Just my 2 cents!

Yawn – so I should have phrased it as “Pakistani-origin”, which was the term used on the show. My criminal omission of the word “origin” ranks right up there with cracking an egg on the wrong side.

“The headscarf and Arabic food are part of American Muslim culture, partly because Arabs were the first American Muslims, partly becuase of the prestige of the Arabic language. American Muslims, especially desis, often reject their parents curry-smelling-FOB immigrant heritage and show their Americanization by embracing the accoutrements of American Islam — which includes summer camps, basketball, and headscarves.”

Sorry, but Arabs were not the first Muslims in the U.S. More likely, it was black Africans brought over during the slave trade, from those regions where Arabs and black Africans brushed up against each other. The Arab role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is virtually forgotten, lest it upset the traditional “Blame Whitey” lesson of slavery.

The earliest Arab immigration into the U.S. was mostly Christian of Lebanese and Syrian descent, as they found their homelands less hospitable once the Muslim population increased. Today, most Arab Americans are Christian, not Muslim (think John Sununu, Casey Kasem, Tony Shaloub, Ralph Nader). Recent Arab immigrants, however, are increasingly Muslim. But even Arab Muslim immigrants are a minority within the Muslim immigrant community. The majority of Muslim immigrants are from South Asia – which makes the jettisoning of their South Asian culture all the more bizarre.

Al wrote, ”In the Post 9-11 world I predict that the new religious generation of Desi Muslims are going to re-discover their South Asian roots and de-emphasize the connections with their Arab brethren.” I certainly hope so. Has any Arab Muslim reached the level of Azim Premji, Yusuf Hamied, Zakir Hussain, and Ali Akbar Khan? Why not take pride in real people, instead of some cartoonishly rendered idea of Muslim brotherhood, which is nothing more than a thinly disguised Arab nationalism?

i think scott was trying to be polite and express the view that muslims in the US tend to be very conservative compared to the median. for instance, 73% of muslim doctors believe more in intelligent design than evolution vs. 24% of hindu doctors. there is something there, and pretending it doesn’t exist as a trend, if not a platonic ideal, seems kind of rejecting the plain facts….

And in most Muslims eyes, after reading their ambiguous comments made about terrorism (as we see it), it is not terrorism to them, but a “freedom struggle”. And the goals of Islam are clearly voiced by this 1998 public statement by CAIRÂ’s chairman, Omar M. Ahmad: “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

I am not going to get involved in a diatribe on this…the facts speak for themselves. If you have anything the really to add with references, please post it. Else, don’t criticize the messenger.

a) implying in your post that there are no good Muslims out there. b) agreeing with Islam watcher’s blanket that American muslims support terrorism.

Hindus Deplore Destruction of Hindu Temple by Saudi Arabia’s Religious Police

Yes, indeed, what would Gandhiji say ?

Scott get off your cloud. Your statement improperly assumes Islam is ahistorical or un-modernized. Moreover, your post exhibits your ignorance of how common Muslim people live their day to day lives in the US and certainly abroad. If you lacked such ignorance, you might come to realize that Muslims in other countries live very similar lives to those depicted in the show. Hence, the “American Middle class” has little relevance.

So where are the good Muslim men and women ? Many of us would like to know.

Gee I guess there don’t seem to be any? Shame on you Vikram. Gandhiji kya kehtay?

show their Americanization by embracing the accoutrements of American Islam — which includes summer camps, basketball, and headscarves So true and dont forget Sunday school and concern for Palestine/’ummah’. Also pronoucing common names of South Asian Muslims with a ridiculously fake Arab accent.

Oof how corny is that!? Reminds me of how hard the socialites in Bombay and Delhi try to act, look and talk “American”. It appears in the movies too (e.g. Dhoom).

American Muslims do NOT renounce and will not renounce terrorism. They don’t demonstrate against it because they BELIEVE in it.

Who let the trolls out? Woof…woof…woof..woof..

I should start a website called trollwatcher.com. Actually, nevermind, doing so might make me (even) stupider….

Don’t forget saying ‘ramadhan’ instead of ‘ramzan’. And subscribing to the Shafi’i madhab instead of the Hanafi madhab. There are clear pluses too — women attend mosque in the USA, unlike in Hindustan. And there is that overall American ‘can-do’ attitude, which infects everything in American life.

I don’t think your prediction of post-9-11 Desi Muslims is going to come true. But I no longer live in the USA, so you’ll have to keep me posted.

You are absolutely right. You will never find any national Islamic peace movement. Yet they will always protest about the supposed wrongs done to them. Wasn’t there a saying “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” So where are the good Muslim men and women ? Many of us would like to know.