Islam is the most misrepresented, misunderstood, and the subject for much controversy in the United States of America especially with the women’s rights issue. This study presents interviews with Muslim Americans on their narrative and perspective of their understanding of women’s rights in accordance to the Islamic traditions. Utilizing a post-positive design, a qualitative data was gathered to compare Quranic text, and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad to daily practice of Muslim Americans in a Western democratic society. Participants acknowledged that although Islam as a religion has given women rights more than any other world religion and nation, practicing has not been implemented properly because of the cultural and interpretation barriers. Muslim Americans also acknowledge that the current political atmosphere in the United State has encouraged community members to become more vocal and practicing Muslims.

abstract: "Culture talk" figures prominently in the discussions of and about Muslims, both locally and globally. Culture, in these discussions, is considered to be the underlying cause of gender and generational divides giving rise to an alleged "identity crisis." Culture also presumably conceals and contaminates "pure/true Islam." Culture serves as the scaffold on which all that divides Muslim American immigrants and converts is built; furthermore, the fear of a Muslim cultural takeover underpins the "Islamization of America" narrative. This dissertation engages these generational and "immigrant"-"indigenous" fissures and the current narratives that dominate Muslim and public spheres. It does so through the perspectives of the offspring of converts and immigrants. As the children and grandchildren of immigrants and converts come of age, and distant as they are from historical processes and experiences that shaped the parents' generations while having shared a socialization process as both Muslim and American, what role do they play in the current chapter of Islam in post-9/11 America? Will the younger generation be able to cross the divides, mend the fissures, and play a pivotal role in an "American Muslim community"? Examining how younger generations of both backgrounds view each other and their respective roles in forging an American Muslim belonging, agenda and discourse is a timely and much needed inquiry. This project aims to contribute by shedding more light on the identities, perspectives and roles of these younger generations through the four dominant narratives of identity crisis, pure/true Islam vs. Cultural Islam, the Islamization of America, and creation of an American Muslim community/identity/culture. These narratives are both part of public discourse and themes generated from interviews, a questionnaire\survey, and personal observation. This ethnographic study examines how American born and/or raised offspring of both converts to Islam and immigrant Muslims in the Phoenix and Chicago metropolitan areas define self and community, how they negotiate fissures and fault lines (ethnicity, race, class, gender, and religious interpretation) within their communities, and how their faith informs daily life and envisions a future. I utilize participant observation, interviews, and surveys and examine digital, visual and published media to answer these questions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2013

No description available.

The Muslim population in the United States has faced numerous challenges in the aftermath of September 11th, including increased negative portrayal of Muslims in the media. While there is increased understanding that the social environment in the US has become more Islamophobic, there is little research in applied psychology fields to understand how this is influencing the life choices of young Muslims in the United States. This investigation focuses on South Asian Muslim Americans and the factors that influence their career decision-making process. Lent and Colleagues’ (1994) Social Cognitive Career Theory career choice model was used to develop a better understanding of these factors. This study investigated how the variables of gender, ethnicity, religiosity, perceived discrimination, and family involvement relate to career decision-making self-efficacy and outcome expectations for South Asian Muslim college students. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to understand the relationships among the variables. The goal of this study was to provide initial understandings of the factors influencing South Asian Muslim Americans career decision-making process. The study did not find a significant relationship among the variables or the applicability of the SCCT career choice model to this population. These findings demonstrate a need to learn more about the career process for this population and other factors specific to the population that may be involved in the career development process. The results provide valuable information for counseling psychologists in university counseling centers to broaden their understanding and support the needs of South Asian Muslim American students during the career choice process.

Fear and faith in Texas is a multimedia journalism report about Islam in Texas. Islam has gained significant media attention recently so it is important to know more about a religion that has a growing congregation in the United States. This project answers questions like "What are the basics of the religion?" "Is it really such a foreign concept, or is it grounded in concepts and history familiar to non-Muslims?" Getting to know and break down the barriers that keep stereotypes alive and misconceptions thriving is an important part to understanding Islam. Fear and faith in Texas highlights the truth about Islam and Muslim Americans that often is ignored due to fear and a lack of knowledge. The project incorporates text, video, interactive graphics and other visual aids to give background on the religion of Islam, Muslim Americans, and show the role education plays in communicating information about religion in Texas. / text

No description available.

No description available.

For decades, the heritage language learner has been the topic of research in the field of second language acquisition for commonly taught languages such as Spanish. However, in the field of Arabic second language acquisition, little research has been done on this learning community. This report seeks to fill this gap in scholarship by reporting the survey results of religious heritage language learners of Arabic, defined as non-Arab Muslim students. This report analyzes a qualitative survey of fourteen religious heritage students of Arabic. The analysis helps characterize this community with regards to trends in previous exposure to Arabic before enrolling in university courses, motivations for learning Arabic and shifts in motivations, attitudes and preferences towards teachers, and the effect their studies has had on their personal spirituality and perceptions about their spirituality. Each section of this report presents suggestions for further research and implications on teaching and learning. Finally, I propose suggestions for curriculum development based on the results of the survey. Given the geopolitical importance of the Middle East and the prevalence of misperceptions about the region amongst Americans, competence in Arab cultural literacies is especially timely and critically urgent. A closer look at religious heritage students of Arabic can help educators strategize the teaching of cultural literacy. For instance, religious heritage students can help their peers learn about Islam and the religious significance of Arabic. At the same time, religious heritage students in particular may benefit most from being taught about the religious diversity of the Arab world and other aspects of the rich Arab cultures to which they may not previously been exposed. By re-envisioning the role of religious heritage learners of Arabic, the hope is that educators can create curricula that effectively and efficiently convey cultural literacy to all students in the Arabic language classroom. The study of religious heritage also has potential for targeted improvement of pedagogical praxis for teaching the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing to these students. / text

No description available.