American Muslims: The New Generation [Hardcover]

Asma Gull Hasan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

Twenty-four-year-old Asma Hassan calls herself "a Muslim feminist cowgirl" (she was raised in Pueblo, Colorado). Convinced that Muslim Americans are "the victims of mistaken identity" ("our fellow citizens think all Muslims are terrorists and women-oppressors"), Hassan breaks through the stereotypes and generalizations to talk about the religion and the believers she knows from the inside. While the book packs a lot of basic information about Islam in America - the major tenets, the different sects ("like Baptist Christians and Catholic Christians"), the various ethnic groups, including African Americans - the major emphasis is on the sheer normalcy of American Muslims. Like other Americans, they are very keen on family values, religious freedom, and the opportunities the U.S. has always afforded new immigrants. Moreover, says Hassan, American Islam, as it grows and evolves, will offer a model to Islam in the rest of the world: a purer Islam, one more conscious of the difference between the essence of Islam and its accommodations to various cultures over time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hasan, a 25-year-old American-born Muslim with Pakistani parents, stridently explains the need for greater understanding of Muslims in America, decrying media stereotypes of Muslims as terrorists and fundamentalists. She is especially clear that as a young Muslim woman, she is free to be a feminist. ("Here I am writing a book on Islam in America," she declares. "Do I seem oppressed to you?") She has studied the Qur'an's teachings and decided not to don the hijab, the head covering some Muslim women wear, though she expresses respect for women who choose to do so. Brief chapters present factual information about topics such as the sects of Islam, the Five Pillars and the growth of Islamic schools, as well as Hasan's strong opinions on subjects ranging from what she sees as the anti-Islam lyrics of the Disney film Aladdin to the increasing Muslim presence in America. Hasan argues that American Islam, which lacks the cultural baggage of Islam in other countries, is actually more religiously pure than anywhere else in the worldA"a return to the Qur'an without the influence of pre-Islamic Arab culture." The book has its flaws; Hasan's writing too often favors the rhetorical, and some of her comparisons are unskilled (as when she says that the Five Pillars are "almost like the sacraments in Christianity"). But her insistence upon Islam's fundamental compatibility with American values is well taken, and she provides memorable personal examples throughout. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A daughter of Pakistani immigrants, the author was aghast to hear the terrorist bad guy of a Hollywood blockbuster announce that his name was HasanDthe same as hers. A self-described "Muslim feminist cowgirl," Hasan writes this compelling work to help Americans overcome anti-Muslim stereotypes and to learn something about America's fastest growing religion. At the same time, she gives an engaging first-person account of what Islam may become as the American-born children of immigrants adapt their faith to American culture: a "de facto Reform Islam." While valuable scholarship on American Muslims has been produced by Jane Smith (Islam in America) and Yvonne Haddad (Islamic Values in the United States, among others), Hasan's account is aimed at a more popular level. Readers should prepare to encounter appealing discussions of the place of women in Islam, "CyberIslam," the virtues of permitting Muslim young people to date, and a critique of strict gender separation in mosques. Very highly recommended.DSteve Young, Montclair State Univ., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group; First Edition edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826412793
• ISBN-13: 978-0826412799
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,919,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very inconsistent to the teachings of Islam, January 20, 2002

By 

"shutup_625" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Muslims: The New Generation (Paperback)

After reading Asma Gull Hasan's "American Muslims", I have come to realize how truly diverse people's outlooks are regarding Islam and I can't help but think that their own personal experiences, upbringing and/or culture are responsible for this diversity. Although I am of the same background as the author (20-something daughter of Pakistani Immigrants, and a US resident for the past 18 years), I fail to agree with a lot of what she is saying. Throughout this book Hasan criticizes Muslims for living their own culture-based form of Islam, she doesn't realize however that she herself may be falling into a similar trap; taking certain aspects of her religion as truth while abandoning others. To say the least, I was greatly caught off guard by how boldly Hasan stated her opinions of Islam as if they were actual facts. One of her greatest defects was her thoughts on marriage and dating. I was shocked to read that in her opinion "there is no explicit prohibition against pre-marital sex in Islam" (p.134), when every Muslim knows, or at least I hope knows, that this is one of the biggest sins one could commit. She later went on to say that parents today place too much pressure on their daughters when it comes to marriage and that marriage in itself was not a religious obligation. This again goes against the principles of Islam. As Muslim women, it is our duty to not only marry but to raise righteous Muslim children, and we will be held accountable for this on the day of judgement. I personally think that she took the marriage subject far too lightly. I was also surprised to read her thoughts on hijab. Although I myself don't wear a hijab, I do realize that modesty is an enormous part of our faith. Even though hijab may be of pre-Islamic Arab tradition, as Hasan claims it to be, I do believe that it is highly suggested if not mandated by the tenets of Islam, and not just mere tradition or culture. I wonder if she has ever asked herself if her not wearing hijab has anything to do with her Pakistani culture or American upbringing. She also portrayed hijab as evidence of male superiority and female oppression. In my eyes hijab is only evidence that males and females were created differently and in order to maintain a certain level of respect and dignity between the genders in any given society, one must realize those differences and act accordingly (which isn't so easy living on American soil). I do agree, however, that hijab should be of personal choice and a reflection of ones own personal beliefs and level of faith, rather then something inflicted by ones parents, husband, or peer pressure. Overall I'd say that this book is quite inconsistent and poorly written (not only from a literary standpoint but also for intellectual content). Numerous references to the Qu'ran were made, but there was no indication of where in the Qu'ran Hasan was getting her facts from, which is another drawback to this book. If a Non-Muslim were to pick up this book for information on the religion of Islam, they would be greatly misled because they could easily be taking Hasan's interpretations as facts. From a Muslim reader's standpoint I would say that Hasan doesn't really dive deep enough (intellectually) in many of the arguments she makes. For this reason, many of the chapters or "Close-Up" sections of the book seem incomplete or inconsistent. This book does however make me realize that being an American Muslim is indeed a difficult task, but I don't think that it is an impossible one, especially with the ever increasing communities and Islamic awareness. One thing I do give this author credit for is having the courage to voice her thoughts and beliefs publicly even on matters that are so controversial. I only hope that next time she would put more thought in her words and accept all aspects of her religion (whether it be difficult or easy to implement).

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good intentions, but lacking in solid information, May 29, 2005

By 

Lisa Bauer (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Muslims: The New Generation (Paperback)

I know that Asma Gull Hasan means well in wanting to show Islam in the best light possible, but that doesn't make up for her glaring lack of knowledge. Judging from her remarks, she has never heard of the hadith, the collections of Muhammad's words and deeds, which are of paramount importance as a source of Islamic law and belief, and this in itself is a major failing. Her brief remarks about the Qur'an make me wonder if she has actually read it. The author demonstrates no knowledge whatever about shari'ah (Islamic law) or fiqh (the application of that law), which makes her pronouncements on various subjects from hijab to women's rights a sad joke from an Islamic standpoint. She is completely ignorant of the doctrine of abrogation (naskh), stating that some verses are superceded by verses revealed later. She waves away practices she doesn't like by saying that "in her view" they are wrong--but doesn't show that she has any idea why they came to be in the first place, or what specific justifications they may have. It is possible to critique such practices, but first one should know the reasons behind them! The book is heavy on shallow platitudes about Islam mouthed without any knowledge or understanding, coupled with an almost total lack of any solid Islamic knowledge.

Regretfully, this is not the definitive book on Young Americans and Islam, or even a liberalized American understanding of Islam; that title will have to wait for somebody with a deeper and fuller understanding of Islam.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good try, but she universalizes her experience..., December 27, 2001

By 

"mahasin" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Muslims: The New Generation (Paperback)

Asma tried.
The book is a good start on being upfront and honest about life as a Muslim in America, especially as a young Muslim born and reared in this society. For all her good intentions, the book is lacking. Seriously. As a 20something African-American Muslim female who was born and raised into the religion of Al-Islam, I was deeply put off my Asma's tendency to universalize HER experience with Islam as THE norm. The book is a lighthearted reflection on her experiences-- great! But it is informed by a specific set of circumstances and factors (i.e., she's Pakistani, the child of immigrants, and upper-class) which is fine. We are all products of our environments. But she really makes no attempt to look at her experience within this paradigm--all her theories on Islam in America/views on women/the scarf or khimar (aka incorrectly as hijab) are informed by her experiences, which again is fine, EXCEPT that she makes little or no mention of this reality and presents her experience as something definitive or universal. Her experience is not mine, (African-American Muslims make up about 40% of Muslims in America!) nor is it the experience of a lot of other people. For Muslims who are interested, I think that Asma falls into the classic trap of evaluating Islamic institutions through the lens of non-islamic (note I did not say un-islamic...there is a difference) sources and then makes conclusions on these institutions without trying to understand them properly in the context or history of Islam. I am *progressive* and am thoroughly convinced that Islam and the West are compatible (why shouldn't they be?) but Asma doesn't delve deep enough intellectually into any subject to make a convincing argument on any point. Asma also makes some incorrect statements about the Qur'an. A little fact checking would have cleared this up...just a little...PLEASE fact check more for the next book Asma! The only perspective that the book has is hers--yet, she pretends/asserts to speak for American MUSLIMS...just a tad obnoxious I think. So, in sum...nice try...good for those who already know a lot about Islam but it just scratches the surface and falls into typical unenligtened ASSUMPTIONS on a host of issues-- especially about women. Shame on you Asma for falling into the trap of making assumptions about Muslim women based on their dress-- this point strongly weakens your book in the eyes of many Muslims who would have supported you otherwise-- this from a woman who doesn't/nor belives that you have to cover your hair...She should have been more sensitive/astute about the nature of various communities that make up "Islam in America."