The Future of Islam in the West Episode 3
In recent years Ireland has been growing less and less religious yet the country now it finds itself faced with accommodating the very different religious traditions of Islam. In adapting to these new demands can anything be learned from other Western countries that have seen both conflict and confusion in their dealings with their Islamic communities?
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In the United States the experience of Islam is very different.
Asma Hasan Gul is a lawyer by training and a writer by choice; the very model of thoroughly liberated American Muslim. Asma and her extended family live in the outer suburbs of Los Angeles. Her uncle Johnny is the classic American success story - originally from Pakistan, he made his money out of a chain of 7-11 convenience stores. Her brother Ali is a budding film-maker and the founder of Muslims for Bush organisation. Beyond affluence and ambition, there are other reasons Islam seems more at home here than in Europe. It’s fair to say Americans are far more comfortable with religion as a fact of daily life. They are also part of an immigrant nation that has always been revived by the arrival of new cultures. All of this applies to Islam, or at least it did until 9/11.
Now that the United States feels it is under siege, American Muslims find themselves carrying a huge burden. Azhar Usman is a member of the comedy group, Allah Made Me Funny, which tours the US with its unique insight into Muslim life. In Los Angeles Azhar is honoured at an annual awards ceremony staged by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. While there was plenty of devotion and patriotism evident at the cermony there was also a public challenge to America at large.
Islam in the west has blurred the lines that divide the different communities. Fidelma O’Leary was born in Cork into a devout Catholic family and moved to America almost twenty years ago. Today she lives in Austin,Texas and is professor of biology at St Edwards University. Most Friday mornings Fidelma hosts a prayer group at her home and in the group are two other Irish converts to Islam, Eileen and Michelle. Fidelma and her daughter Sara visit Cork during the Christmas holidays and this journey brings a meeting of modern Muslim life and Catholic tradition that is revealing, if also uncomfortable.
In world of uncertainty, Islamic values appear clear and certain. But it’s that certainty - some say inflexibility – which is deeply troubling for many in the West. To ignore the dangers ahead would be naive. But conflict is not inevitable and solutions are evident in the lives of real people all around.