Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are more Muslims in America than in Kuwait, Qatar, and Libya together. Leaving aside immigration and conversion, birthrate alone ensures that in the first part of the twenty-first century Islam will replace Judaism as thenation's second largest religion.Like all religious minorities in America, Muslims must confront a host of difficult questions concerning faith and national identity. Can they become part of a pluralistic American society without sacrificing their identity? Can Muslims be Muslims in a state that is not governed by Islamic law? Willthe American legal system protect Muslim religious and cultural differences? Is there a contradiction between demanding equal rights and insisting on maintaining a distinctively separate identity? Will the secular and/or Judeo-Christian values of American society inhibit the Muslim practice ofreligious faith? While the Muslims of America are indeed on the path to Americanization, what that means and what that will yield remains uncertain. In this thoughtful and wide-ranging volume, fourteen distinguished scholars take an in-depth look at these issues and examine the varied responses andopinions of the Muslim community.

Introduction: Muslims in America or American Muslims; PART I: THE AMERICAN PATH OPTION: BETWEEN TRADITION AND REALITY; 1. The Dynamics of Islamic Identity in North America; 2. Striking a Balance: Islamic Legal Discourses on Muslim Minorities; 3. The Fiqh Councilor in North America; 4. Muslims and Identity Politics in America; PART II: NORTH AMERICAN PLURALISM AND THE CHALLENGE OF THE VEIL; 5. The Hijab and Religious Liberty: Anti-Discrimination Law and Muslim Women in the United States; 6. Muslim Women in Canada: Their Role and Status as Revealed in the Hijab Controversy; 7. American Women Choosing Islam; PART III: AMERICANS ON THE ISLAMIZATION PATH? THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE; 8. Identity and Destiny: The Formative Views of the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam; 9. African-American Muslims and the Question of Identity: Between Traditional Islam, African Heritage, and the American Way; 10. Understanding the Multi-Ethnic Dilemma of African-American Muslims; PART IV: AMERICANIZATION AND THE PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL IDENTITY; 11. Muslims and the American Press; 12. Economic Security and Muslim Identity: A Study of the Immigrant Community in Durham, North Carolina; 13. Approaches to Mosque Design in North America