The Muslims of America Conference

Abstract

Organized By:
The Arabic Club, the Department of History and The Near Eastern Studies Program, University
of Massachusetts at Amherst
In the heart of seminaries and orientalist America, a conference on “The
Muslims of America” was held on April 15 and 16, 1988 at the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst. The purpose of the conference, according to
its director, Professor Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, “was to expand the scope
of scholarly investigation about the Muslim community in the United States.”
The conference focused “on the manner in which Muslims in America adapt
their institutions as they become increasingly an indigenous part of America.”
Twenty-seven speakers, including sixteen Muslim scholars, addressed a variety
of topics dealing with the development and experience of the American Muslim
community. Among the more than 150 participants were representatives from
the International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Islamic Society of North
America, the Muslim World League, the American Islamic College, the
Association of Muslim Social Scientists, and various academic institutions
and local Muslim communities from the United States and Canada.
The conference started on Friday, April 15, with a welcome speech by
Murray Schwartz, Dean, Humanities and Fine Arts, University of
Massachusetts at Amherst. Chaired by Roland Sarti, Chairman, Department
of History at the University of Massachusetts, the first session focused on
the demographics of the Muslims of America. Carol L. Stone of Indiana
University presented her paper on the Census of Muslims Living in America.
Carol presented statistics of various Muslim communities and explained the
difficulties in collecting such data. She estimated the number of Muslims
in America to be 4.7 million in 1986, a 24 percent increase over the 1980
estimates and projected that by the year 2000 this figure is likely to be doubled.
Qutbi Ahmed of McGill University and former President of the Islamic Society
of North America, discussed the nature, role and scope of various organizations
in his paper on Islamic Organizations in North America. Abdul Aziz Sachedina
of the University of Virginia presented his paper on A Minority Within a
Minority: The Case Study of the Shi'a in North America. He focussed on
the migration of the various Shi’i groups and their adjustment in the American
environment. Sulayman Nyang of Howard University was the last speaker
of the first session. The title of his paper was Conversion and Diversion ...