LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

46 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW IX
introversionist Muslims, in the sense that they are concerned primarily with
retaining and maintaining their own Islamicity, and not with the extension of
that Islamicity through dawah to the non-Muslim environment that
surrounds them. The second applies to those who want to transform non-
Muslim society, at both the individual and communal levels, to reflect
Islamic values and beliefs. 17
Early immigrants to North America tended to be defensive-pacifist in
their orientation. They were primarily working class people and would have
felt substantial pressure were they not to “fit in”. Most of them were also not
overly rigid in their practice of Islam and would adapt their religious
traditions to North American ways. Generally, they came to regard their host
society as compatible with their beliefs and values. Later immigrants still
included many with this outlook. However, many immigrants since World
War II include professionals who are under less pressure to blend into
Canadian society and who may have a more positive image of Islam, having
been influenced by Islamic revival movements in various parts of the
world. 18
Historically, Islam has been spread primarily through an
external/institutional approach in which territory was conquered and Islamic
institutions set up. Once an Islamic environment existed, the masses could
be converted as they desired to participate in the life of that society. 19 Such
an approach would seem impossible to apply in the Canadian context, unless
a large number of people first become converted. That is why Muslims who
are serious about the Islamisation of the West see the conversion of the
locals to Islam as a prerequisite to converting the nation’s institutions into
Islamic ones. 20 However, to a certain extent, Muslims are already in the
process of establishing alternative institutions in the West.
Muslims from many countries have influenced the spread of Islam in
North America. Islamic revival movements like the Jama’at-i Islami in
Pakistan and the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, the Muslim Brotherhood, in Egypt
have had a great influence among Muslims in the West. 21 Some Islamic
nations and individuals from the East provide generous funding for Muslim
community revival and outreach among non-Muslims. 22 According to
Khurram Murad, the Islamic Movement is
17 Larry Poston, “Da’wa in the West”, in Haddad 125 ff.
18 Larry Poston, Da’wa in the West (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992) 128.
19 Nehemia Levtzion, “Toward a Comparative Study of Islamization”, in Conversion to
Islam, ed. N. Levtzion (New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1979) 11.
20 Poston, in Haddad 128 ff.
21 Steven A. Johnson, “Political Activity of Muslims in America”, in Haddad 118f.
22 Hahn 31.