Al-Mughtaribūn

American Law and the Transformation of Muslim Life in the United States

By Kathleen M. Moore

Subjects: Legal Studies
Series: SUNY series in Middle Eastern Studies
Paperback : 9780791425800, 211 pages, August 1995
Hardcover : 9780791425794, 211 pages, August 1995

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Table of contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Symbolism and Legal Institutions

2. Immigration and Citizenship in Turn-of-the-Century United States

3. Other Asian: Immigrants from the Muslim World

4. Muslims in Prison: Constitutional Protection of Religious Liberty

5. Hate Crimes Legislation and the Protection of Religious Property

6. There Goes the Neighborhood: Mosques in American Suburbs

7. Reaching a Crossroad

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Examines the influence of American law on Muslim life in the United States, treating such issues as pluralism and religious toleration, immigration and naturalization, civil rights, Black Muslims and the prisoners' rights movement, municipal zoning, and hate-crimes legislation.

Description

Al-Mughtaribun explores the influence of American law on Muslim life in the United States. It examines pluralism and religious toleration in America, viewed from the vantage point offered by the experiences of Muslims in the United States, a significant and growing part of an increasingly pluralistic society. By tracing the historical shift in the consciousness of American Muslims, precipitated by their interactions with the legal institutions of the dominant culture, Moore demonstrates the transformative impact of law on a minority community seeking religious toleration. She treats issues of immigration and naturalization, civil rights, Black Muslims and the prisoners' rights movement, municipal zoning, and hate crimes legislation.

Kathleen M. Moore is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut.

Reviews

"This book includes a vast range of scholarly and legal sources to tell the important story of Muslim immigration, citizenship acquisition, legal status, and socio-cultural-political experience in North America over a period of about a century. The specific focus on Islam and Muslims is of the greatest value, but the book will also serve the needs of scholarship and teaching on immigration and ethnicity in Canada and the United States. Muslims—whether Arab, African-American or Iranian—continue to experience difficulties in North America, from hate crimes to less traumatic but still hurtful attitudes and treatment on a continuing basis. Moore's book will help us to better understand such difficulties and work toward alleviating them. " — Frederick M. Denny, University of Colorado at Boulder

"A welcome addition to the literature and research on Muslims in America. Its value extends beyond simply the Muslim experience, important as that is. The original research, scholarship, and insights have ramifications for all ethnic, national, and religious minorities in the United States. " — Adair Lummis, Hartford Seminary