Introduction
There have been many misconceptions about the nature of Islam and the rituals through which the Muslims conduct their faith. Much confusion ripples among many non-Muslims and some Muslims themselves about the basics of the monotheistic religion itself. If one must understand Islam, there is a need to scan its basics or fundamental principles.
The sole purpose of being a Muslim is to submit to Allah (Hunt, 2006). Submission is all about doing everything (as permissible in the Islamic doctrines) in this world in the name of Allah. This is why many Muslims begin any activity (eating, sleeping, working, performing, interviewing, etc) and especially religious rituals with a phrase in Arabic, BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHIM, which literally means, in the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. Furthermore, submission to Allah is about fulfilling the five pillars of Islam, and surviving with as much avoidance from anything forbidden (Haraam in Arabic) as possible (Hunt 2006).
Surviving and reaping the benefits of the world through the path of Islam requires the gathering and managing of knowledge. Therefore, education is no stranger to Muslims. In fact, knowledge is extremely valued in Islam that it is divided into two types. There are the divine knowledge (religious doctrines derived from the Quran and Hadith) and the mundane knowledge (science, philosophy and art) (Daun and Arjmand, 2005). Both of them are equally important for Muslims to pilot their lives in the eyes of Allah.
With this foundation of Islam, I thought of exploring the very essence of being a Muslim in the U.S., as opposed to being so in a Muslim-dominant state or country such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran or Malaysia.
However, what intrigues me as a Muslim myself is the fact that many Muslims, especially the moderate Muslims are conflicted by their own identities or roots (Bilgrami, 1992). This has led them to debate on social issues such as gender roles, and politics. According to the Quran and Hadith, men and women do have specific roles based on their gender such as the very basic of husband and wife, where the husband is the “breadwinner” and the wife is the house keeper (Read, 2004). Some Muslim men and women are not particularly comfortable with that idea in this time of age (Bilgrami, 1992). On that note, American-Muslims who cater to traditional family values, favor the Republicans more than Democrats because of their conservative concepts, particularly the one on family unit (Mazrui, 1996). The ones who support the Democrats are appealed by the separation of Church and state, but the party also observes libertarianism leading to the practice of many social conducts that are against the laws of Islam.
With that in mind, I decided to embark on a qualitative study on a small Muslim group in the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) who congregate every Friday on campus, in order to comprehend the nature of practicing Islam in the U.S. In addition, as I conducted the research, I observed the implications of preserving their identities as Muslims. The main purposes of this research were to help others understand Islam through the perspectives of struggling Muslims, and to help myself delve deeper into my own faith. Therefore, the core theme and field of this research lie in the question: What is the significance of practicing Islam in America?
Research Methods and Procedures
Before I proceed with how I conducted the research, I will elaborate the nature of Islamic Friday prayer and its significance. The second pillar of Islam is to conduct five Salat[1] (formal Islamic prayers) everyday, a daily ritual that is of extreme importance for all Muslim adults. Muslims must conduct Salat at five different periods of the day, following the measurement of the sun’s movement. The five Salat are: Fajr (close to dawn), Dhuhr (midday), Asr (late afternoon and near evening), Maghrib (just after sunsent), and Isha'a (nightfall).
The Friday prayer, known as Jumu'ah is a prayer during which Muslims are required to congregate every Friday afternoon to listen to a Khutbah (sermon) given by a Khateeb (also the Imam, the one who leads the prayers). In the Quran, translated by Dr. Al-Hilali and Dr. Khan it states:
O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salat on Friday, come to the rememberance of Allah [Jumu’ah religious talk and Salat] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did not but know! (Quran 62:9, p. 652).
As it is written above, the significance of a Friday prayer is to remind every Muslim his/her responsibilities to abide by and hearken to the doctrines of Islam at the end of the week. Hence sermons are given, followed by a short prayer that replaces Dhuhur.
Being a Muslim has been significantly helpful for this research, giving me quick and easy access to the small group of Muslims in UNI. There are usually six to twelve members who congregate at Purple Pen room, under the belly of Maucker Union. Specifically, these are Muslims who come from different parts of the word. At least six of them are from Middle-Eastern countries such as Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. About two are from Bosnia, one of whom has attained the American citizenship, and the rest are from Libya, Pakistan and Turkey. The participants are mostly UNI students and the rest either work on or off campus.
Moreover, I was able assume the role of Participant-as-Observer, which means I as a researcher was able to conduct observation in the field through the perspective of participation (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). Not only did I participate by congregating, listening to the sermon and praying on Fridays, I also performed the duty of a Khateeb three times.
The observation of the scenes began on February 5th, 2010. Observing in the setting of the Friday prayers was crucial to understanding the idea of being a Muslim in an American society because this was where the Khateeb talked about being responsible Muslims while maintaining focus on school or work duties, and social stability. In addition, I was able to talk with the participants prior to the sermon, allowing me to conduct ethnographic interviews with participants and more importantly, to schedule informant interviews for further study.
Informant or personal interviews were substantially important in collecting data, during which I could extract information on relevant experiences of participants. To get the participants to narrate or discuss about their experiences and thoughts that helped me with the objective of the research, I asked specific questions. The questions included:
1. What is it like being a Muslim in a Western Environment?
2. How do the Quran and the Hadith provide you guidelines in living and studying and/or working here?
3. How would you approach those who offend you, or any offensive statements?
Throughout the research, I officially interviewed seven participants. Some of the key participants I interviewed were the major participants of the Friday prayers. Pasha Agoes is a UNI graduate student from Indonesia who is also teaching Oral Communications class for his Graduate Assistantship. He is one of the Khateeb. Another graduate student of UNI is Jalloh Abubakarr who comes from Sierra Leone. Like Agoes, he is also a Khateeb. In addition, I’ve also interviewed (virtually with the use of email due to time conflicts) Nawaf AsSulami, another graduate student of UNI from Saudi Arabia who is a member of the student organization, Muslim Student Association (MSA). He is responsible for reserving the Purple Pen room in the Maucker Union for Friday prayers.
Findings and Analysis
As initially discussed the core theme of this research was the essence of practicing Islam in an American society, in which many values, cultures and beliefs are contradictory to those of Islam. To compose an analytic comprehension of the study, I will first present the data I’ve found from observations and interviews. Secondly, I will connect these findings to the literature review as discussed earlier in the paper. Finally, all the presented data will be concluded and interpreted with my own personal thoughts and prior knowledge of Islam. Therefore, at the end of this paper the reader should have a more in depth understanding of the religion itself.
In every Friday prayer that I’ve attended and observed for this research, the sermons that were given to the Ma’mumin[2](members) were all specific Islamic guidelines and reminders, as it is intended by the scriptures of the Quran. There were many sermons that I’ve listened and observed but for this paper, I will discuss only two. On February 26th, 2010, Agoes was the Khateeb and the sermon he delivered was about death. The reason for the topic of death was due to the significance of that particular day itself which was Mawlid, the birthday of the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. Agoes indicated that birthdays remind us of our mortality. In other words, we may die at any point of time. “The most intelligent being is the one who always remembers death,” said Agoes. The whole notion of being reminded that we die is that we as servants of Allah should do our best to follow the path of Islam in order to be rewarded both in life and the afterlife. Moreover, time is limited and therefore, we have to survive and attain worldly rewards cautiously and wisely. From this sermon alone, it is clear why these participants care to dedicate a portion of their time every Friday to congregate, listen and pray.
The other sermon was delivered on April 2nd, 2010 by Mohammed Rawwas, the Professor of Marketing in UNI’s College of Business Administration. He talked about the importance of the five prayers. In this sermon, Rawwas emphasized that a Muslim is nothing if he/she does not pray. For example, if a Muslim has been conducting other Islamic rituals such as fasting in the month of Ramadhan and giving alms to the needy, and/or avoiding any acts that are clearly indicated as forbidden in the Quran such as drinking alcohol or having pre-marital sex; all of that will be for naught if he does not pray.
This explains the ritualistic behavior of many adult Muslims. Studying or working in UNI proves to be difficult for some Muslims and myself depending on our schedules. Some Muslims can’t congregate for a Friday prayer because its designated period clashes with their class periods. Professor Rawwas also talked about the difficulty of praying at certain times of day while working or being in classes. He mentioned that being unable to pray because of school and work responsibilities is no excuse because a prayer may be as short as three to five minutes. In addition, in a non-Islamic country one should not be embarrassed to pray when non-Muslims are curiously watching, especially when the freedom of religion is in the First Amendment. Ultimately the most important responsibility for a Muslim is to please Allah and follow the Quran and Hadith.
So what can be understood from just these two sermons? Muslims are very ritualistic, especially when they are dedicated. Being religious in the western world is about facing many challenges and obstacles. By overcoming them, Muslims obtain spiritual, emotional and educational rewards. They would feel more at lost if they deviate from Islam. That is the mutual theme of all the discussions the interviewees delivered to me when I conducted the interviews.
“Salat is a thing that keeps you close to Allah,” said Abubakar. “When you perform it, you are submitting yourself to him. It’s like the purification of the soul.”
“Being different is depressing,” said Hamid (not his real name because he does not want to be named in this paper). “You’d feel like an alien who cannot find anything mutual among non-Muslims.” He has been surrounded by Muslim friends and relatives who are not dedicated to practicing Islam. Seeing them performing acts that are against Islam such as drinking alcohol upsets him. Nonetheless, he maintains his Islamic roots by doing his best not to miss the daily prayers and abide by fundamental rules. “Despite all [that], I still feel strong, like a bigger Muslim,” he said solemnly.
A very interesting piece of information I obtain was from Saad Ahmad, a 23 year-old student from Pakistan. After living in the U.S. since he was very young, he would not raise his “children in Saudi Arabia because they won’t be strong.” Ahmad believes that raising children in the U.S. would help him “teach them to be self-sustained.” He added that in Muslim-dominant countries, there are less challenges to make one a better Muslim.
It is clear that the individuals I interviewed are doing as much as they could with whatever resources they have to be better Muslims. What drives them to do so? As discussed in the introduction, Islam is about submitting to Allah and thus, everything that a Muslim does has to be in his name. For them the greatest reward in the living world is inner peace; whereas the best reward in the afterlife is Paradise. Obtaining these rewards is through becoming better Muslims.
Hence, knowledge is of utmost importance for them to successfully conduct their rituals and prayers. Divine knowledge guides them to prescribed rituals (such as fasting and praying) while mundane knowledge helps them perform these rituals. In other words, experiencing and overcoming challenges grants them the knowledge to please Allah more. For example, the Friday prayers were never conducted in UNI’s Maucker Union until sometime in 2008. Before that, many dedicated Muslims had to carpool or sacrifice a part of their duties to travel to the Waterloo mosque. Given the fact that such a thing proved to be of great inconvenience, members of the MSA decided to make a request for a space in the Maucker Union, in which Muslims can congregate and pray.
Furthermore, the continuous strive to maintain the ritualistic nature of Islam helps them resolve the issue of identity conflict. Once again, this is why Islam stresses on the importance of knowledge and education. It is difficult to understand one’s own identity without knowing the underlying principles and essence of Islam.
Prior to this research I have met and talked with Muslims who consume alcohol. Some of them think that it is “okay” to do so because it simply relieves the stress of the day. Islam enforces social morality (i.e. prohibiting pre-marital sex, or dictates the respect of parents or the elderly) because of consequences (Hunt, 2006). Drinking alcohol is not only sinful but it can lead one to cause harm to others. The issue of gender roles can also be traced back to the enforcement of social morality. Naturally, in a family, the father is the provider and the mother is the nurturer of their children. That is why Islam has a tremendous emphasis on the protection of the female sex like being dressed modestly. Casual premarital sex is strictly prohibited to avoid severe consequences such as being pregnant without financial security (therefore cannot support the baby). Suffice to say, prevention is better than cure.
Conclusion
So what is the significance of practicing Islam in America? It is all about surmounting difficulties out of which comes the satisfaction that one is becoming a stronger and better Muslim. Achieving piety in Islam requires the strength of a Muslim to resolve the specific conflicts and challenges he or she is facing, from resisting peer-pressure of drinking alcohol to maintaining mental stability when being overwhelmed with assignments. Part of that strength is perseverance through patience (which is usually referred to as Sabr in the Quran and Hadith). This explains why all of the participants I interviewed claimed that they would rather remain passive or verbally neutral about offensive remarks on Islam. For example, AsSulami prefers “to ignore offences” and would act on a particular verse in the Quran: “And the (faithful) slaves of the Most Gracious (Allah) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness” (translated by Al-Hilali and Khan, 2002, p. 416). From what the participants have told me and the sermons I’ve observed, I can conclude that it is better to correct yourself as a Muslim before pointing the wrong actions of others. Needless to say, that is exactly what all of the participants have been doing based on what they have told me. For Muslims henceforth, Islam is a way of life (Hunt, 2006). At the end of the day, the reward of overcoming challenges is not only obtained by Muslims in the western world but by any groups or individuals who are being bombarded with everyday impediments.
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[1] When Muslims conduct a Salat or pray, they follow a set of prescribed conditions such as taking ablution before praying, and facing the direction of the Kaabah (the cube building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia) in order for the prayer to be complete. The direction of the Kaabah is called Qibla, and in the Maucker Union, the Muslims face Northeast when they pray.
[2] Ma’mumin is the plural word of Ma’mum which literally means followers of the Imam in Arabic.
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