Anas Coburn
November 01, 2008

 Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah spoke at an informal dinner on the Dartmouth College campus the other night concerning the future of Islam in the United States. The talk was extemporaneous, but as those who are familiar with Dr. Umar might expect, was both erudite and instructive. In assessing the future, Dr. Umar cited three aspects of the Muslim population in the United States that strengthen its potential: the strategic importance of the Muslim population in the US, the relative affluence of the immigrant population, and the strong African American Muslim population. Each of these factors he views as contributing to the potential for Muslims in the United States to make a vital contribution both to the larger Muslim Ummah and to the United States of America.

 Dr. Umar emphasized that in order to fulfill this potential; the Muslims here must develop and articulate an Islam that is both an authentic expression of Islam, and an authentically American expression of culture. Dr. Umar cited a narration to the effect that Islam is like clear water flowing over a riverbed and taking its color from the riverbed. He mentioned the example of the Chinese Muslims, both completely and recognizably Muslim and unmistakably Chinese in culture.

 One of the means by which an authentic American Muslim culture is created is through artistic expression. Dr. Umar noted, in this regard, the work of IMAN (Inner city Muslim Action Network) in Chicago, which among other activities brings together Muslim artists and activists. He singled out the work of artists OneBeLo; and others whose work he views as authentically Muslim expression through the medium of Hip Hop. (For a thoughtful piece on Muslim Hip Hop, look here.)

 On reflection, the production of culture from Muslim artists in America is a means of connecting with the larger, non-Muslim population, and therefore a means of creating social capital, albeit through mediated rather than direct communication. The more extensive and rich the ties between Muslims and the rest of the American population, the more difficult it is to view the Muslims as “other.” Through the expansion and deepening of ties between Muslims in America and the larger American cultural milieu, our social capital grows. As it grows, perhaps there will be a time when newspapers in major cities would be no more likely to include slickly produced propaganda like the film “Obsession” as an insert than they would be to insert a DVD version of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. We have a long ways to go, but we are making some progress. A rabbi involved in the peace movement has made a strong and articulate protest against the film “Obsession.”