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What are the underpinnings and ramifications of anti‐Muslim attitudes in the United States? While scholars have emphasized the centrality of race and racial attitudes to American politics, examinations of hostility towards Muslim Americans with context‐specific measures are still lacking despite the increasing relevance of this population in the public imagination. Particularly after the tragic 9/11 attacks, Islamophobia emerged as a pervasive force in American social and political life, entangling race, religion, and nationality to further stigmatize and marginalize Muslims. By more systematically examining the relationship between anti‐Muslim attitudes and public support for a range of initiatives that aim to, or already have, further marginalize(d) American Muslims, the research presented herein aims to underscore the limitations of attitudinal measures that lack context specificity. Through two studies that utilize a nationally representative survey and a longitudinal study of public opinion towards Muslims, we make the case for the development and use of more nuanced measures that capture the distinct nature of hostility towards Muslims as encompassing both perceived realistic and symbolic threats. Additionally, we consider the range of social, psychological, and physical consequences that Islamophobia may exert on Muslim individuals themselves, as well as their interactions with the majority population. These have important implications for scholars studying the sociopolitical behavior of Muslims and policymakers seeking to counteract the adverse effects of Islamophobia in the United States or elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess Muslim physician experiences with religious discrimination and identify strategies for better accommodating Muslim identity in health care. Data Sources and Study Setting: Interviews were conducted with Muslim physicians from three US‐based Muslim clinician organizations between June and August 2021. Study Design: In‐depth, semi‐structured qualitative interviews used a phenomenological approach to describe experiences of religious discrimination and accommodation. A team‐based framework approach to coding was used to inductively generate themes from interview data. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Physicians from the Islamic Medical Association of North America, American Muslim Health Professionals, and the US Muslim Physicians group were invited to participate using closed organizational listservs. Inclusion criteria sought English‐speaking, self‐identifying Muslims with current or past affiliation with a university hospital in the United States. Potential participants were segmented into groups based on responses to questions about perceived religious discrimination and accommodation. Purposive sampling was used to iteratively approach participants within these groups in order to capture a diverse respondent pool. Interviews stopped after thematic saturation was reached. Principal Findings: Eighteen physicians (11 women and 7 men; mean age: 41.5 [standard deviation = 12.91] years) were interviewed. Nearly all (n = 16) held Islam to be important in their lives. Three overarching themes, with several subthemes, emerged. Participants (1) struggled to maintain religious practices and observances due to unaccommodating organizational structures; (2) experienced religious discrimination, which, in turn, impacted their professional trajectories and, at times, their personal well‐being; and (3) believed that institutions could implement specific educational and policy interventions to advance the religious accommodation of Muslims in health care. Conclusions: Muslim physicians frequently encounter religious discrimination, yet there are concrete ways in which health care workplaces can better accommodate their religious needs and combat discrimination. To improve workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion, educational forums and policies that support the religious practices of physicians need to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrimination and vilification of Muslims in the United States have historical and political roots. This study explores everyday incidents of marginalization and oppression through the framework of structural violence. Structural violence refers to the systemic inequalities embedded within societal structures that create and support these oppressive conditions. In this community‐engaged qualitative study, 10 self‐identified Muslims from the northeastern United States were interviewed to understand their lived experiences of structural violence. Using thematic analysis, seven themes were identified: Racialized and xenophobic Islamophobia; normalized violence against Muslims and fear of safety; exclusion, marginalization, and subjugation through policies; Muslims as spokespersons for Islam; Intersecting marginalized identities and oppression; challenges of navigating Muslim identities; resilience and resistance through faith, activism, and community. This study aims to understand and contextualize the experiences of Muslims within a systemic and geopolitical framework. Another critical objective is to promote a discourse to address how academics and clinicians reproduce and maintain structural violence and to instead engage in socially transformative approaches embedded in the principles of decolonizing and mutually‐liberating cross‐struggle solidarity. These must be cultivated through community‐informed intersectional collaborative strategies for dismantling oppressive structures and promoting agency, resilience, activism, and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslim converts tend to be overrepresented in terrorist activity compared to fellow nonconvert Muslims. However, due to the low base rate of terrorism activity, there is a significant risk that this overrepresentation is a "false positive." We therefore tested the prevalence of far more common, but potentially antecedent, cognitions to terrorism—activism and radicalism––among convert and nonconvert Muslims. We surveyed 356 American Muslim adults, of which 177 were self‐identified converts, with the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scale or ARIS. We found that converts as compared to nonconverts do demonstrate higher activism and radicalism intention scores. We also found that activism fully mediates the relationship between conversion and radicalism. This suggests that converts may be more likely to engage in radical behavior (such as terrorism) than nonconverts, but only because they are more likely to engage in activism than nonconverts. We discuss these findings in light of current psychology and political mobilization literature, then we offer suggestions for future research on the relationships between conversion, activism, radicalism, and terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research utilizing conversion narratives to understand how and why people convert has been troubled by the "accuracy" of the accounts. This study of Muslim converts in the United States sidesteps this problem by turning the focus away from the causes, motives, and drivers of conversion and placing it instead on the form or structure of their conversion narratives. More specifically, it foregrounds the subjective process of making sense of one's conversion story through the employment of formulaic narrative structures. Findings suggest that when accounting for their conversion to Islam, these respondents employed three different narrative structures: stories of awakening, continuity, and return. Although these stories vary in meaningful ways, each provides a different perspective on how conversion to Islam can be conceptualized and expressed narratively. The discussion centers on the similarities and differences between these stories in order to more fully articulate and distinguish their underlying premises. I conclude by considering how each of these stories are used by converts to convey the authenticity of their Muslim identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslims in the United States experience many psychosocial issues and underutilize mental health services. This study sought to systematically identify the common issues and strengths of the Muslims affiliated with a college in the Southeast region of the United States and address them accordingly. A survey comprising 33 items and 2 open‐ended questions regarding common issues and strengths was constructed. A total of 116 participants completed the survey. The overall rating for items was quite high, whereas the satisfaction rating was very low. The most important item was, "You have prayer places/rugs, ablution stations, and water in restrooms," with an importance rating of 94.52% and a satisfaction rating of 20.50%. Four items regarding mental health were rated as the least important, and participants reported lack of knowledge regarding mental health services. This is the first study that includes a list of common concerns and strengths of the Muslim communities affiliated with colleges in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing humanitarian assistance to displaced individuals is a critical policy challenge. Many refugee camps are run by charities supported by Western donors. If refugees are predominantly Muslim, might Islamophobia suppress donations to these charities? Using a survey experiment conducted in the United States, the authors examine whether donors' willingness to support a charity is influenced by the dominant religion of the refugees, the regions in which refugee camps are located, and/or the religious affiliation of the charity. The authors find modest support for Islamophobia: while willingness to donate is not affected by the location of camps or the predominance of Muslim refugees, it declines significantly for Islamic charities. Respondents overall tend to be especially willing to donate to a charity that serves Christian refugees in the Middle East. Among self‐identifying Christians, respondents are more willing to donate to a charity serving Christian refugees than one serving Muslim refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Negative sentiment toward immigrants helps fuel preferences for restrictive immigration policy. Religious commitments have been linked to both positive and negative dispositions toward immigrants, Muslims, and immigration. This study tests how religious factors impact negative sentiments toward immigrants and Muslims, and preferences for more restrictive immigration policy. Methods: We analyze data from the 1996 and 2004–2016 General Social Surveys (GSS), examining scales for negative sentiment toward immigrants, civil liberties for Muslims, and preferences to restrict immigration. Ordinary least squares and ordinal regression models are used to examine the effects of religious factors net of social background and political identifications. Results: Sectarian Protestants, white Catholics, and biblical literalists were found to have more hostile views of immigrants and Muslims, while nonwhite Catholics, non‐Christians, the unaffiliated, and those with secular beliefs held more positive views of immigrants and immigration. Conclusions: While elite sectarian Protestants and the Catholic Church hierarchy have urged tolerance for immigrants and immigration, our findings suggest that the sectarians, white Catholics, and biblical literalists hold negative views of immigrants, Muslims, and immigration. Subscription to Christian nationalism also appears to play a role in structuring negative views of immigrants and Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asking whether Islam in Western Europe is like race in the United States is, to a large degree, to ask whether Muslims in Europe share the same fate and face the same barriers as blacks in the United States. The article considers (1) the nature of the hostility to Islam in Western Europe and why it is a greater barrier to inclusion for immigrants and their children than in the United States; (2) the dynamics of color-coded race in the United States, comparing, on the one hand, the severe barriers confronting individuals and groups with African ancestry in the United States with the barriers facing Muslims (as well as black immigrants) in Western Europe and, on the other hand, considering certain advantages available to immigrants of color in the United States that Muslim and other immigrants lack in Europe; and (3) whether the boundary based on religion will prove more permeable for the descendants of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe than the racial boundary in the United States for those with visible African ancestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the research on Islam and on Muslims, within geographies of religion, focuses on Muslims in diaspora. A trend in geographic research on non-Western places has emerged, however, illuminating the global variance of Muslim communities and identities. Yet in spite of scholarly efforts to draw attention to the development of research in these 'other' contexts, there has been little explicit examination of how studies of Muslim geographies in non-Euro-American places contribute to geographies of religion, beyond an empirical or topical diversification of the field. This paper argues that geographic research on religion is situated knowledge that reflects the social and political contexts within which it is conceived and conducted. As such, it reflects particular cultures and priorities of place. The paper begins by situating Anglophone geographic literature about Muslim communities and identities by examining how the 'West' operates as a geographic imaginary that implicitly but powerfully conditions research contexts in Europe and the United States. This research responds to the popular and political discursive framing of Muslims as minorities, and as separate from others. As a result, Muslims appear to constitute bounded and distinct (albeit internally diverse and contextually dependent) communities. By contrast, research conducted in predominantly Muslim societies illuminates the relational, historical and cultural dynamics that bring Muslims of different sects, and Muslims and non-Muslims, into co-constitutive identity relationships. Indeed, the sites, practices, and things that constitute or represent identity for Jews and Muslims, for Sunni and Shi'a, or for pious and secular people, are the same: what it means to be Muslim is contextually specific and formed through relationships with others. This approach involves a more dynamic and productive theoretical conceptualization of place than operates in most Anglo-European geographies of religion. By illuminating the specific empirical and theoretical contributions of Muslim/non-Muslim geographies beyond the West, this paper provincializes geographies of religion and offers observations that may extend the field in new directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on torture in the modern world. In the U.S., the practice of torture has been sanctioned in certain cases. Western countries and Israel reject the validity of non-Western humanistic norms and standards of justice. Unauthorized acts of torture targeting Muslims in the U.S. and abroad emerged since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It is noted that democratic institutions and the rule of law are not guarantee against the occurrence of torture.

The article chronicles the efforts of two Muslim American women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to become activists in the aim of downplaying stereotypes related to Muslims and to decrease discrimination against those practicing Islam. The article discusses their leadership role in the Muslim Women Organization (MWO) and presents their comments on how faith influenced their decision to advocate for Muslims. Other topics include the rights of Muslim women, Islamophobia, and Muslim identity.

An essay is presented on the history of Islam in New York City between the years of 1904 and 1954. Particular focus is given to African American Muslim groups including the Islamic Mission of America (IMA) and the International Moslem Society (IMS) and the leadership of black immigrant Muslims such as Sheikh Al-Haj Daoud Ahmed Faisal and Satti Majid Muhammad al-Qadi. Other topics explored include Moorish Science religious movement and the influence of South Asian Muslims on Islamic practice.

The article identifies and discusses the cultural and spiritual/religious assessments which are required to conduct counseling with Muslim Americans and Muslim immigrants to the U.S. The article outlines assessment processes for Muslim Americans and immigrant Muslims who are a focus for culturally sensitive and ethical counseling considerations. These processes include cultural identity, worldview, spiritual assessment along with acculturation level and migration concerns, impact of languages spoken, social, occupational, and educational status of the client in host culture and in home culture, and family composition and social supports.

The article discusses secular Sufism as a revival of a 19th-century Orientalist bifurcation between a Semitic Islam and a supposed Aryan mysticism. Based on this anti-Semitic conceit, the article sees Islam as intolerant and incompatible with Western secularism and describes Sufism as tolerant and secular due to its similarity with Christiniaty. It considers the role of Sufism in U.S. political discourse as a template for an alternative Muslim subjectivity.

The article looks at the cultural dimension of the fraught and conflictual relationship between the U.S. and many Muslims and Muslim countries as of 2011. The author identifies elements of American culture, including material acquisitiveness, individualism, and hedonism, which he says Muslims find contrary to Islamic values of thrift and self-restraint. He notes that U.S. analysts typically discount the cultural dimension of U.S.-Muslim relations and says this leads to erroneous interpretations of events, citing the scandal over U.S. soldiers' treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

I use the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia to examine whether the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11) led to changes in perceptions of discrimination among Muslim immigrants and immigrants who fit the Muslim-Arab stereotype. I adopt a difference in differences approach and exploit the timing of interviews to identify the causal effect of 9/11 on perceptions. I find that consequent to 9/11, Muslim men and those who look like Muslims increasingly reported religious and racial intolerance and discrimination relative to other immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes three ways in which groups of socially and politically marginalized first-generation Muslim immigrants used the power of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to advance their interests in the United States. Specifically we examine the founding of nine Muslim community-based health organizations (MCBHOs) in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and Los Angeles. We argue that MCBHOs (1) offer a vehicle for the expression and enactment of personal piety and self-fulfillment in ways that link traditional Islamic charitable values with American voluntarism, (2) mobilize middle-class Muslim values in American civil society in ways that normalize the difference of being Muslim in an Islamophobic environment, and (3) enable founders to mobilize the social and cultural capital of faith-based organizations to defensively enact American Muslim citizenship and belonging. Muslims, particularly those of immigrant origins, strategically deploy positively valued faith-based charitable and professional group identities through these NGOs to counteract their publicly stigmatized religious group identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the contributions of Orientalist Duncan Black Macdonald to Christian-Muslim relations in the U.S. and abroad. MacDonald joined the Hartford Theological Seminary as a professor of Semitic Languages in 1892. He aimed to train his students to gain a deep understanding into religions aside from Christianity and challenged Christians not to look down on the Muslim religion. His life account shows his commitment to learning and understanding Islam.

The article examines the historical growth of U.S. Latino/Muslims in the light of their connection with African-American Muslims until the early 1980s. It presents theoretical approach to understand the religious conversions of Latino Muslims. It discusses the historical context of the social, ideological, and cultural connections of Latinos with African Americans. According to the author, African Americans had the least to lose in the U.S. social structure by rejecting dominant discourses.

In the past two decades, US wars in Muslim-majority countries along with Muslim militants' attacks on the United States have raised questions about the place of Muslims in America's multicultural society. Attempts to configure the place of Muslim selves in American body politic have focused primarily on the nature of Islam and its relation to American interests rather than on an analysis of the political policies that have shaped our times. This privileging of religio-cultural explanations of US relations with the Muslim world has engendered the presumption that all Muslims are suspect unless they prove themselves otherwise. Major Nidal Malik Hasan's case, whatever his personal psychological condition, is an example of the way in which attempts at providing a religio-cultural solution to a political problem has placed the burden of bridging the gap between American multicultural ideals and American policies that view Muslims as suspect on the back of individual American Muslim selves. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the history of the relationship between Muslims and Christians in Africa and the conflicts between the two religious groups in Nigeria. It states the establishment of Islam in Ethiopia during 615 Christian Era (CE) before it arrived in Medina, Saudi Arabia when prophet Muḥammad created the Islamic State. One conflict in such relations is attributed to the Muslim's demand for the adoption of Islamic law called Shari'a. The author cites the attempt of the U.S. government to promote better Muslim-Christian relations.

Contemporary theories of prejudice suggest that racism still exists in society, but is expressed in subtle and justifiable manners. Employing such theoretical frameworks, the present study examined subtle ways in which social category information is used differentially in personnel decisions. Participants (managers or undergraduates) were presented with background information and a résumé (with a typical Muslim or European American name) for a hypothetical job applicant. After reviewing the résumés, participants judged the applicant on hirability, salary assignment, and other job-related characteristics. Results showed that the Muslim applicant, relative to the American, was unfavorably judged in salary assignment and job-related characteristics in the presence of negative information. Both managers and undergraduates exhibited the same bias. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the public diplomacy programs of U.S. President Barack Obama towards the Muslim world in Pakistan and the ways on how to improve it to finally discredit the Al-Qaeda movement. The programs include 11 projects worth 400 million dollars, including three international exchange programs, language-training programs, and the overseas work of ambassadors and other State Department officials. It suggests that the U.S. diplomacy be conducted as a dialogue not a monologue to give the audience a chance to express their ideas and views. Accordingly, the U.S. must recognize the opinions of the target audiences before developing programs to address them. Furthermore, the Al-Qaeda narrative should be challenged and destroyed to encourage people not to join or support the movement.

This article focuses on the difference in the view of popular conceptions of the term freedom as an antonym of oppression in U.S. society with those of Islamic society. For Muslims the antonym of oppression is justice. The article explains that U.S. society's conception of freedom is deeply rooted in the French Enlightenment's political, intellectual and cultural genealogies. The difference between U.S. and Islamic conception of such terms as freedom and justice is important as language encodes basic cultural assumptions rooted in the collective world view and ethos of those who speak them. The article discusses the number of times words such as justice and oppression are mentioned in the Qurʾān. It presents information on Islamic conceptions of princes in Medieval period.

The article discusses how immigrant Muslims benefited in the U.S. and Great Britain from the tribalistic and pluralistic point of view. By building places of worship, political organizations and schools, Muslims benefited from the successes of Protestant public sphere. Through an alliance with evangelicals in support of Texas Governor George W. Bush's family values faith-based platform, the power of the first national bloc vote in 2000 was proven by the American Muslim Political Coordination Committee. The curriculum and operations of Islamic schools in Los Angeles, California and Manchester were also modeled after successful Christian academies.

The article comments on postmodern America's international propaganda and public relations campaign aimed at improving the image and ties of the U.S. with the Muslim world. This, however, has proven to be problematic because Muslims understand that American mass media's liberal, sexually immodest, materialistic and faithless message is a threat to Islam's pious and conservative civilization.

Objective. Research on immigrant women's economic and cultural adaptation has increasingly come to the fore of immigration research, yet relatively little remains known about their engagement in the political arena. This study examines this question among Arab Muslims, a group that has been at the center of much public debate but little scholarly discourse. Methods. Using nationally representative data on Arab Muslims, this study examines gender differences in political consciousness and activity and assesses the degree to which different dimensions of religious identity contribute to differences in men's and women's attitudes and behaviors. Results. Both women and men have high levels of political engagement, in part reflecting their relatively affluent socioeconomic positions. Men are slightly more involved than women, and this is explained by their greater participation in religious activities and higher levels of political religiosity. In contrast, subjective dimensions of religiosity—or being a devout Muslim—have no effect on political engagement. Conclusions. Overall, there are few gender differences in Arab Muslim political engagement, suggesting that collective identity based on ethnicity and religion is more salient for the political mobilization of this group. Further, religion is not uniformly associated with political activity, varying by gender and the dimension of religious identity in question, suggesting that future research needs to focus on how different facets of religion influence U.S. political involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the history of conflict between Europeans and Islams. It is reveal that many had saw the targeting of America as geopolitical blowback for US unilaterlism. However, Islamist movements ceased to regard Europe as a mere way station in route to the real target of their native countries and the new generation of Euro Islamists was starting to view Europe itself and the West generally less as a temporary sanctuary than a target in its own right. Moreover, the real war on terrorism must be fought dialogically and will be won or lost in the civil Islamic domain by keeping focus steadfastly on the red zone of uncivil Islamism.

With the significant growth of the Muslim population in the United States, there has been a corresponding increase in the need for mental health services. The author discusses techniques for incorporating Islamic beliefs and practices in the counseling process. The fundamental goal is to ensure ethical and effective treatment for Muslim clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an ethnographic montage of a young Pakistani Muslim woman in the U.S. It mirrors the complexity of the lived experiences and given realities of the woman, as they manifested themselves through my informal dialogic interactions with her, participant observation of her roles in different contexts, and tape-recordings of her own rendering of her life history. It is suggested by a heavy majority that the woman, who has earlier insisted on not taking up a leadership position, represent the women in the meeting with Mizaan today.

We explored implicit and explicit attitudes toward Muslims and Christians within a predominantly Christian sample in the United States. Implicit attitudes were assessed with the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a computer program that recorded reaction times as participants categorized names (of Christians and Muslims) and adjectives (pleasant or unpleasant). Participants also completed self-report measures of attitudes toward Christians and Muslims, and some personality constructs known to correlate with ethnocentrism (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, impression management, religious fundamentalism, intrinsic-extrinsic-quest religious orientations). Consistent with social identity theory, participants' self-reported attitudes toward Christians were more positive than their self-reported attitudes toward Muslims. Participants also displayed moderate implicit preference for Christians relative to Muslims. This IAT effect could also be interpreted as implicit prejudice toward Muslims relative to Christians. A slight positive correlation between implicit and explicit attitudes was found. As self-reported anti-Arab racism, social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and religious fundamentalism increased, self-reported attitudes toward Muslims became more negative. The same personality variables were associated with more positive attitudes toward Christians relative to Muslims on the self-report level, but not the implicit level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment examined correspondence bias associated with the expression of pro- or anti-American sentiment in the months following September 11, 2001. Participants read a pro- or anti-United States essay written by a person whose name was varied to suggest that he either was or was not a Muslim. Participants were informed either that the position taken in the essay had been chosen or assigned. Inferences made about the essay writer's true opinions demonstrated strong and consistent correspondence bias only when participants believed the essay writer was not a Muslim. When participants believed the essay writer was a Muslim, correspondence bias was diminished on one measure and disappeared completely on another. These findings are consistent with the notion that participants were concerned about rushing to incorrect conclusions about a Muslim target person. The strong correspondence bias exhibited by participants making judgments about a non-Muslim is consistent with Gilbert and Malone's (1995) assertion that unrealistic expectations lead to correspondence bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates a form of eaating practices by contemporary African American followers of Sunni Islam. View of the liberating effect of the eating form; Arguments regarding the meanings of 'soul food'; Relation of bodily health to mental liberation; Anthropological concern in the African American Muslim community with food taboos.

Talks about the U.S. policy of choice to meet the challenge of anti-Americanism and the radicalization of Muslims, especially in the Middle East. Democracy and the U.S. record; Skepticism expressed by Arabs and Muslims about the administration's policy pronouncements; Reasons for the so-called Middle East exception in the region.

Reflects upon the relation between U.S. domestic security and Muslim immigrants. Declining ability of nation-states to erect and defend tight boundaries; Differences between previous waves of immigration to the U.S. and Muslim immigration; Resistance to assimilation and formation of small communities; Conditions that permitted terrorism to flourish.

Presents an overview and analysis of selected media portraits and impact screen images have on Arab and Muslim identities. Stereotypical presentation of Muslims in the United States; Film industry's promotion of prejudicial attitudes towards ethnic groups; Denigration of Arabs in cartoons; Effects on children; Prejudicial responses provoked by media images; Reasons for stereotyping people.

The influence of religion on childbearing has been of great interest to students of the family and population. The large families of Catholics, Moslems, Fundamentalist Protestants, and Hutterites have been observed. The purpose of this paper is focus attention on another religious group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons. Data are presented to establish that in the United States and Canada adherents of Mormonism historically have had and continue to have higher than average rates of childbearing. Second, data are discussed which suggest that the high fertility of Mormons is not the result of their occupying positions in the social structure in which childbearing is high. That is, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that there is something about Mormonism which influences childbearing, and this effect cannot be accounted for by social and economic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the anti-Islam campaigns of the U.S. It contends on the U.S. perception about the attribution of violent Muslim acts with Islam. It also outlines the impact of the country's foreign intervention campaign against Muslims in its foreign policies. According to the author, Americans wish to establish relations with Muslim because of its enormous constituents around the world, however, the country is actually establishing Islamic resurgence which is contrary to the main piece. Moreover, discussion on the origins of the anti-Islam campaign in the Middle East are provided.

The article focuses on the issue of Islamic activists in the Western Countries and its negative effects to the majority of Muslims. The author cited instances such as the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York and the terrorist acts against Frenchmen in Algeria have made the presence of such activists a political issue in countries such as the United States, France and Great Britain. According to the author, because of those incidents done by some Muslims, the majority of the Muslims in the Western countries would be affected.

The article focuses on the Shia versus Sunni divide in the Muslim world and the geopolitical power play of the regimes aligned with the Unites states. The recent criticism of the Hezbollah''s aggression in Lebanon by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordon proves this point. The article also discusses the real and underlying conflicts between the Sunni autocrats and their own citizens.

America is more a creed than a nation. Our promise has always been that all individuals, despite race, religion or gender, have the equal chance to make it. The election of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States is thus a “soft power” coup for America's global image, which had lost its luster during the Bush years. Obama is the anti-Bush who will lead by the power of example instead of the example of power. Yet, there are real limits. Can the power of example stop the North Korean or Iranian nuclear programs? Can it stop jihadists bent on establishing a new Caliphate across South Asia? Can it limit China's ambitions as the new power in Asia? In this section commentators from across the world offer their views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America is more a creed than a nation. Our promise has always been that all individuals, despite race, religion or gender, have the equal chance to make it. The election of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States is thus a “soft power” coup for America's global image, which had lost its luster during the Bush years. Obama is the anti-Bush who will lead by the power of example instead of the example of power. Yet, there are real limits. Can the power of example stop the North Korean or Iranian nuclear programs? Can it stop jihadists bent on establishing a new Caliphate across South Asia? Can it limit China's ambitions as the new power in Asia? In this section commentators from across the world offer their views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an overview of the Christian-Muslim dialogue among Muslim and Christian scholars held at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut on October 22 and December 3, 2003. Questions posed upon the participants for them to reflect; Issues that dominated the conversations including discussions of theological formulations; Importance of including Jews in the interfaith exchanges; Benefits of the dialogue.

Comments on the policy of the United States (US) toward Islamic countries. Comparison between the values of Muslims and the people from the West; Criticism against US President Bill Clinton; Views on Islamic fundamentalist Osama bin Laden.

Opinion. Recounts an individual's experience of the suicide of a Moslem friend in Michigan, and the psychological impact of the death. Circumstances surrounding the suicide; Details on the process of documenting the death; Indication that the funeral arrangement was dictated by the Islamic faith.

The article focuses that since the end of the Second World War, the United States has led other nations in meeting the challenge of mounting Soviet power. This has not been a simple or a static relationship. Between them there has been cooperation, there has been competition, and at times there has been confrontation. Efforts were made to establish rules of behavior that would reduce the risks of conflict, and search was made for areas of cooperation that could make relations reciprocal and productive. The implications of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan could pose the most serious threat to the peace since the Second World War. The vast majority of nations on Earth have condemned this latest Soviet attempt to extend its colonial domination of others and have demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Moslem world is especially and justifiably outraged by this aggression against an Islamic people. No action of a world power has ever been so quickly and so overwhelmingly condemned.

This section offers news briefs related to Muslims as of July 1979. Figures provided show the estimated number of Saudi students who are expected to graduate from U.S. universities by the end of 1982-83 school year. Also outlined are the principles for Christian-Muslim relations as discussed during a conference sponsored by the World Council of Churches held in Chambésy, Switzerland on March 12-14, 1929.

The article focuses on the United States' culture and civilization from the perspective of the Arabs. A certain level of savoir-faire is expected of international business people, and this often translates into cultural know-how-not just knowing the what but also the why behind it. This issue will take a look at people and culture through the eyes of the Arabs, in particular the Saudi Arabians whose country is difficult for Americans to understand. One can start by telling Americans what the word Arab means as they tend to assume it is a racial characteristic when it is a linguistic one. An Arab is simply anyone whose mother tongue is Arabic. There are Arab Jews, Arab Christians, and Arab Muslims. There are about 800 million Muslims in the world today and only 250 million Arabs. Most people are surprised to find out that the most populous Muslim country is not even an Arab one, but Indonesia. Religion is a big area of misunderstandings-among the Westerners. Islam is just not very well understood in America and since the Ayatollah its reputation has gotten even worse. But one should know that since Islam came after Judaism and Christianity, it incorporated many of the same beliefs. It would help if business people were at least aware of some of our similarities. There are certain restrictions relating directly to our religion, like the ban on pork products that was for reasons of health and hygiene in the days before refrigeration.