Muslims in the United States The State of Research by Karen Isaksen Leonard (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003. 199 pages.)

Abstract

Karen Leonard’s book, Muslims in the United States: The State of
Research, seeks to provide “a useful research tool for exploring” the large
body of social science research that exists on Islam and Muslims in the
United States (p. ix). As a “non-Muslim secular scholar” and anthropologist
(p. xi), she reviews research that examines the lives of all those who
self-identify as Muslim, including those generally excluded from such discussions,
such as Ahmedis, Five Percenters, and homosexuals. The variety
of topics explored in this review promises to draw a broad readership.
Topics as diverse as immigration and racialization, international conflicts
and intra-Muslim tensions, “un-mosqued” Muslims and extremist ideologues
are all covered. Therefore, those interested in sociology, history, religion,
and, more specifically, individuals researching Islam and Muslims
will benefit from reading Muslims in the United States.
The book is divided into three sections. In part 1, “Historical Overview
of Muslims in the United States,” Leonard briefly introduces Islam’s basic
tenets and proceeds to discuss the historical and political realities that
affected the growth of African-American, Arab, and South Asian Muslim
populations in this country. She identifies three sets of issues that have historically arisen in research and theory building on Muslims in the United
States: legitimacy as it relates to African-American Muslim movements,
the problem of religious authority in the smaller national-origin and sectarian
communities, and the lack of research on the lives of “un-mosqued,”
“invisible,” or secular Muslims ...