Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-7drxs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T17:20:48.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Dearborn Effect: A Comparison of the Political Dispositions of Shi‘a and Sunni Muslims in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2010

Cyrus Ali Contractor
Cyrus Ali Contractor*
Affiliation:
The University of Oklahoma
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Cyrus Ali Contractor, Department of Political Science, The University of Oklahoma, 455 West Lindsey, Dale Hall Tower 205, Norman, Oklahoma 73019. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The study of Muslims in the West is a burgeoning field, in which scholars are examining the religious, social and political lives of Muslims as minorities. This article continues in that vein, and utilizes the Muslim American Political Opinion Survey (MAPOS) to compare Shi‘a and Sunni responses in a few areas of interest: religious identity, views of being a Muslim in the United States, and political participation in the American system. Using a comparison of mean responses and the t-test to analyze 13 variables, it demonstrates that Sunnis felt more strongly that the teachings of Islam were compatible with political participation in the United States, and that a statistically significantly higher percentage of Shi‘a respondents participated in a rally or protest. The study goes further to suggest that perhaps congregants of Shi‘a mosques view Islamic teachings as being more compatible with participation in American politics, and opens the door for further consideration and research involving a more in-depth study of the Shi‘as in the American political context, one that examines how the narratives that drive Shi‘ism affect individual Shi‘a social and political participation in a country where they are a real “minority within a minority”.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , April 2011 , pp. 154 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abd al-Jabbar, Falih. 2003. The Shi'ite Movement in Iraq. London, UK: Saqi.Google Scholar
Ansari, Abdolmaboud. 1988. Iranian Immigrants in the United States: A Case Study of Dual Marginality. Milwood, NY: Associated Faculty Press.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt, and Dana, Karam. 2008. Muslim American Public Opinion Survey (MAPOS). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity & Race.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt A., and Bozonelos, Dino. 2009. “Democrat, Republican, or None of the Above? The Role of Religiosity in Muslim American Party Identification.” Politics and Religion 2:31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donno, Daniela, and Russett, Bruce. 2004. “Islam, Authoritarianism, and Female Empowerment: What Are the Linkages.” World Politics 56:26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, M. Steven. 2002. “Islam and Authoritarianism.” World Politics 55:34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuad, Ibrahim. 2006. The Shi'i of Saudi Arabia. Berkeley, CA: Saqi Books.Google Scholar
Fuller, Graham E., and Francke, Rend Rahim. 2000. The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Louër, Laurence. 2008. Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Nakash, Yitzhak. 2006. Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Nasr, Vali. 2006a. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Nasr, Vali. 2006b. “When the Shiites Rise.” Foreign Affairs 85:58–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachedina, Abdulaziz. 1994. “A Minority Within a Minority: The Case of the Shi'a in North America.” In Muslim Communities in North America, eds. Haddad, Y.Y. and Smith, J.I.. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Ṣāne‘ī, Grand Ayatollāh Yūsef. 1997. A Selection of Islamic Laws Based on the Verdicts of Grand Ayatollāh Yūsef Ṣāne‘Ī. Translated by Kimyaei Far, M. Y.. Sīstānī, Grand Ayatollah ‘Alī Ḥusaynī Islamic Laws 2008 [cited.Google Scholar
Suleiman, Michael W., ed. 1999. Arabs in America: Building a New Future. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Takim, Liyakatali. 2000. “Foreign Influences on American Shi'ism.” The Muslim World 90:459–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takim, Liyakatali. 2002. “Multiple Identities in a Pluralistic World: Shi'ism in America.” In Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens, ed. Haddad, Y.Y.. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Walbridge, Linda S. 1993. “Confirmation of Shi'ism in America: An Analysis of Sermons in the Dearborn Mosques.” The Muslim World 83:248–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walbridge, Linda S. 1994. “The Shi'a Mosques and the Congregations in Dearborn.” In Muslim Communities in North America, eds. Haddad, Y.Y. and Smith, J.I.. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Walbridge, Linda S. 1997. Without Forgetting the Imam: Lebanese Shi'ism in an American Community. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.Google Scholar
Walbridge, Linda S. 1999. “A Look at Differing Ideologies Among Shi'a Muslims in the United States.” In Arabs in America: Building a New Future ed. Suleiman, M.W.. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar