ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

AAS 128 AC Syllabus 2012

Asian American Studies 128AC Muslims IN AMERICA: COMMUNITIES AND INSTITUTIONS 145 Dwinelle, M/W 4-5:30PM

Office Hours: Mon/Thurs. 9-10am Office: 278 Barrows Hall

Hatem Bazian, Ph.D. hatemb@berkeley.edu

Contact Assistant Paula Thompson [paulathompson@berkeley.edu] for Twitter questions, web projects, and lecture hall attendance.

COURSE DESCRIPTION The course traces Islams journey in America, beginning with an examination pre-Columbus contacts, then moving toward the first exclusionary acts in the new colonies directed at Muslims of West and North African descent, early arrivals in the 16th century, and a look at narratives and documents relative to African Muslim slaves. Building on this early history, we deal with the emergence of identifiable Muslim communities throughout the US and focus on patterns of migration, the ethnic makeup of such communities, gender dynamics, political identity, and cases of conversion to Islam. We spend considerable time on the African American, IndoPakistani, and Arab American Muslim communities, since they constitute the largest groupings. Also, the course examines in depth the emergence of national, regional, and local Muslim institutions, patterns of development pursued by a number of them, and levels of cooperation or antagonism. The course seeks an examination of gender relations and dynamics across the various Muslim grouping and the internal and external factors that contribute to real and imagined crisis. The course likewise seeks to conduct and document the growth and expansion of mosques, schools, and community centers in the greater SF Bay Area. Finally, no class on Islam in America would be complete without a critical examination of the impacts of 9/11 on Muslim communities, the erosion of civil rights, and the on-going war on terrorism. Required Reading: 1. Sylviane Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas 2. The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley 3. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America 5. Human Architecture, Vol. 5, Issue I, Fall 2006, Othering Islam, pp.1-29 6. Same Hate, New Target, Islamophobia and Its Impact in the United States, CRG and CAIR annual Report available on bspace. 7. Course Reader available at Copy Central-third week of the class. 8. Pew Report, MUSLIM AMERICANS: MIDDLE CLASS AND MOSTLY MAINSTREAM May 22, 2007 bspace resource section 9. Views of Religious Similarities and Differences: MUSLIMS WIDELY SEEN AS 2009 Annual Religion and Public Life Survey bspace resource section FACING DISCRIMINATION Results from the

10. Course Reader available on the second week of classes at Copy Central on Bancroft way.

https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly

Page 1 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

Course Requirements: Attendance of the weekly lectures Participating Reflection Papers Twitter Account Entry Mid-term exam Final exam Website Project 10% 10% 10% 10% 20% 20% 20%

Attendance: The class is 1.5 hours twice a week, which means you are expected to attend from the beginning of the class all the way to the end. Attendance will be taken by the TAs and it will form the basis for the 10% of your grade. Attendance in lecture is taken periodically and will be noted on the chalkboard 'Attendance Today'. It is your responsibility to make sure that the sign in sheet is signed by you when it is passed around.You are allowed two unexcused absences, then every missed thereafter will cause a deduction of 2% of the final grade. If you do miss a class then you are responsible for the material covered and you should get the notes from someone else in the class. The course lectures are uploaded to iTunes U and can be found by searching>UC Berkeley>Asian American Studies 128>Hatem Bazian> look for Fall 2013 lectures as we go. Using electronic devices like phone and IPod, during class time is prohibited and you will be called out by the professor or the TA. The use of the computer is limited to note taking and surfing the web during lecture time is a short sighted use of your educational time, tuition and the TAs will call students out during class time and will impact your final grade. Students surfing the web during class time will lose points for participation, which account for up to 10% of the final grade. Email: Use of e-mail is limited to very urgent matters and I will not respond to inquiries related to missing class or needing information about what was covered during absences. This is a large class and if each student sends one e-mail per day then I have to read and respond to 200+ requests. My office hours are the appropriate time to seek clarification on materials covered or to discuss issues related to your performance in the class. The GSIs are available for you to ask questions and clarify concepts covered in the class as well as any attendance related issues. Twitter: Students are expected to participate on the social media platform Twitter. We require students to tweet relevant information, articles, video and responses once per week throughout the semester. We encourage you to tweet during class time. The tweets will be turned in for 10% of your grade at the end of the semester. Directions on tweeting and how to make a Twitter account can be found on our course website: ASAMST128.weebly.com/twitter.html. Website Project: Students are required to form groups (you may do so independently and class time will also be allotted) and we will show you how to create a website using a simple, drag and drop platform on a subject relevant to Muslims in America. Similar to a research paper, your group will formulate a topic, gather research, incorporate class reading and materials and input that information along with photos, videos and other creative media into your group website. Deadlines are forthcoming and more information can be found on the course website at http://asamst128.weebly.com/web-project.html.

SCHEDULE: 1. Indigenous Islam in America 2. Immigrant Islam 3. Islam, Civil Rights, and Globalization 4. Institutions, Terrorism, Hip Hop, and Inclusion The course is organized thematically to cover a number of important areas related to current research on the subject of Islam in America.
https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly Page 2 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

Indigenous Islam in America The first section of the course traces early Muslims in pre- and post-Columbus America. The students are introduced to the most recent research pertaining to early Muslim presence in America. A reference made to journey across the Atlantic and back by a Muslim navigator, Khashkash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, is in the work of the Muslim historian and geographer, Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Hussian Al-Masudi (d. 957 CE), pointing possibly, to a pre-Columbus contact with the indigenous people. Another account of a journey undertaken by the navigator Ibn Furrukh appears in the works of Muslim historian, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya, which speaks of crossing the Atlantic, landing in Gando and visiting King Guanariga. Students examine these Islamic sources and other recent works to provide a longer historical view when examining American history and possible contacts between Africa and the New World before 1492. The question of "who discovered America" continues to pre-occupy many researchers time and effort, and this section offers the students another possibility to consider.

Islam in the African American community is an integral part of the history of captivity and slavery in the United States, and not as a function of some "alien" presence in this country. On the conservative side, some 10% of all the slaves brought into the New World were identified as being Muslim. This view is based on Philip Curtin figures of some 9.5 million slaves brought to America (plus or minus 20%). Another group of scholars has recently estimated that around 15-20% of all slaves brought to the New World adhered to Islam and the total number of all slaves brought was closer to 12-15 million. At present, scholars differ on the actual number of slaves brought to the Americas and much research needs to be undertaken, but the presence and impact of Muslim African slaves can no longer be over looked. Islam and Muslims have been in America since its early years, often held unto their beliefs, and managed to pass them to the next generation.

Alex Haley, in the TV series Roots, selected a Muslim for his ancestor and many faulted him for this, but it seems he was ahead of his time. In looking at Muslim African slaves in America, we are presented with a different picture of the slave. We have a picture of highly educated and sophisticated human beings who, while confronted with the monumental difficulties, were yet able to hold unto their belief system and resist against all odds. In the course, we examine the narratives of Abdulrahman, Job Ben Solomon, Bilali Mohammed, Salih Bilali, Umar ibn Said, Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, and Mohammed Ali ben Said, which help us understand the early life of Muslims in America. History is not only a matter of the past it is also a contributor to the present, and it can shape our ideas about the future. The course seeks to trace cultural, political, and social elements that can be attributed to Islamic influence in the African American community, which can serve as a foundation for a better understanding of our contemporary society. In addition, African Muslim slave narratives deal with the issue of racism in early America, how some Muslims were set free by being redefined as "Arabs" vs. "African," and what this meant in terms of race constructs at the time.

After laying the above foundation the course shifts toward the 20th century and a closer examination of the emergence of Islam in the African American community and a careful focus on the Nation of Islam. No organization had had more impact on African American identification with Islam than the Nation of Islam, which in the 1930s/1940s was the only public expression of Islam in the country. Through the Nation of Islams work in the inner city the African American community begins its long journey toward Orthodox Islam. In this section we will examine the early process of conversion, gender dynamics and relations in the African American Muslim community, the impact of the 1960s, the shift in 1976 toward Orthodox Sunni belief and ending with the most recent development in the community.

Readings: August 29 September 19 Read the materials listed below with Sylviane Dioufs book being the primary text, sections of Malcolm Xs biography Sylviane Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America, pp. 1-95 The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley Alan D. Austin, African Muslims in Antebellum America, pp. 65-84 & 129-156 Aminah Beverly McCloud, African American Islam, pp. 117-163
https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly Page 3 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

2. Immigrant Islam September 21st October 10 Readings: The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America, pp. 95-165 Michael W. Suleiman, Arabs in America, Building a New Future pp. 25-53 & 257-320 Kathleen M. Moore, Al-Mughtaribun, pp. 1-43 The second focus of the course is on immigrant Muslim communities. Muslim Immigrants are not any different from others who landed on the shores of this country seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Aside from the early colonialists, every immigrant group has faced some level of discrimination, stereotyping, and rejection as they attempted to fit into American society. However, immigrants from non-European countries had to contend with racism directed not at the fact of being a new comer to America but on possessing a different skin tone. Muslim immigrants, in additionlike Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and othershad to struggle to fit into a Christian society, which often acted with hostility toward new comers.

Most American history sources gloss over Muslim immigrants contributions to America. Over the years, thousands of Muslims have made it to America from vast regions of the world. However, the early Muslim immigrants in the 19th century were Arabs from what was known as Greater Syria and those from Indo-Pakistan. These Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Lebanese, and Indo-Pakistani immigrants were mostly men, poorly educated laborers, who came seeking greater economic stability. Many returned, disenchanted, to their homeland, while others who stayed contended with the ever-present discrimination, racism, and hostilities. But nothing was more painful than the isolation they felt in this foreign land.

The early wave of Arab and Indo-Pakistani immigrants came to an end in 1924 with the adoption of the Asian Exclusion Act and the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act, which allowed only a tickle of "Asians" into this country. In 1924 within the American racial map, the US designated Arabs as Asians. But this changed during the 1960s, and the US now classifies them under the undefined rubric of "other". In this regard, Muslim immigrants share the history of Asian Americans who suffered institutionalized racism in the form of government policy. A similar case is taking place today under the newly adopted Patriot Act. This section of the course focuses on understanding the two groups of immigrants, patterns of migrations, areas of settlements, levels of adjustment to a new country, and economic, social, gender and political activities between them and the indigenous Muslims on the one hand and the rest of the society on the other. Also, students are introduced to the cultural norms of Arab and Indo-Pakistani communities, with an eye on gender role, marriage, clothing, and festivals in America. One key element is the adjustment of Muslims, immigrant and indigenous alike, to the dominant cultural and its construction of otherness that at this point is focused on the Muslim community.

3. Islam, Civil Rights, and Globalization October 12 October 31st Readings: Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America, pp. 165-272 Edward Said, Orientalism, 1-28 Ahmad Gunny, Perceptions of Islam in European Writings, pp. 139-181
https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly Page 4 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

Mohamed Nimer, Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism, Causes and Remedies, pp. 1-35 Human Architecture, Vol. 5, Issue I, Fall 2006, Othering Islam, pp.1-29 The course moves toward the dynamic period of the 1960s with a greater involvement of the Nation of Islam in the human and civil rights movements, and to a lesser extent the anti-Vietnam war efforts. Also beginning in the mid 1960s, the US administration, hoping to influence countries in the Third World in the face of Soviet success in helping anti-colonial struggles, opened widely the door of immigration for foreign students, and among them came Muslims. In this sense, we deal in this section with the initial contact between the indigenous and immigrant Muslim communities, which begins to shape future relations.

At this stage, Islam is seen and adopted as a path for resistance by African Americans in their quest to change the American society, while the newly arriving immigrants have come to the land of opportunity and the quest for the "American Dream." These two groups are acting under a set of conditions beyond their own control: racism and segregation, the Cold War, Vietnam War, Arab Nationalism, Oil Wealth, the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, poverty, and battles over education and jobs. More recently, both communities are effected by the on-going War on Terrorism which in the past six years managed to shift the boundaries and self-identification of each group.

In the course, we examine the Muslim role in the Civil Rights movement, the particular contribution of Malcolm X, and the shadow he continues to cast on the minds and hearts of young and old in America. Also, Malcolm was an early convert to the global struggle and the links that needed to be made with Africa and the Middle East, which brings him into contact with immigrant Islam in New York, Chicago, Detroit and other cities. No person has had more impact on bringing Americans toward Islam in the last 40 years than Malcolm. His journey to Mecca, possibly single handedly, managed to cross Islam into white America and caused the eventual movement of the Nation under W.D. Muhammad to Orthodox Islam. After Hajj, Malcolm began a process, which continues today, of bringing Arab Muslim scholars to help guide the community toward what he considered a "pure" version of Islam and away from the earlier teaching of the Nation of Islam. The Arab Muslim scholar which was seen as a source of pure Islam has more recently been identified with radicalism and terrorism, constructs that are born out the current period in America.

Students are introduced to the major issues confronting the immigrant-indigenous Muslims as they attempt to draw closer to one another in this period. This formative period is key to understanding the current relations between both groups and, to a large extent, global circumstances were the primary villain behind many internal problems. During this formative period, we place greater emphasis on the role of women in the Nation of Islam, a society with a mandated dress code, and we introduce students to the culture and value system relating to gender, gender relations, and role definition. Often, the media use the construct of gender in Muslim communities as a sharp sword to gain support for foreign and domestic policy initiatives. Thus, students are given an understanding of these issues as a way for them to reflect on gender relations and formation within their own society, however while our study of gender role is critical but at the same time placing Muslims gender dynamics within a global context and not merely an exception.

4. Institutions, Terrorism, Hip Hop, and Inclusion November 2nd November 30th Readings: Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America, pp. 272-379 Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy, pp.61-111 Jane I. Smith, Islam in America, pp. 150-177 Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, pp.17-63 & 229-261 Michael W. Suleiman, Arabs in America, pp. 304-320 Sami A. Al-Arian, Shackled Dreams, pp. 15-65
https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly Page 5 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

David Cole, Enemy Aliens, pp. 17-85

The last section of the course deals in depth with Islam in the US over the last thirty years and a closer treatment of the impact of technology, institutions, and the war on terrorism on the Muslim community. In my recent research on the "Silicon Rush," I found that a large number of Muslims moved to the Bay Area as a result of the explosion of the technology industry and the expansion in granting H1 immigrant workers visas. Students are given a view of primary research and raw qualitative data about Muslim communities in the Bay Area and additional examples drawn from other cities around the US.

The IT immigrant is completely different from the earlier generation, for many of them are professionals, already married, and have immediate financial expectations that they often realized on the first day in the US if not actually before they even landed. Many possess high degrees and are very fluent in English, which make cultural barriers, for them, less of an issue than earlier generations. In the Bay Area, we see a dramatic shift from San Francisco being the center for social, political, cultural, and religious activities to San Jose and Santa Clara becoming the focal point. Also, we see the rapid development of institutions throughout the area supported by high levels of income generated by this new crop of Muslims who are imbedded in the computer and IT industry. Students are taken through the development of Muslim communities in the last 30 years and provided with authentic voices representing various groups and institutions operating in this area. The focal point of this is to understand the specific cultural, political, social, and religious outlooks present in each and among the three groups under consideration.

The area has experienced a massive expansion in the number of Muslims and, as a byproduct, the emergence of a network of Halal meat services (Halal refers to meat adhering to Islamic codes in the slaughtering process, which is somewhat similar to Kosher labels for the Jewish community). Also, a large number of Halal restaurants have sprung up around the Bay Area, including seven located in Berkeley alone, with the Indo-Pakistani cuisine dominating the tables. We often think of Indian food absent consideration of the large Muslim community belonging to this larger designation even though a number of the restaurants are operated by them in the Bay Area.

With this initial background, we begin to examine 9/11 and its impact on the Muslim community in the last section. We deal with 9/11 from the perspective of Muslim Americans, immigrant and indigenous, and how it impacts them. Following the events of 9/11, a powerful spotlight was directed at the Muslim American community with negative and positive consequences. The negatives on the macro political level have produced racial profiling in airports, imprisonment without trial, closing down of Muslim community based charities, and the freezing of assets. As one person expressed it at a community gathering, "Muslims live in a virtual interment condition," with wire taps, FBI monitoring, 5000 interrogations, and undercover presence in mosques and community activities. Students receive a first hand look at a community living in fear and facing the full force of the state. What would have been the value of a similar look in a course on the Japanese in America during WW II?

Also, students are encouraged to examine their own response to 9/11 and how they view or relate to the Muslim American community. Not all the responses to the events of 9/11 were negative. On the contrary, the Muslim community received massive support from various sectors within the American society, which lead to the inclusion of Muslims in every public setting and to viewing them as part of the fabric of this society. This section deals with the dynamics between the majority and a minority within a minority community at a time of crisis and how best to deconstruct the arguments in the current debate on terrorism and to attempt to view it from the point of view of the Muslim American community. Aside from the effect of the events of 9/11, we also discuss the impact of Islam on the music scene and the Hip Hop community.

https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly

Page 6 of 7

ASAMST 128AC LEC 001 Fa13

8/27/13 6:12 PM

https://bspace.berkeley.edu/portal/tool/44180ead-825a-4319-a3f8-52115e4b7e7f/printFriendly

Page 7 of 7