How has Islamic Religion Influenced American Culture - Essay Example

How has Islamic religion influenced American culture Introduction If one takes a close look at the connection between the American culture and Islam, one might suggest that this relationship is rather strong, though it may not be obvious. Indeed, some might argue that after the attacks of September 11 the attitude of the United States towards the Muslim faith is one dimensional: the latter is often seen as the enemy towards liberties of the Western world. However, there is no doubt that such approach is extremely superficial and is not able to reflect all the peculiarities of the above mentioned relationship. Thus, there are many points that should be taken into account as well as there are traces that should be identified as those that are largely affected by Islam. That is why exploring the issue in question may be particularly beneficial since it sheds light on the true nature of both parties. This paper will analyze how Islamic religion has influenced American culture. In order to do so, it may be necessary to examine some of the earliest encounters between the religion in question and the United States. Afterwards, the concept of religion in general will be explored, namely how Islam is able to be included into the Christian dominated social environment. The next important aspect is education: Islam is known to have a considerable impact on the educational process and this largely shapes the latter. The issue of Muslim identity should also be carefully examined since it is able to highlight the major aspects of each of the side involved. The paper will also focus on the negative impact that is often attributed to Muslims and how it defines the modern culture. Islam as an essential part of the American culture It is rather obvious that some people might argue that the history of interaction of Islam and the United States started relatively not so long ago. However, these people tend to forget that Muslims did not only appear in America at the time of its created, but also contributes towards its emergence. By far, the Civil War is one of the major historical events in the history of the United State. So, if one carefully analyzes the demographics of the soldiers who fought for the North, one will be able to see that there was a considerable number of Muslims. With this is mind, it is obvious that people who belong to this faith greatly contributed towards the very appearance of this culture. Indeed, the aftermath of the Civil War resulted in an “increased ethnic and racial diversity and the heterogeneity of religious life in America … called for the rethinking of the essential character of America” (GhaneaBassiri, 2010, p. 229). That is why it is rather obvious that Islam should be considered to be among some of the most fundamental elements of the state in question, since people who are genuine followers of this spiritual tradition were able to make their fair contribution to the social changes that enabled a new culture to appear. This is particularly important since it shifts the perspective on the relationship between Islam and American Culture, making it deeper and more profound than it was originally thought. Islam, American culture and Christianity The American state is recognized as a secular one. This is reflected in the so called establishment clause which dictates that the government would not support any religion. Nevertheless, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the social environment of this country is largely dominated by Christianity. That is why there is a significant influence of the latter on the society. However, it is suggested that “if Islam becomes deeply women into the religious fabric of the United States, then Muslim Americans have a big stake in the country’s future and the right to claim acceptance on a large scale” (Schmidt, 2004, p. 189). This is a rather insightful idea since it supports the position that Islam should be recognized as one of the American religions. Indeed, if the government does not support any of the spiritual teachings, then they all are equal and they all are entitled to the same significance on the social life of the United States. The above mentioned quote also suggests that the social environment of American is based on democracy; that is why people will always have their final word when it comes to governing the state, but people are always representative of their cultural background. As a result, it may be important to recognize that a certain percentage of the American voters are Muslims and that they are able to influence the political life through elections. What is more important is that the choices that people make are often conditioned by the spiritual guidelines that they adhere to. In other words, with the growing number of Muslims in the United State, the political climate as well as culture of the latter will be influenced by this spiritual tradition. Finally, it may be rather beneficial to examine the relationship between Islam and Christianity when it comes to forming cultural guidelines. Thus, the scholars often see “the zeal of Muslims to propagate Islam as reason for Christians to propagate their own faith more forcefully in the struggle to attract converts” (Amherst, 2007, p. 52). On other words, with the development of Islam there is a genuine competition for the hearts and minds of the people. Of course, this does not mean that the above mentioned religions should be seen as some kind of rivals or that they are ultimately against each other. It simply reflects the natural tendency of the social development. Islam, American culture and Education In spite of the fact that engaging the aspect of education may not seem rational at first sight, it is obvious that it plays an important role while examining the way in which a religion is able to shape culture. For example, it is note that “that importance [of education has always been high and ]… has been raised to new levels on post-9/11 America” (Haddad, 2009, p. 7). The same approach is applied to every education body in the country: the need to fight terrorism was carefully examined and influencing minds of the people and bringing up good citizens was found to be one of the most effective measures to do so. In other words, this approach reflects the general appreciation of education that is being promoted by the American culture. Furthermore, education allows the society to incorporate different parts of it into one single healthy organism. This has been particularly important for the American society since from the very beginning it was a rather diverse one. The latter has been enshrined in the culture. While there has been a rather long period of segregation, the contemporary culture of the United States promotes mutual appreciation and reinforces the unity of the society. In other words, Islam should be seen among these fundamental elements that were put together to form the basis of the new American society. This conditioned the fact that the educational system promotes the spirit of appreciation of other cultures and makes sure that every citizen can be connected with the help of this framework. However, there is an unreasonably big amount of suspicion when it comes to Islamic education and well the kind of culture that it forms. This is how it was put by one of the scholars: “since 9/11 Islamic education in the United States has come under heavy scrutiny, as have many Muslim institutions, fueled by fears that American schools, mosques, and other organizations may be producing radical young Muslims” (Haddad, 2009, p. 3). It is quite understandable that after the above mentioned attacks the people were afraid of repetition of similar events; that is why they did what they could to prevent that from happening. While the case of the distorted image of Islam will be discussed later, it may be sufficient to say that this way of thinking reflects one of the general tendencies of the American culture, namely treating Islam as primarily radical Islam. Furthermore, it is understandable that the significance of education when it comes to forming culture is explained by the ability of the former to influence the young. It is beyond any doubt that people start forming their views from the early childhood: that is why the government makes sure that primary and secondary education forms the correct way of thinking and contributes to the formation of a good citizen. With all this in mind, it is obvious that the way Islam shape the character of young Americans is closely monitored by the society, but so far, all the fears about bringing up young radical Islamists were not proven. Muslim identity and American culture In order to achieve the required depth of the analysis it may be important to look at the issue in question from a different point of view. Thus, it is suggested that there is a “dialectical relationship between Western representations of Muslims and Muslim’s self-image” (Amherst, 2007, p. 53). While this might be seen as some kind of contradiction, in fact, it describes the connection between Islam and American culture very clearly. On the one hand, Islam is firmly associated with the so called “otherness”. In other words, it is sometimes used as a symbol that shows what the American culture is not. For example, according to Muslim traditions, women have to cover their hair; however, there is a long standing tradition in the United States for the women to show their hair and especially the beautiful hairstyles that they have. On the other hand, while a Muslim person is being “othered”, it provides one with an ability to reevaluate one’s one position with regard to the mainstream culture. In other words, when the society puts a certain label on a part of the population, the latter has the ability to think whether this label fits it or not. In spite of the fact that is the majority of the cases people reject prejudices that are being forced on them, sometimes they are able to take a step back and look at their own culture from a different perspective, gaining a better understanding of it. This means that the coexistence of Islam and American culture has been mutually beneficial since both parties were able to learn much about themselves. The distorted image of Islam No matter how sorrowful it may seem, but the image of Islam that is being promoted in the society is often connected with the negative events that define the superficial, yet incorrect understanding of it. The impact of September 11 attacks has already been discussed; however, there are numerous other examples that show that Islam is associated not with the best pages in the United States history. A good case is the reputation of Nation of Islam. The leader of this organization practically used the name of Islam, “rejected idea of spiritual life after death, and claimed that Allah originally created people black” (Sanders, 2008, p. 56). As one can easily see, this can not contribute towards a good image of Islam in the eyes of the Americans. All this resulted in the fact that to a certain point there is a stigma that is placed on Islam. Such events as the September terroristic acts or organization as Nation of Islam represent a negative and often not correct aspect of this religion. While the society does not hear anything else about the latter, it gradually forms the attitude towards it on the basis of poorly selected information. That is why there is a widely spread hostility towards the followers of Muslim faith in spite of the fact that neither those people nor their religious leader did anything to offend the Americans. All this shapes the peculiarity of the relationship between Islam and American culture, suggesting that there are certain prejudices against it. Traces of Islam in the modern culture If one takes a look at the situation in question, one will be able to see that the contemporary culture of the United State contains certain elements that apply directly to Islam. For example, the tradition of wearing a headscarf is considered to be exclusively Muslim in spite of the fact that similar elements exists in the European fashion as well (Corrigan & Hudson, 2010). In addition to that, wearing a beard is often thought to be the sign of a Muslim, but it does not reflect the reality: people who belong to different religions have beards. This means that there is a set of prejudices that is focused on external elements of this religion and the latter are often misinterpreted. This alone might be regarded as s negative element; however, there is more to it: unlike other citizens of the United States of America, Muslims often experience violation of their civil liberties. For example, people who were wearing headscarf, had a dark color of skin or a beard were searched quite thoroughly in the airports as if they were potential terrorists thought they did not pose any threat at all. In addition to that, the activities of the Islamic centers have been monitored by the government in order to make sure that they are not connected to the terroristic groups abroad. At one point Muslims even were denied to build a center that was is relatively close proximity to the Ground zero and contained a prayer place. It was considered to be disrespectful towards the victims thought Muslims did not have anything offensive in their minds. Conclusion Having examined all the point that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come up with the following conclusion: Islam has greatly influenced American culture. To begin with, it may be important to note that their interaction started long before twenty first century, to be more precise, it was maintained throughout the entire history of the United State as Muslims did fight in the Civil War and contributed to the victory of the North. The place of Islam in the American culture is rather peculiar as the latter is largely influenced by Christianity, another strong spiritual tradition. However, the government specifically refused to support any particular religion, so despite the disproportion of influence, both Christianity and Islam can be called American religions. The issue of education is extremely important when it comes to examining the relationship between Islam and American culture as with the help of education the character of the younger generation is formed. It is generally feared that Islamic education would nurture radicalism, but the reality shows quite the opposite: it reinforces the policy of mutual appreciation. In addition to that, the interest towards it education reflects one of the major peculiarities of the culture. What is more important is that the interaction of the Muslims as a group and American culture is beneficial for both parties as each of them is able to reinforce their self identification. Finally, it must be noted that the image of Islam that is presented to the public is often distorted which contributes to negative understanding of it. References Amherst, Y. (2007). The Muslims of America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Corrigan, J., & Hudson, W. (2010). Religion in America: An historical account of the development of American religious life (8th ed.). London: Pearson. GhaneaBassiri, K. (2010). A history of Islam in America: From the new world to the new world order. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Haddad, Y. (2009). Educating the Muslims of America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sanders, V. (2008). Civil rights in the USA, 1945-68. London: Hachette UK. Schmidt, G. (2004). Islam in urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Read More