Schmidt, Garbi. Islam in Urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 2004

Schmidt, Garbi. Islam in Urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2004. Paper $22.95.

The book poses two questions: Can Islam in America be considered an "American" religion? Is the Muslim community monolithic? In an attempt to answer them, Schmidt focuses on the study of Sunni Muslim institutions in Chicago. Muslim weekend schools, Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), Muslim full-time schools, the Muslim Student Association, mosques, and para-mosques (grassroots organizations that supplement mosques and other Muslim organizations) are the main institutions that Schmidt observed in her study. The author treats these institutions as sites where individual Muslims construct their own identity.

The picture that emerges is one that clearly demonstrates the diversity in the American Muslim community. There are African American Muslims as well as Muslims who immigrated to the U.S. and who constitute different ethnic groups. It is not easy, if at all possible, to transcend ethnicity, nationality or even race all the time in the quest for Muslim unification. Within Sunni Islam there are divisions as well. Sufis think of themselves as Sunni Muslims; yet other Sunnis think of them as heretics. There are also divisions between those who interpret the Qur'an literally and those who are more liberal in its interpretation. South Asians, Arabs, Bosnians and other national or ethnic groups dominate different mosques and organizations. There are those to whom national origin is primary while others tend to think of themselves as Muslims first. Differences between first and second generation Muslims are significant for the individual's identity as Muslim. So are differences along class lines and differences along gender lines. Finally, differences between converts and those who were born into Muslim families are also critical in intra-Muslim relations.

The author used the term "Muslim Americans" and "American Muslims" interchangeably, which gives the reader the idea that Schmidt has not made up her mind whether to emphasize the nationality or the religion. Be that as it may, it is clear from Schmidt's presentation that she is of the opinion that Islam in America has become an "American" religion. That does not mean that Islam has lost its universality, it only means that as everywhere else in the world, Islam, to a large extent, has adapted to its "local" conditions. The study focused on individuals in Muslim institutions; whereas, much about Muslims and "Islam in Urban America" may be discerned from looking at Muslims outside those religiously based organizations. But this endeavor was outside the purview of the study.