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

Peril and Possibility 3 0 3and during social activities; others maintain strict gender segregation. Muslimparents and children, of all ethnic backgrounds, actively debate whether Muslimchildren should attend separate schools. Many parents worry about dating,drugs, and the consumerist culture in U.S. public schools. Others worry thatsending their kids to Islamic schools will make it more challenging for them tointeract with non-Muslims and to develop a successful career. Some Muslimstudents also argue that their presence as a Muslim witness is important in U.S.public schools.As important as mosques and schools are, however, they are not the onlypublic sites where Muslims interact with one another. In fact, many scholarsbelieve that as few as 10 percent of U.S. Muslims attend Friday prayers or Sundayschool on a regular basis. In the 1990s, the Internet has emerged as a sitewhere Muslims also meet, chat, and debate what it means to be a Muslim. “CyberIslam” can be fruitfully analyzed as its own kind of religious expression, inwhich Muslims on the privileged side of the digital divide can issue their ownlegal interpretations of Islam and challenge the authority of centuries-old traditionsof f i q h (Islamic jurisprudence). Like other Muslims around the world,some U.S. Muslims have bypassed the s h a r i ’ a and looked directly to the Qur’anand h a d i t h in order to craft their approach to the Islamic life. One need not bean a l i m (a traditionally trained Muslim religious scholar) or hold a prestigiousposition at an Islamic university to publish one’s opinions; one only needs accessto the World Wide Web. The Internet has also become a place whereyoung Muslims, like other single people in the United States, look for potentialmates. And it provides space for online Muslim support groups, like Al-Fatiha, an organization created by and for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgenderedMuslims.On the Internet, in national conferences, in mosques and schools, and ineach other’s homes, Muslims meet to discuss the critical questions of Muslimlife in the United States. Of all the questions debated, however, none is morehotly contested than the issue of gender and Islam, a subject of great interestto non-Muslim Americans, as well. In fact, the intra-Muslim debate about genderis shaped partly by the assumption among many non-Muslim Americansthat “traditional Islam” oppresses women. The ultimate symbol of that oppressionfor many is the practice of veiling, which is taken by some to be inherentlyd i s c r i m i n a t o ry. On television and in movies in the United States, one seldomgets to hear a veiled woman speak. Instead, one is treated to a silent image ofthe covered woman, and this image is often intended as evidence of oppression.Some feminists call this practice “double objectification.” That is, notonly do women in Islamic societies, as in most other societies, face gender prejudice,but they are also silenced by their representation in U.S. society. ManyAmericans have never actually met a woman who wears a veil or heard themspeak about why they wear such a garment.