Muslim American City : Gender and Religion in Metro Detroit

**Explores how Muslim Americans test the boundaries of American pluralism** In 2004, the al-Islah Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, set off a contentious controversy when it requested permission to use loudspeakers to broadcast the __adhān__, or Islamic call to prayer. The issue gained international notoriety when media outlets from around the world flocked to the city to report on what had become a civil battle between religious tolerance and Islamophobic sentiment. The Hamtramck council voted unanimously to allow mosques to broadcast the __adhān__, making it one of the few US cities to officially permit it through specific legislation. __Muslim American City__ explores how debates over Muslim Americans’ use of both public and political space have challenged and ultimately reshaped the boundaries of urban belonging. Drawing on more than ten years of ethnographic research in Hamtramck, which boasts one of the largest concentrations of Muslim residents of any American city, Alisa Perkins shows how the Muslim American population has grown and asserted itself in public life. She explores, for example, the efforts of Muslim American women to maintain gender norms in neighborhoods, mosques, and schools, as well as Muslim Americans’ efforts to organize public responses to municipal initiatives. Her in-depth fieldwork incorporates the perspectives of both Muslims and non-Muslims, including Polish Catholics, African American Protestants, and other city residents. Drawing particular attention to Muslim American expressions of religious and cultural identity in civil life—particularly in response to discrimination and stereotyping—Perkins questions the popular assumption that the religiosity of Muslim minorities hinders their capacity for full citizenship in secular societies. She shows how Muslims and non-Muslims have, through their negotiations over the issues over the use of space, together invested Muslim practice with new forms of social capital and challenged nationalist and secularist notions of belonging.

Explores how Muslim Americans test the boundaries ofAmerican pluralism In 2004, the al-Islah Islamic Center inHamtramck, Michigan, set off a contentious controversy when itrequested permission to use loudspeakers to broadcast theadhān, or Islamic call to prayer. The issue gainedinternational notoriety when media outlets from around the worldflocked to the city to report on what had become a civil battlebetween religious tolerance and Islamophobic sentiment. TheHamtramck council voted unanimously to allow mosques to broadcastthe adhān, making it one of the few US cities toofficially permit it through specific legislation. MuslimAmerican City explores how debates over Muslim Americans' useof both public and political space have challenged and ultimatelyreshaped the boundaries of urban belonging. Drawing on more thanten years of ethnographic research in Hamtramck, which boasts oneof the largest concentrations of Muslim residents of any Americancity, Alisa Perkins shows how the Muslim American population hasgrown and asserted itself in public life. She explores, forexample, the efforts of Muslim American women to maintain gendernorms in neighborhoods, mosques, and schools, as well as MuslimAmericans' efforts to organize public responses to municipalinitiatives. Her in-depth fieldwork incorporates the perspectivesof both Muslims and non-Muslims, including Polish Catholics,African American Protestants, and other city residents. Drawingparticular attention to Muslim American expressions of religiousand cultural identity in civil life-particularly in response todiscrimination and stereotyping-Perkins questions the popularassumption that the religiosity of Muslim minorities hinders theircapacity for full citizenship in secular societies. She shows howMuslims and non-Muslims have, through their negotiations over theissues over the use of space, together invested Muslim practicewith new forms of social capital and challenged nationalist andsecularist notions of belonging.

"In 2004, the al-Islah Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, set off a contentious controversy when it requested permission to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhān, or Islamic call to prayer. The issue gained international notoriety when media outlets from around the world flocked to the city to report on what had become a civil battle between religious tolerance and Islamophobic sentiment. The Hamtramck council voted unanimously to allow mosques to broadcast the adhān, making it one of the few US cities to officially permit it through specific legislation. Muslim American City explores how debates over Muslim Americans' use of both public and political space have challenged and ultimately reshaped the boundaries of urban belonging. Drawing on more than ten years of ethnographic research in Hamtramck, which boasts one of the largest concentrations of Muslim residents of any American city, Alisa Perkins shows how the Muslim American population has grown and asserted itself in public life. She explores, for example, the efforts of Muslim American women to maintain gender norms in neighborhoods, mosques, and schools, as well as Muslim Americans' efforts to organize public responses to municipal initiatives. Her in-depth fieldwork incorporates the perspectives of both Muslims and non-Muslims, including Polish Catholics, African American Protestants, and other city residents. Drawing particular attention to Muslim American expressions of religious and cultural identity in civil life--particularly in response to discrimination and stereotyping--Perkins questions the popular assumption that the religiosity of Muslim minorities hinders their capacity for full citizenship in secular societies. She shows how Muslims and non-Muslims have, through their negotiations over the issues over the use of space, together invested Muslim practice with new forms of social capital and challenged nationalist and secularist notions of belonging."-- Back cover "In 2004, the al-Islah Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, set off a contentious controversy when it requested permission to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhān, or Islamic call to prayer. The issue gained international notoriety when media outlets from around the world flocked to the city to report on what had become a civil battle between religious tolerance and Islamophobic sentiment. The Hamtramck council voted unanimously to allow mosques to broadcast the adhān, making it one of the few US cities to officially permit it through specific legislation. Muslim American City explores how debates over Muslim Americans' use of both public and political space have challenged and ultimately reshaped the boundaries of urban belonging. Drawing on more than ten years of ethnographic research in Hamtramck, which boasts one of the largest concentrations of Muslim residents of any American city, Alisa Perkins shows how the Muslim American population has grown and asserted itself in public life. She explores, for example, the efforts of Muslim American women to maintain gender norms in neighborhoods, mosques, and schools, as well as Muslim Americans' efforts to organize public responses to municipal initiatives. Her in-depth fieldwork incorporates the perspectives of both Muslims and non-Muslims, including Polish Catholics, African American Protestants, and other city residents. Drawing particular attention to Muslim American expressions of religious and cultural identity in civil life--particularly in response to discrimination and stereotyping--Perkins questions the popular assumption that the religiosity of Muslim minorities hinders their capacity for full citizenship in secular societies. She shows how Muslims and non-Muslims have, through their negotiations over the issues over the use of space, together invested Muslim practice with new forms of social capital and challenged nationalist and secularist notions of belonging." (ed.) Introduction: Muslims in Metro Detroit -- 1. The Making of a Muslim-American City: The Histories of African Americans, Poles, and Muslims in Hamtramck -- 2. Gender, Space, and Muslim American Women -- 3. Yemeni Women, Civic Purdah, and Private/Public Divides -- 4. Bangladeshi Women and Gender Boundaries -- 5. Prayer Calls and the Right to the City -- 6. LGBTQ Rights, Moral Boundaries, and Municipal Temporality Conclusion: Urban Religion and Secular Constraints -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author