Originally published: Atlanta, Ga. : Scholars Press, 1998.

"First published in 2000 as an Oxford University Press paperback"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-361).

Introduction: Muslims in America or American Muslims / John L. Esposito -- The American Path Option: Between Tradition and Reality -- The Dynamics of Islamic Identity in North America / Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad -- Striking a Balance: Islamic Legal Discourses on Muslim Minorities / Khaled Abou El Fadl -- The Fiqh Councilor in North America / Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo -- Muslims and Identity Politics in America / Mohommed A. Muqtedar Khan -- North American Pluralism and the Challenge of the Veil -- The Hijab and Religious Liberty: Anti-Discrimination Law and Muslim Women in the United States / Kathleen Moore -- Muslim Women in Canada: Their Role and Status as Revealed in the Hijab Controversy / Esmail Shakeri -- American Women Choosing Islam / Carol Anway -- Americans on the Islamization Path? The African-American Experience -- Identity and Destiny: The Formative Views of the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam / Ernest Ailen, Jr. -- African-American Muslims and the Question of Identity: Between Traditional Islam, African Heritage, and the American Way / Yusuf Nuruddin -- Understanding the Multi-Ethnic Dilemma of African-American Muslims / Robert Dannin -- Americanization and the Preservation of Cultural Identity -- Muslims and the American Press / Greg Noakes -- Economic Security and Muslim Identity: A Study of the Immigrant Community in Durham, North Carolina / Elise Goldwasser -- Approaches to Mosque Design in North America / Omar Khalidi.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are more Muslims in America than in Kuwait, Qatar, and Libya together. Leaving aside immigration and conversion, birthrate alone ensures that in the first part of the twenty-first century Islam will replace Judaism as the nation's second largest religion.

Like all religious minorities in America, Muslims must confront a host of difficult questions concerning faith and national identity. Can they become part of a pluralistic American society without sacrificing their identity? Can Muslims be Muslims in a state that is not governed by Islamic law? Will the American legal system protect Muslim religious and cultural differences? Is there a contradiction between demanding equal rights and insisting on maintaining a distinctively separate identity? Will the secular and/or Judeo-Christian values of American society inhibit the Muslim practice of religious faith? While the Muslims of America are indeed on the path to Americanization, what that means and what that will yield remains uncertain. In this thoughtful and wide-ranging volume, fourteen distinguished scholars take an in-depth look at these issues and examine the varied responses and opinions of the Muslim community.