An intimate portrait of how American mosques are negotiating Islamic tradition and American culture Inside the American Mosque offers a comprehensive portrait of contemporary mosques in the US, combining insights from three statistical surveys of mosques conducted in 2000, 2010, and 2020 with a detailed study of five specific American mosques. The five mosques examined represent the diversity of American mosques in terms of size, location, and the ethnicity/nationality of their attendees. There are significant differences in how mosques are governed and financially supported and how they approach their religious and theological stances in the US in comparison to the traditional Muslim world. The book shows how changing Islamic theological issues and practices are grappled with on the ground, rather than theoretically, offering a rare look at the internal workings of American mosques, and insight into why and how they have taken shape as they have in the US context. It illuminates how American mosques formulate and implement policies that emerge directly from religious interpretations in their new context, exploring how American mosques navigate between their inherited Islamic tradition and the culture in which their attendees and their children currently live. The book includes a chapter on a Nation of Islam-derived African American mosque, and also emphasizes the changing roles of women within US-located mosques. While there have been many books published on American Islam, far fewer have focused specifically on mosque dynamics. Illuminating how American mosques have directly addressed religious and theological interpretations within their new context, Inside the American Mosque sheds light on how American mosques understand and practice Islam in a non-Muslim, largely secular society.
