American Muslims: A (New) Islamic Discourse on Religious Freedom
John Musselman Monday, 13 June 2011
In 1921, a successful Muslim immigrant from Saudi Arabia named Mohammed Karoub financed the construction of a mosque in Detroit. Just two years later, following a theological disagreement among the congregation and consequent decline in attendance, Karoub made a pragmatic choice to dismantle the building. His motives were not vindictive, as he emphasized at the time: "I have no word of censure for my people. If they differ with me as to the interpretation of the doctrine of Mohammed, that is their affair and their right. I believe fully in the liberty of conscience."
Close to a century later, Karoub's statement stands as an historical witness to and a prescient promise of positive Muslim American engagement with the principles of religious freedom. Like many immigrant groups to the United States, Muslims have discovered great relative freedom in religious conscience and affairs, even if that freedom is usually a secondary or tertiary aspiration to economic advancement. In recent decades, as ever-greater numbers of Muslim Americans have become politically engaged citizens, they have synthesized the principles of democratic, constitutional government, American religiosity, and Islamic values.
To read the entire article, please visit this article's page at informaworld, where articles are available for purchase from Routledge, our publishing partner.