Running head: MUSLIMS AND AMERICA

Muslims and America:

The Integration of Muslims into American Society
Daniel T. Goshorn
University of Kentucky

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Abstract

This paper compares the Muslim culture of the Middle East and the Western culture of the
United States, by exploring how these two cultures blend in a western context, with the aid of
several published articles that report on this topic, as well as first-hand research that has been
conducted by the author in the form of interviews and observation of Muslims living in
Lexington, Kentucky. The main focus of this paper will be the integration of Muslims into
Western society. There are many opinions and studies that suggest different levels of blending
between the Middle East and the West, varying in their level conformity to the host culture of the
West and the rootedness in their maternal culture. This paper will also focus on the difficult, as
well as smooth and manageable aspects of transitioning from the predominately Islamic Middle
East to the traditionally Judeo-Christian United States. Some Muslims conform almost
completely to Western society and integrate virtually seamlessly, while others hold fast to their
traditional, Islamic roots, and therefore have a more difficult experience integrating into North
American culture.
Keywords: Muslim integration into Western society, conformity to host culture of the
West, rootedness in maternal culture

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Muslims and America:

The Integration of Muslims into American Society

Imagine being dropped off in the middle of the North African desert where you must live
with a group of Muslim tribesman. You have a rudimentary, but not exhaustive understanding of
the language, so basic communication is possible. You also have a primitive understanding of
their socio-political system, but what you know is mainly given to you by fictional movies or the
media you were exposed to back in your home country. You arrive at this community, and you
see oddly-dressed, people with strange tattoos and piercings staring at you. Someone notices you
and your discomfort and uneasiness, so they decide to take you to where you will be sleeping.
You take a brief walk, and arrive upon a small house, a hut really. It has three walls made out of
mud and bamboo-like shafts, and a roof made of thatch. There is no floor, no furniture, no bed.
You have no refrigerator, no oven or stove, no running water, nor do you have electricity. People
are doing strange things, they have a seemingly strange religion that is totally different from your
own. They do things that would be considered abhorrent in your culture, but to them it is
perfectly normal, expected even. You have been plucked out of your comfort zone, the place
where you knew about everything, and have been placed in a whole new, strange, unfamiliar
world. Imagine what you would be feeling. That is what is feels like to leave ones country, ones
home, and go to the other side of the world to live. That is what most Muslims feel like when
they arrive to the United States. They are plucked out of their familiar comfort zone, confused
and disoriented. Everything is unknown to them, and they must try to adapt and learn this new
culture they find themselves in (A. Alsafri, personal communication, February 6, 2015).

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Generally speaking, Muslims are greatly misunderstood in the United States. Based on
my own observations, interactions and experiences, some say they are all violent terrorists, while
others say they are all loving and peaceful. Neither of these perceptions are accurate, nor are they
both completely false. Regardless, Muslims are misunderstood in a variety of ways, including:
their historical and cultural origins, how they practice Islam here in the US and in their home
countries, and how they live their day to day lives. For one to truly understand Muslims,
specifically Muslims living in a Western context, one must understand their history, culture, how
they view the West, how they transition from Islamic countries to the United States, contrasts
between their maternal culture and this culture, and what their day to day lives look like in
comparison with the average American. Then, once we understand that, we may begin to
understand the Muslim.
It is common knowledge that Islam, for the most part, was widely unknown or ignored by
the United States prior the last 25 years. Oil and violent attacks brought about a higher level of
awareness of Muslims and the Middle East, but they still remained generally unthought of by the
average citizen of the US. In 1991, when the US invaded Iraq, the Middle East became more
prominent in the minds of Americans, but not to the level it was after the attack on the Twin
Towers. On September 11, 2001, the citizens of the United States were awoken to the existence
of Islam. This incident sparked an increase in racial prejudices and discrimination toward
Muslims living in America (Ali, Milstein, & Marzuk, 2005). Since then, the United Sates has
been uninterruptedly involved in countries in the Middle East. Many know that prior to 9/11, the
United States had already been involved in conflicts and wars in that region of the world, but not
to the extent it has been over the last 14 years. The Middle East is a constant presence in the

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media. Because of that Americans have formulated a wide array of opinions and stereotypes
toward the Middle East in general, and toward individual Muslims specifically.
Before one can begin to comprehend the typical Muslim living in the United States, they
must know a bit about their history and culture. Islam comes from Saudi Arabia, originating in
Mecca from a man named Muhammad in the 7th century AD. It is a relatively young religion,
though Muslims will tell you that Islam has been in existence since the creation of man. To
Muslims, Muhammad was a man thought of as a prophet. Throughout the course of his life, he
received revelations in the form of visions given to him by the angel Gabriel. Muhammad would
then convulse and/or foam at the mouth and speak what the angel Gabriel had told him to say.
After Muhammed died, these sayings were compiled into a book called the Quran, the Islamic
holy book, said to contain the revelations of god for man to live by.
Muslims will say, The Qur'an was dictated by Muhammad but, according to the Qur'an,
it did not originate with him. The Qur'an testifies of itself that it was given by God through the
angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad. "This is a revelation from the Lord of the universe. The
Honest Spirit (Gabriel) came down with it, to reveal it into your heart that you may be one of the
warners, in a perfect Arabic tongue" (Sura 26:192-195). "Say, 'Anyone who opposes Gabriel
should know that he has brought down this (the Qur'an) into your heart, in accordance with God's
will, confirming previous scriptures, and providing guidance and good news for the
believers'" (Sura 2:97; Origin of Islam, 2015).
There is much more to the history of Islam, but since this is not a historical essay, I will
not delve into it further. One must understand, however, that the Quran, and the subsequent
Hadith (biographical writings about the life of the prophet Muhammad) are the sources of

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everything that is said and done by devout Muslims. They follow the lifestyle of Muhammad as
closely as possible because they consider him to be the last and perfect prophet. This is crucial to
understand if one is to relate to how Muslims integrate into American society, and this leads us to
our next point: characteristics of Muslim culture.
Muslim cultures are very diverse, but they all have a basic, shared set of beliefs and
customs. Each geographical region containing a high Muslim population has its own set of
interpretations and practices, but they all believe in the same thing and have common principal
traditions. Muslim society is very communal and incredibly personal. Family is of the utmost
importance, and one must be loyal to their family under all circumstances. Children must always
obey their parents, mainly their father, no matter their age. The male is the head of the
household, and the grandfather is the head of the family. Furthermore, men may marry up to four
wives, and wives are to be submissive to the husband at all times (A. Alsafri, personal
communication, February 6, 2015).
Muslim communities always observe the strict
religious events of the Quran and the Hadith, which
consist of prayer, fasting, giving of alms, pilgrimage to
Mecca, and confession of faith to Allah by Muhammad
the prophet. In Islamic nations, if a person leaves Islam
and converts to another religion, they will be severely

Figure 1. Muslim pilgrimage to

Mecca.

punished, excommunicated by their family and friends, and in some instances, killed. Islam even
goes as far as the government. The system of government in Muslim countries is entirely based

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on the Quran and the Hadith, a very different philosophy and structure than what is found in the
United States (A. Alsafri, personal communication, February 6, 2015).
For a Muslim, religion is everything. Religion decides what
food they eat, what activities they participate in, how they
dress, and even how they interact. Islam dictates every
aspect of a Muslims life (A. Alsafri, personal
communication, February 5, 2015). In America, it is difficult
to grasp that concept since we have become such a
postmodern culture with little value of true devotion and
Figure 2. Muslim woman with
American flag demonstrating
growth of Muslim population in
the United States (2014)

commitment to anything.
As Voas and Fleischmann (2012) put it,

Most Western nations are now relatively secular, though; nominal affiliation often
remains high, but there is a fairly uniform distribution across the spectrum from atheism
to orthodoxy, and participation in religious services is very low. (p527)
But for a Muslim from the Middle East, religious participation is his very being. I observed this
through personal communication with Ali Alsafri, as well as through observation of Muslims
attending the Mosque and my own personal interactions with Muslims over a period of several
years. According to Voas and Fleischmann (2012), nearly all Muslim immigrants come from
societies that are comparatively religious and where, typically, Islam is the dominant religion (p.
527).
One observation I made while researching Islam and the Muslim community in
Lexington, Kentucky answered a very crucial question: where do Muslims come from? This

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question is not referring to a geographical origin, but is a deep, personal one. I wanted to know
how and why subsequent generations chose to follow such a harsh religion. To truly understand
the harshness of Islam, one must thoroughly research its history, and one must read the Quran
and the Hadith, which I have done.
Voas and Fleischmann (2012) answer that question accordingly:
Religiosity, or degree of religious commitment, needs to be distinguished from religious
identity. Religion is arguably like ethnicity; something that for most people is transmitted
to them rather than being chosen by them. The extent to which religious affiliation is an
involuntary attribute or a matter of personal choice remains contentious. (p. 528)
According to Ali Alsafri (personal communication, February 6, 2015), if he were to leave
Islam he would never be allowed to return to his home (Saudi Arabia), and if he did go back after
having converted to another religion, his family would not speak to him and he would most
likely be killed. One must look at Islam, not through the eyes of a North American, but through
the eyes of a Muslim. To Americans, Islam seems to be just like every other religion, but for a
Muslim, Islam is their entire being. If a child of Muslim parents chose to follow another
religion, it would be like he is spitting in the face of his parents and rejecting them personally.
They would feel betrayed and they would be obligated to either ostracize or kill their child. That
is Islam (Nabeel Qureshi, 2013). So how does a religion of that intensity translate to the
traditionally Judeo-Christian United States?
According to Norris and Inglehart (2012),
Theories of cultural integration suggest that immigrants gradually absorb the values and
norms that predominate in their host society, especially on an intergenerational basis. By

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contrast, theories of divergence suggest that distinctive social values and norms are
enduring and deep-rooted within each nation, shaped by collective histories, common
languages and religious traditions, so that migrant populations are unlikely to abandon
their cultural roots when they settle in another country. (p. 229)
These are two opposing theories, and various studies suggest various results, so one must
look at the issue as a whole. When compared with Western nations, Islamic societies are highly
conservative with regards to sexuality and gender equality, and far less tolerant on issues of
sexual liberalization such as abortion, divorce and homosexuality. While most Western countries
are almost always more secular (Norris & Inglehart, 2012), a Muslim coming here from the
Middle East will be met with a barrage of conflicting ideas. He will view men as superior to
women, while the dominate culture of the United States will say they are equal. He will view
immodest clothing as wrong and offensive, while the contemporary culture here will promote it.
The Muslim will view religious ceremony with the utmost respect and importance, while todays
America will tell him it is all relative and subjective, unimportant and based on personal feeling
and emotions. The question is: how do Muslims respond to this conflict of ideas they face?
Based on an analysis done by Norris & Inglehart (2012), Muslims living here in the
United States do not share identical traditional values with their counterparts living in Islamic
contexts, rather they fall halfway between the dominant values of their home countries and the
dominant values held by their host country. This can be extremely difficult to understand and live
with. I know this based on my personal experiences living in cultures that were not my own. I
maintained much of my original identity, but also absorbed many cultural aspects of my host
cultures, therefore resulting in a third culture, one not of either of the original two, but composed

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of aspects of both cultures. According to Ali, Milstein, & Marzuk (2005), over half of Muslims
require and seek out counseling and guidance from the Imams, or clergy, of their Mosques after
having relocated from their home country to the United States. Many Muslims find it difficult to
maintain their former identity while being surrounded by and interacting with the dominant
culture of the United States.
Based on my personal observations, it appears that roughly half of the Muslims in the
Lexington area have a notably more difficult experience integrating into this society. According
to Muhammad Bayari (personal communication, February 18, 2015), it was very easy to
integrate into the society of America. While there were some difficulties, it was an extremely
smooth process relative to the experiences of others, such as his parents. Muhammad has almost
completely adopted the culture of the United States as that of his own, while maintaining only a
small portion of his original identity as a Jordanian Muslim. On the contrary, Ali Alsafri
(personal communication, February 5, 2015) has retained the vast majority of his Saudi Arabian
heritage while adopting a minimal amount of Western ideas and values. Both cases support the
findings of Noris and Inglehart (2012), that in some instances, one will adopt the culture of their
host country, while in other cases, one will retain virtually all of their former cultural identity.
So now imagine youve been dropped into the North African desert. You have very little
knowledge of the culture you now find yourself a part of, so everything you see is decoded
through your personal lens of past experiences and culture. Likewise, everything you do is
decoded by those around you through their own worldview. Thats what it is like for a Muslim
coming to the United States. One must take the time to truly understand Muslims living in the
US. They come from a radically different culture than that of our own, thus view the world in a

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very different manor. Some conform almost completely to Western society and integrate virtually
seamlessly, while others hold fast to their traditional, Islamic roots, and therefore have a more
difficult experience integrating into North American culture. Members of the dominant culture
here in the US, must be considerate and take the time to really get to know people, Muslims and
others, so that we may be kind, accepting human beings.

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References

Ali, M.A., Milstein, G., & Marzuk, P.M. (2005). The imams role in meeting the
counseling needs of Muslim communities in the United States. Psychiatric Services, 56,
202-205. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.56.2.202
Cherry Hills Church. (2013, August 4). Why Islam? Muslim man find the truth-Nabeel Qureshi.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Cx4CuLWGA
Origin of Islam. (2015, March 2). Retrieved from http://www.allaboutreligion.org/origin-ofislam.htm
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R.F. (2012) Muslim integration into Western cultures: Between origins
and destinations. Political Studies Association, 60, 228-251. doi 10.1111/j.
1467-9248.1012.00951.x
[Untitled photograph of Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca]. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from
http://www.amda.us/index.shtml
[Untitled photograph of Muslim woman in American flag]. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from
http://conservativebyte.com/2014/08/5-ways-muslims-contributed-building-fabric-nation/
Voas, D., & Fleischmann, F. (2012). Islam moves west: Religious change in the first
and second generations. Annual Review of Sociology, 38, 525-540. doi10.1146/annurevsoc-071811-145455