different cultural roots yet same belief system and faith, American Muslim women activists adapt varied resistance strategies to challenge the Muslim patriarchy and the western hegemony that has persisted to portray Muslim women as an oppressed group of people in need of saving. Tracing Muslim women activists’ emotional and experiential geographies I will look at ways in which dynamics of solidarity between them have moved beyond dichotomous divisions of global-local, global North-global South, and empire-colony. With the discussion of lives and activism of Amina Wadud, Linda Sarsour and Asra Nomani, this paper will contextualize these activists within the spaces of resistance which they inhabit, while navigating their challenges in the context of geopolitical tensions and conflicts which are their lived realities in the USA. Full article

The relationship between religion and transnationalism has only recently gained scholarly attention to document the influence religious organizations have on mediating transnational ties. While scholarship on second-generation transnationalism has gained interest, second-generation Arab Americans remain understudied. Yet, Arab Americans, especially Muslim Arab Americans, have been progressively encountering overt anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments for two decades, since 11 September. These experiences of discrimination are bound to affect their transnationalism. Based on 32 semi-structured interviews with children of Arab immigrants from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, this study finds that religious organizations are important transnational social fields for the second generation, especially those who experienced discrimination. This study finds that for Muslim Arab Americans, mosques are important transnational social fields in which they engage in transnational ways of being and belonging that connect them to their parental homeland and transnational identity. Consistent with reactive transnationalism, when experiencing discrimination Muslim Arab Americans increased their participation within their mosques in two ways. First, mosques are places Muslim Arab Americans draw on the support of other Arab Americans who have experienced discrimination. Second, the social networks of Muslim Arabs provide important historical and cultural knowledge about their parental homeland; knowledge that Muslim Arab Americans would later use to advocate and educate others when/if they reencountered discrimination. Full article