The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction PDF
Preview The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction
The Practice of Islam in America An Introduction Edited by Edward E. Curtis IV n NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York www.nyupress.org © 2017 by New York University All rights reserved References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Curtis, Edward E„ 1970- editor. Title: The practice of Islam in America: an introduction / edited by Edward E. Curtis IV. Description: New York: New York University Press, (2017J J Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2017008038! isbn 9781479882670 (cl: alk. paper) j isbn 9781479804887 (pb: alk. paper) Subjects: lcsh: Muslims—United States. | Islam—Customs and practices, j Religious life—Islam. Classification: lcc BP67.U6 P73 20171 ddc 297.0973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017008038 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppli ers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America 10987654321 Also available as an ebook To Vernon Schubel and Ahmet Karamustafa CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Edward E. Curtis IV PART I. PRAYER AND PILGRIMAGE 1. Salah: Daily Prayers in Muslim America 15 Rose Aslan 2. Dhikr: Remembering the Divine 36 Rosemary R. Corbett 3. Hajj: The Pilgrimage 60 Hussein Rashid PART II. HOLIDAYS 4. Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha: Fasting and Feasting 83 Jackleen Salem 5. Ashura: Commemorating Imam Husayn 104 Michael Muhammad Knight 6. Milad/Mawlid: Celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday 123 Marcia Hermansen PART III. LIFE CYCLE RITUALS 7. Birth Rituals: Welcoming a Child into the World 141 Maria E Curtis 8. Weddings: Love and Mercy in Marriage Ceremonies 165 Juliane Hammer 9. Funerals and Death Rites: Honoring the Departed 188 Amir Hussain vii PART IV. ISLAMIC ETHICS AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE 10. You Can’t Be Human Alone: Philanthropy and Social Giving in Muslim Communities 209 Danielle Widmann Abraham 11. Food Practices: The Ethics of Eating 23 2 Magfirah Dahlan 12. The Qur’an: Studying, Embodying, and Living with the Word of God 245 Muna Ali About the Editor 271 About the Contributors 273 Index 275 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is my pleasure, first, to acknowledge the volume's twelve con tributors. They put up with my devotion to deadlines and, more importantly, rendered a rich and vibrant portrait of Islamic religious life in the United States. In July 2016, many of us came together on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to critique one an other's drafts and offer constructive suggestions for improvement. This meeting improved the quality of the volume and gave us a rare opportu nity to share ideas in a collegial, supportive setting. As part of our meetings, we held a dinner in which Muslim commu nity members from every part of the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area came together to hear about our progress and provide feedback. My community partners were essential to pulling this off. Gratitude goes to Rima Khan Shahid of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana, Imam Michael Saa- hir of Nur Allah Islamic Center, Imam Ismail Abdul-Aleem of Masjid al- Mu'mineen, Vice President Muhammad Safder of the Muslim Community Center, Sr. Habibe Ali of the Islamic Society of North America, and Dr. Sohel Anwar of al-Huda Foundation. We were also honored by the pres ence of retired Judge David Shaheed and City Controller Fady Qaddoura. Lauren Schmidt of IUPUI's Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture coordinated both the authors' meeting and the com munity dinner, and it couldn't have been better organized or imple mented. Nate Wynne also offered essential assistance. My thanks go to both of them. Financial support for these events was provided by Indiana Universi ty's New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities Program and by a collab orative research grant from the American Academy of Religion. I thank Dr. Faith Kirkham Hawkins, IU's associate vice president for research, for helping me navigate the grant application and its implementation. None of these parties is responsible for the content of this book. My academic home, the IU School of Liberal Arts, provided a sup portive environment for planning the volume, recruiting the contribu tors, editing the first drafts, and then finishing the manuscript. For years, NYU Press senior editor Jennifer Hammer and I have been looking to collaborate on a project, and I am grateful that I had the chance to work with such a consummate professional. Also at the press, Amy Klopfenstein and Dorothea Stillman Halliday were very helpful indeed. Usha Sanyal copyedited the manuscript, and Jeremy Rehwaldt, Ph.D., proofread the galleys. I conceptualized this volume as a book that could be used by college teachers to introduce their students to Islamic religious practice. A nd so, it is appropriate that I have dedicated the volume to two of my own Islamic studies teachers: Vernon Schubel, professor at Kenyon College, and Ahmet Karamustafa, now professor at the University of Maryland. Vernon and Ahmet are everything that anyone could want in a teacher— inspiring, brilliant, helpful, and encouraging. I remain so deeply grateful to them. Introduction EDWARD E. CURTIS IV Muslims were practicing Islam on American soil long before the United States declared its independence in 1776. Perhaps the most famous Muslim to set foot in the British North American colonies was Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701-1773), better known in US. history as Job ben Solomon. “Very constant in his devotions,” according to his biographer Thomas Bluett, Diallo was a highly educated religious leader who was a member of the ruling family of Futa Toro in Senegambia, West Africa. Enslaved in 1730 and brought to Annapolis, Maryland, he was sold to a settler who lived on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay, where he lived until 1733. At first made to work as a hand in the tobacco fields, Ayuba, or Job, eventually became a cattle herder. “Job would often leave the cattle,” according to Bluett, “and withdraw into the woods to pray.” As a trained imam, or prayer leader, Ayuba would likely try his best to point his body toward Mecca, Arabia, just as other Muslims do when they prostrate their bodies in the direction of Islam’s most important shrine. “But a white boy frequently watched him,” recounted Bluett, “and whilst he was at his devotion would mock him, and throw dirt in his face.”1 Bluett said this harassment “very much disturbed Job,” but it did not prevent him from continuing his religious practice. Bluett first discov ered that Ayuba was a Muslim when Ayuba “pronounced the words Allah and Mahommed; by which, and his refusing a glass of wine we offered him, we perceived he was a Mahometan [Muslim].” Even though he could not speak English, Ayuba believed, correctly, that invoking the names of Allah, the Arabic word for God, and the Prophet Muham mad, whom Muslims revere as the Messenger of God, would success fully communicate his identity as a Muslim. Bluett was impressed by the sincere reverence that seemed to accompany Ayuba’s every mention of God’s name: “he showed upon all occasions a singular veneration for the 1 X I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My academic home, the IU School of Liberal Arts, provided a sup portive environment for planning the volume, recruiting the contribu tors, editing the first drafts, and then finishing the manuscript. For years, NYU Press senior editor Jennifer Hammer and I have been looking to collaborate on a project, and I am grateful that I had the chance to work with such a consummate professional. Also at the press, Amy Klopfenstein and Dorothea Stillman Halliday were very helpful indeed. Usha Sanyal copyedited the manuscript, and Jeremy Rehwaldt, Ph.D., proofread the galleys. I conceptualized this volume as a book that could be used by college teachers to introduce their students to Islamic religious practice. And so, it is appropriate that I have dedicated the volume to two of my own Islamic studies teachers: Vernon Schubel, professor at Kenyon College, and Ahmet Karamustafa, now professor at the University of Maryland. Vernon and Ahmet are everything that anyone could want in a teacher— inspiring, brilliant, helpful, and encouraging. I remain so deeply grateful to them. Introduction EDWARD E. CURTIS IV Muslims were practicing Islam on American soil long before the United States declared its independence in 1776. Perhaps the most famous Muslim to set foot in the British North American colonies was Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701-1773), better known in U.S. history as Job ben Solomon. “Very constant in his devotions,” according to his biographer Thomas Bluett, Diallo was a highly educated religious leader who was a member of the ruling family of Futa Toro in Senegambia, West Africa. Enslaved in 1730 and brought to Annapolis, Maryland, he was sold to a settler who lived on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay, where he lived until 1733. At first made to work as a hand in the tobacco fields, Ayuba, or Job, eventually became a cattle herder. “Job would often leave the cattle,” according to Bluett, “and withdraw into the woods to pray.” As a trained imam, or prayer leader, Ayuba would likely try his best to point his body toward Mecca, Arabia, just as other Muslims do when they prostrate their bodies in the direction of Islam’s most important shrine. “But a white boy frequently watched him,” recounted Bluett, “and whilst he was at his devotion would mock him, and throw dirt in his face”1 Bluett said this harassment “very much disturbed Job,” but it did not prevent him from continuing his religious practice. Bluett first discov ered that Ayuba was a Muslim when Ayuba “pronounced the words Allah and Mahommed; by which, and his refusing a glass of wine we offered him, we perceived he was a Mahometan [Muslim].” Even though he could not speak English, Ayuba believed, correctly, that invoking the names of Allah, the Arabic word for God, and the Prophet Muham mad, whom Muslims revere as the Messenger of God, would success fully communicate his identity as a Muslim. Bluett was impressed by the sincere reverence that seemed to accompany Ayubas every mention of God’s name: “he showed upon all occasions a singular veneration for the
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