Muslims in the United States: The State of Research (review)

Given the rising interest in Muslim communities in the U.S. and around the world, Karen Leonard's new book provides a timely overview of social science research on American Muslim communities, pinpointing gaps and directions for current and future research. The book goes beyond the current literature and presents a thorough analysis of the social, political, and intellectual lives of Muslims in the U.S. Offering both rich descriptions and cogent analyses, Leonard contributes a much-needed guide and reference for academic disciplines studying U.S. Muslims today.

In the first two, historical, chapters, Leonard sketches the diverse origins, political positions, and religious beliefs among American Muslims. In chapter 1, "The Development of Ethno-Racial Muslim Communities," Leonard distinguishes African American, Arab and Arab-American, and South Asian Muslim communities in terms of their sectarian affiliations, historical presence, and interaction within the ethno-racial structures of U.S. society. (The book also includes three appendices that provide helpful historical background on Islam and the Islamic presence in the U.S.) Chapter 2, "Converging Histories in the Twentieth Century," outlines the history of various Muslim communities' political organization and undertakes and accomplishes the difficult task of defining the Muslim population given its numerous internal and conflicting boundaries. Specifically, Leonard's analysis of politicization efforts includes both the relationship between Muslim spokespeople and the state and the way community members view their spokespeople. Further, she discusses the impact of September 11, 2001, on the political life of the community. After the historical overview, Leonard moves on to analyze the current research on Muslim communities, highlighting the need to study small communities in a way that reflects the diversity of, in this case, Islamic beliefs. The third chapter, "Historical Research Issues," makes a sound argument for the need to study unmosqued individuals who may still identify with Islamic culture. As most scholarly research has focused on mosque populations for investigating Muslims, the study of secular Muslims is largely lacking.

While the main part of the book deals with contemporary research issues, Leonard does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the various histories and belief systems that are key to current contestations among U.S. Muslim communities today. Stressing the lack of comparative research, Leonard highlights the tensions along the lines of class, race, gender, sexuality, national origins, and generation among U.S. Muslims. These tensions, the author accurately argues, stem from the differences between Islam as a religion and Islam as a culture. The four chapters "Contemporary American Muslim Identities," "Muslims in the American Landscape," "Islamic Discourses and Practices," and "Becoming American" point to U.S.-specific experiences, limitations, and reinterpretations of texts and thus the need to contextualize U.S. Muslim communities within the U.S. religious studies. Furthermore, Leonard illustrates that while current research on U.S. Muslim communities has studied how they negotiate different identities, interact with the state, and are experiencing a deemphasis in sectarian divisions, the "Americanization of Islam" remains a compelling phenomenon that continues to be understudied.

In establishing her argument, Leonard draws on a variety of sources. Her book employs social science and legal research, as well as theological investigations, journalistic writings, expressive culture, and popular texts to vividly point to the plethora of underutilized sources and reference materials that would only enhance our understanding of the Muslims in the U.S. today. In the last chapter, "Contemporary Research Agendas," Leonard briefly contrasts the research undertaken on Muslims in the U.S. with that in Europe, arguing that U.S.-specific experiences of Muslim communities need to be taken up by scholars in many academic fields. While more research on Muslim communities in the U.S. is being funded and published since 9/11, broader issues and trends that Muslims share with the dominant religious groups continue to be unexamined. These issues, Leonard concludes, are important for our understanding of American pluralism and the role Muslim-U.S. play in developing U.S. civic...