Islam in America: young members of this ethnically diverse community are trying to forge their own identity in the post-9/11 world.

• Author: Smith, Patricia
• Position: NATIONAL

BACKGROUND

Since 9/11, American Muslims have reported a rise in anti-Muslim feelings. In some cases, this has included violence directed against individuals or mosques. "Islam in America" takes a took at Muslims in the U.S., with a focus on young people who in many ways share the hopes and dreams of all young Americans.

CRITICAL THINKING

* Are students aware of anti Muslim feelings prompted by 9/11?

* Do the memory of those attacks and ongoing security alerts continue to fuel anti Muslim feelings?

* Remind students of earlier discrimination--the internment of innocent Japanese-Americans following the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941.

* Refer to Professor Bagby's comment that it is easy to accept the worst stereotypes about others when we do not know them. Ask students why people stereotype others. (Fear of the unknown plays a key role in stereotyping.)

CRITICAL THINKING/CULTURE VS. RELIGION

* Note the references to the distinction between religion and culture on pages 12 and 13. Do students understand the distinction between religion and culture?

* Give an example Ask: Do American Christians or Jews share religious values with their counterparts in Europe? What about their cultures? Is it the same with Muslims?

DISCUSSION QUESTION

* Notice the distinction between US. and European Muslims.

* What does this suggest about social mobility in Europe and the U.S.?

WRITING PROMPT

* Have students write a brief essay on anything about Islam or-American Muslims they found interesting or surprising.

Like most American teenagers, 17-year-old Sana Haq enjoys hanging out with her friends and going to the movies. She just got her driver's license, and she's stressing over college applications. But Sana, a high school senior from Norwood, N.J., is an observant Muslim, and that makes her different from most of her friends.

She prays five times a day, as Islam requires. She wears only modest clothing--no shorts, no bathing suits, nothing too snug. Going to the mall for a pair of jeans can turn into a week-long quest because most are too tight or low-cut to meet her definition of "decent."

Islam, she says, affects every aspect of her life. "If you ask me to describe myself in one word, that one word would be Muslim," says Sana, who was born in the U.S. to Pakistani immigrants. "Not American, not Pakistani, not a teenager. Muslim. It's the most important thing to me."

Largely because of immigrant families like Sana's, Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S. Since the Census doesn't track religious affiliations, the number of American Muslims is hard to pin down, but estimates range from 1.5 million to 9 million.

Whatever its size, the Muslim community in the U.S. is...