Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

3 0 2Islam i n World Cult u r e smosque, and in the case of predominately immigrant mosques, they are generallyprofessionals of one sort or another. Many community leaders, whetherimams or committee members, work on a volunteer basis, receiving little or nocompensation for their services. Moreover, while many of them have attendedat least some college and may have even completed postgraduate degrees, lessthan half of U.S. mosque leaders have received any type of formal Islamic studieseducation.Debates over who should lead the mosque reflect a much larger questionabout what kind of Muslim identity is being created in these social spaces. Inthe past, some mosques have sponsored some of the same sorts of activitiesthat some Roman Catholic parishes have. In the Toledo Islamic Center of the1960s, for example, mosque members played bingo, performed the popularArab line dance called the d a b k a , and even enjoyed a beer or two together—one reminder of how easy it is to overgeneralize about Muslims. Some scholarsattribute such behavior to “Americanization.” Indeed, this particular use ofspace at the mosque in addition to its operation as a “voluntary organization”does seem to reflect larger trends in U.S. religion and culture. But the ideathat a Muslim could pray and fast—and drink and dance—is not distinctivelyAmerican. Such “impious” practices largely went unchallenged until the religiousrevival of the 1970s, especially when Saudi-trained imams began to serv eas leaders of various immigrant Muslim communities. To d a y, although oneshould not expect to find any beer kegs at mosque functions, the pendulum ofmosque leadership has swung again. Local communities tend more and moreto reject Muslim missionaries who do not provide interpretations of Islam relevantto their lives as U.S. Muslims.In addition to the mosque itself, Islamic schools, often connected to amosque, serve as places where Muslim children and adults construct theirMuslim identities. Most mosques feature some kind of weekend religious educationprogramming, especially on Sundays. As of 2004, there are also two U.S.Islamic colleges, one Shi’ite and one Sunni, that provide advanced training inIslamic studies. Perhaps more significantly, over 200 full-time primary and secon d a ry Muslim schools now operate across the United States. Approximately aquarter of these are Clara Muhammad Schools, associated with African AmericanMuslim leader W. D. Muhammad. Originally connected to Elijah Muhamma d ’s Nation of Islam, these schools offer the usual secular subject matter,such as math and reading, in addition to Qur’anic studies and Islamic history.Clara Muhammad Schools are generally located in the inner city and providean educational alternative to Muslim and non-Muslim African American parentsconcerned about the state of their public schools.The quality of these and other Muslim schools varies considerably, as dotheir approaches to issues of morality and piety. Some Muslim schools, for example,encourage responsible interaction among boys and girls both in class