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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June 2009, pages 63-64 Muslim-American Activism Muslim Americans: A National Portrait
THE GALLUP Center for Muslim Studies (GCMS) released an in-depth analysis of the Muslim-American community and its habits, perspectives and beliefs at a Newseum briefing in Washington, DC on March 2. The results were derived from interviews with 319,751 U.S. households conducted from January to November 2008, on both landlines and cellular phones. GCMS zeroed in on the 946 self-identified Muslim respondents. Gallup’s executive director, Dalia Mogahed, GCMS senior analysts Ahmed Younis and Magali Rheault, and Sofia Kluch, Ph.D., associate director of GCMS, described some of their findings. Mogahed, co-author with Georgetown’s John Esposito, Ph.D. of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, described Muslim Americans as the most racially diverse religious group surveyed in the U.S. The majority of Muslim Americans, 80 percent, say that religion plays an important role in their lives (85 percent of Mormons, and 39 percent of Jews say religion is important to them). Only 8 percent of Muslim Americans identified as Republicans. Contrary to their socially conservative image and degree of religiosity, Muslims are the most likely, after Jews, to call themselves liberal. Two-thirds of Muslim-American respondents said they had jobs, and about one in four young people are professionals. The immigrant Muslim population is highly motivated to succeed. Muslim-American women are one of the most highly educated female religious groups, second only to Jewish women. Surprisingly, Muslim Americans (41 percent) are the least likely group surveyed to say they are “thriving” and, even though most Muslims have jobs, 56 percent say they are “struggling.” Catholic Americans are the only other religious group to feel they are struggling, while Jewish Americans are the least likely to say this. Mogahed hypothesized that this could be due to post-9/11 trauma and prejudice, as well as the turbulence of the past eight years. Muslims are also less likely to say they have a social safety net: Their families may not be in the U.S., while indigenous Muslims may be the only Muslim in their families. The good news is that more American Muslims say they are thriving than do Muslims who live in France, Germany and Britain, according to international polls. Muslims, the analysts concluded, are no different from any other historic minority. They won’t be politically integrated until they are economically integrated—but that day is not far away. Analysts also asked Muslim-American leaders and experts what the most important thing Muslim Americans must do in the next 5 to 10 years. The leaders’ responses are included in this groundbreaking report. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) sums up the feelings of most Muslim Americans: “We must become participatory citizens in the American experiment. I want to see our community give back to their country—not make the mistake that so many insular and immigrant communities make....There should be senators and mayors, state legislators and city council members who ‘happen’ to be Muslim. And each of you should wear a hijab or a jilbab if you so choose; pray when you pray—and have it perceived as a demonstration of your faith, and not a threat to your country.” For more information visit <www.MuslimWestFacts.com>. —Delinda C. Hanley |
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