Teaching Theology and Religion, ISSN 1368-4868, 2006, vol. 9 no. 2, pp 73–78.
Educating American Muslim Leadership (Men and
Women) for the Twenty-First Century
Amir al-Islam
Medgar Evers College
The City University of New York
Abstract. Educating and training Muslim men and
women leaders who are capable of effectively navigat-
ing the multi-ethnic and multi-religious terrain in
America – particularly in the post 9–11 milieu – requires
the development of a new critical American Muslim
pedagogy. This new pedagogy, centered in Islamic epis-
temology and ontology, should selectively appropriate
the best of traditional Muslim educational paradigms
and modalities used over time. However, the traditional
Muslim model must not be reified, but rather be sub-
jected to a sharp critique which maintains the richness
of its spiritual and intellectual legacy but rejects teach-
ings and interpretations used to create false dichotomies
resulting in binary constructs, particularly those which
pit Muslims against the west. Finally, the new critical
American Muslim pedagogy must embrace all of the
best discursive practices (e.g., pedagogies of Freire and
others) that engage us in a critical analysis of the way
in which power and privilege, even in religious com-
munities, operate to marginalize and suppress women,
minorities, and people of color.
Introduction
Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and
contrary to popular belief, the majority of Muslims are
not Arabs; they are in Asia, in countries like Indonesia
and Malaysia. Moreover, within the last fifty years,
Islam has gained a significant presence in most western
countries, with rapidly expanding Muslim populations
in France, England and the United States. It is the Amer-
ican landscape that provides the context for this article.
Currently, it is reported by the Council on American
Islamic Relations (CAIR) that there are approximately
six to seven million Muslims in the United States, com-
prised of immigrants from over fifty countries and a
substantial population of converts, primarily African
© 2006 The Author
Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Americans (40 percent) but including a significant
number of white Americans and Latinos. Surprisingly,
the large population of African American Muslims are
often overlooked and discounted in scholarly writings
and research.
During the latter part of the twentieth century,
American Muslims have established a formidable pres-
ence on the American religious, social, and political
landscape. They are actively engaged in every sphere of
American society and have established over 4,000
Islamic organizations, including Muslim student associ-
ations, intellectual and professional organizations, civil
rights and political advocacy groups, social service agen-
cies, over 1,500 mosques, and schools in every major
city in America. There are also at least six national
umbrella organizations that coordinate their activities
and promote Islamic understanding.
However, the exponential development of Muslim
institutions and organizations in the U.S. has not, for
the most part, included Islamic institutions of higher
learning. While there have been a few modest but note-
worthy efforts by Muslims to establish Islamic colleges
and advanced studies programs within the last few years
(e.g., American Islamic College in Chicago, Islamic
Internet University, Hartford Seminary’s Muslim Chap-
lains Program), currently there are no accredited Islamic
colleges, universities, or seminaries to educate and train
American Muslim leaders.
Even though there are a number of American
Muslims functioning effectively in leadership positions
within Islamic organizations, the present system of edu-
cating and training American Muslim leaders is woe-
fully inadequate and does not address the contemporary
challenges facing Muslims in twenty-first century, post
9–11 America. It is encouraging to note that some
American Muslim scholars are already in dialogue
about the critical need for a new educational paradigm
74 al-Islam
to train American Muslim leaders and have initiated
several projects. However, this task calls for a much
more comprehensive approach and should include col-
laborations and partnerships with non-Muslim scholars
and educators in order to be effective.
This project requires no less than a radical shift
in the way Muslims have traditionally approached
Islamic education, curriculum development, teaching
methodologies and pedagogy within the last century.
Here, it is significant to note the ongoing debate on the
definition of Islamic education and the problematic
associated with the use and misuse of the term “Islamic”
(e.g., Islamic knowledge, Islamic terrorism etc.; Sardar
1989; Iqbal 1996; Daud 1998; Ali 2000; Panjwani
2004; Douglas and Shaikh 2004). This term is a signi-
fier that should only apply to the faith and its doctrine
in an ideal form, and it should not be used to
ascribe divinity to interpretations and actions that fall
squarely within the realm of human agency. Hence this
article uses the appropriate terminology of critical
American Muslim pedagogy rather than critical Islamic
pedagogy.
The development of a new critical American Muslim
pedagogy is admittedly daunting and raises a number of
essential questions:
• What is a traditional Islamic education? What is
Islamic knowledge and what makes it Islamic?
• What should be the criteria for American Muslim
leadership and how should American Muslim
leaders be educated and trained for the twenty-first
century?
• What should a critical American Muslim pedagogy
consist of in its philosophical approach and
conceptual framework, particularly in a post 9–11
environment that is often hostile to Islam and
Muslims?
• What teaching and learning modalities should be
employed (research, curriculum, texts, etc.)?
• Should approaches to training and educating immi-
grant Muslim leaders be different from those for
African American Muslim leaders?
The initial objective is therefore to track the contours
of American Muslim leadership development, shedding
particular light on African American Muslims, in order
to identify complexities, raise questions, and challenge
propositions which, hopefully, will open new lines of
scholarly inquiry and thought. Articulating the chal-
lenges confronting African American Muslim leaders
gives voice to a community often silenced and adds
a perspective often overlooked in the discourse. But
before a new critical American Muslim pedagogy can
be explored, it is necessary to understand the context in
which American Muslim leadership evolved by means
of a brief overview of Islam in America.
Mapping the Terrain of Islam in America
It is well documented that Islam arrived in the New
World through two distinct migratory patterns: first was
the forced migration of African Muslims by virtue of the
ubiquitous Atlantic slave trade (as much as 30 percent
of the slave population; Curtin 1967). Second were the
successive waves of immigrants from predominantly
Muslim countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and
Eastern Europe who began to descend upon American
shores a few years after the abolition of slavery in 1865.
The Immigrant Muslim Experience: Migration
and Transnationalism
The first documented groups of immigrant Muslims in
America were Syrians and Lebanese during the period
of 1875 to 1912 who settled in the Midwest. Later, large
populations of immigrants came from South Asia and
Africa. Several factors contributed to their emigration,
including political instability and poverty in their home
countries and access to American education and eco-
nomic opportunities. In order to maintain their customs
and facilitate critical social needs such as marriage,
burial, and the education of their children, Muslim
immigrants began to organize and establish mosques,
Islamic centers, and schools.
From these humble beginnings, the immigrant Muslim
community in the U.S., over a period of less than a
century, established over 1100 mosques and Islamic
centers and approximately 400 Islamic schools. These
immigrant Muslims, seeing the need to coordinate the
activities of American Muslims and promote Islam, estab-
lished the majority of the national Muslim umbrella
organizations, including the Muslim Student Association
(MSA), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and others.
They continue to grow and prosper as new Americans, in
spite of the current increase of anti-Muslim sentiment
(Islamophobia) which has grown precipitously since the
tragic events of 9–11. Sadly, 57 percent of American
Muslims polled say they have experienced religious-based
bias or discrimination since the deadly 9–11 attacks and
87 percent say they know of a fellow Muslim who expe-
rienced discrimination (CAIR 2004).
Immigrant Muslim Leadership Profile
Within the American Muslim immigrant community,
two primary leadership models have emerged: Imams
(religious leaders) and administrative/managerial lead-
ers. Traditionally in America, Imams have been re-
sponsible for the spiritual and religious guidance of
the Muslim community. Administrative/managerial
leaders are Muslims (usually well-educated profession-
als) who manage mosques, Islamic centers, and lead stu-
© 2006 The Author
Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 American Muslim Leadership
dents’ organizations, advocacy organizations, profes-
sional associations, and so forth. Because the mosque or
Islamic center continues to serve as the primary locus of
individual and community life, mosque leadership is the
most important and includes both types of leaders:
1) The Imam (spiritual leadership) entails leading
prayers, performing weddings, burials, teaching
classes, counseling, and so on.
2) The President/Director (administrative/managerial
leadership) entails supervising all administrative and
managerial operations of the mosque/Islamic center.
Approximately 81 percent of immigrant mosques have
an imam who functions in one or sometimes both of
these categories of leadership. Others have presi-
dents/directors who serve as leaders. It is important to
note that mosque leaders are exclusively men. However,
there is a significant movement led by Muslim women
scholars, intellectuals, and activists to contest the privi-
leging of males in leadership positions and the overall
tendency to marginalize women. Scholar and university
professor Dr. Amina Wadud recently led a mixed gender
congregation in prayer in New York (New York Times
2005). American Muslim women do, however, serve in
leadership and executive positions in various local and
national organizations which tend to focus on advocacy,
social services, family life, and education. The issue of
Muslim leadership among men and women is an
ongoing debate fueled by differing interpretations of
Islamic exegesis and traditional Islamic practices.
Currently, the majority of immigrant imams and
presidents who are mosque leaders do not have formal
degrees in Islamic studies. According to the 2001
Mosque Study Project, the mosque leader, in the major-
ity of cases, is a volunteer, works part-time, and is
employed outside the mosque (Bagby, Perl, and Froehle
2001). However, there are notable exceptions. A
number of mosques established and attended by immi-
grant Muslims have imams educated and trained in
Islamic universities abroad. Also, it is often the case that
many Imams and leaders of Islamic organizations who
have not attended Islamic universities have, however,
studied with individual Muslim scholars and received an
Idjaza, Arabic for an Islamic certification that the
student completed a course of Islamic studies and has
permission to teach. Still other immigrant Muslims are
selected as leaders by their respective communities
because they have distinguished themselves through
independent study and research.
Islam and the African American Encounter: Origins
and Trajectories
African American converts to Islam constitute the
largest group of Muslims in America. Many of them
© 2006 The Author
Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
75
prefer to be called “reverts” rather than converts
because of an extensive Islamic heritage which began in
Africa and continued after their arrival in the New
World (Curtin 1967). Ironically, many slaves, despite
every attempt by their masters to eradicate their cultural
and religious past, maintained their Islamic practice
(Austin 1997).
The records of African American Muslim activity
after the abolition of slavery in 1865 begin with the
dawn of the twentieth century emergence of what could
be characterized as “new world proto-Islam.” This
period is extremely significant because it marks the
genesis of a new Islam which is not historically African
and orthodox, but a reconceptualized derivation of
Islam centered in new world black liberation ideology
and theology. This proto-Islam was constructed prima-
rily to address white supremacy and racial oppression.
The two most influential messianic leaders of early
proto-Islam were Noble Drew Ali, founder of the
Moorish Science Temple in 1913, and later Elijah
Muhammad of the Nation of Islam (NOI). Using a syn-
cretic combination of the teachings of Marcus Garvey,
Islam, Christianity, and Freemasonry, these dynamic
social actors captured the imagination of poor, unedu-
cated blacks who had been affected by the scourge of
white racism. However, it was in the 1950s when new
convert Malcolm Little (Malcolm X) joined the NOI,
that proto-Islam experienced its meteoric rise. Malcolm
X became one of the NOI’s most prominent spokesper-
sons and a close confidant of its founder, Elijah Muham-
mad, until he recognized the contradictions in the NOI’s
racialized teachings of Islam and split from the organi-
zation in 1964. Malcolm X, who had been introduced
to orthodox Islam by Elijah’s son Wallace, made pil-
grimage to Makkah and converted to Islam, but was
assassinated shortly after his return. Malcolm’s life and
death had a tremendous impact, igniting the interest of
thousands of African Americans in orthodox Islam.
Elijah Muhammad died in 1975 and his son Wallace
Mohammed emerged as his successor, having already
embraced orthodox Islam. He immediately initiated a
process of Islamization that totally changed the NOI,
now called the American Muslim Society (AMS), theo-
logically and politically. Wallace led AMS away from its
radical criticism of America towards a more universal
Islamic posture that included embracing American iden-
tity. While most followers of the NOI accepted the
sweeping changes, a small number of followers, led by
Minister Louis Farrakhan, separated to reestablish the
old-style NOI. Their membership is reported to number
approximately 20,000.
While Wallace Mohammed was transitioning the
NOI into the orbit of orthodoxy, his actions were
monitored by a relatively large number of African
American Muslims who were never followers of Elijah
Muhammad, but had always been orthodox Muslims.
76 al-Islam
These “historically Sunni” African American Muslims
(HSAAM) sought a more authentic form of Islam and
contested the teachings of the NOI from its inception
(Taufiq 1960) and included Sheikh Dawud Faisal who
founded the first Islamic Center in Brooklyn; Professor
Ezeldeen who established the Addeynu Allahe Univer-
sal Arabic Association in the 1930s in New Jersey; Wali
Akram, founder of the First Cleveland Mosque; and
later Darul Islam and the Mosque of Islamic Brother-
hood of New York.
Both of these groups, AMS and HSAAM, have a dis-
tinguished Islamic legacy in America and are respon-
sible for transforming the social and economic lives of
hundreds of thousands of African Americans. This has
been achieved despite decades of racial oppression and
discrimination, often at the hands of U.S. governmental
officials who, over time, have targeted their leaders and
community activists via harassment, surveillance, and
arrests (Cointelpro programs, FBI, 1967).
Presently, the largest numbers of African American
Muslims and the majority of African American mosques
(56 percent) are affiliated with the American Muslim
Society (AMS), formerly the NOI, which maintained
their national organizational structure. The HSAAM,
which represents the remaining 44 percent of mosques,
have remained fragmented over the years in spite of
several efforts to unify them. The historical trajectories
of both groups have defined the way that leadership is
conceptualized and shaped the contours of its architec-
ture and functionality in patterns significantly different
from the immigrant experience. There are also im-
portant differences between the two groups that are
essential to consider in the development of a critical
American Muslim pedagogy.
African American Muslim Leadership
Historically, charismatic leadership has been one of the
hallmarks of successful black leadership in America. In
African American Islam, while charisma has not been
the only quality determining the success or failure of
leadership, it still has currency. Unlike their immigrant
Muslim counterparts, the overwhelming majority of
AMS and HSAAM Imams function as both administra-
tive/managerial leaders and spiritual leaders of mosques,
and 95 percent do not have degrees from Islamic uni-
versities abroad. AMS members are not encouraged to
study abroad because the interpretation of the religion
is seen as the exclusive province of its national leader
Imam W. D. Mohammed. However, HSAAM members
are encouraged to study abroad. Over the last decade,
there has been an increase in the number of African
Americans traveling abroad to attend Islamic univer-
sities, though a large percentage of them only learn
Arabic and do not complete the degree program.
Currently, the majority of AMS Imams once served
as either leaders of the Fruit of Islam (FOI), a para-
military arm of the NOI, or served in another leader-
ship capacity within the organization. After the
dismantling of the FOI in 1975, these former captains
and officers of the Temples became Imams, in most cases
without any formal training. While they had demon-
strated innate leadership qualities, their Islamic educa-
tion was limited to brief Imam training programs, with
very little training in organizational administration and
management. On the other hand, HSAAM leaders in
local African American Muslim communities were
chosen by their community members to lead by virtue
of demonstrated leadership qualities and a commitment
to Islam and community service. Some had been leaders
in college, in community organizations and social
reform movements, or leaders of gangs or in prison
before their conversion to Islam.
Thus, historically, the African American Muslim
leadership model, particularly during the early proto-
Islamic period, was reminiscent of certain aspects of
Christianity’s “Great Awakening.” Leadership was in
the hands of charismatic messianic African Americans
who felt called by God and felt they did not need formal
religious training. They gained their social currency by
speaking out against white racism and oppression and
by demonstrating a commitment to the uplifting of the
black community. These characteristics of leadership are
still prevalent among AMS and HSAAM leaders.
In many ways, Islam has played a critical transfor-
mative role in their lives, freeing many of them from
alcohol and drug addictions and other forms of subcul-
tural lifestyles. Like their earlier counterparts, they do
not feel that knowledge of Arabic and the Islamic sci-
ences (while valuable and desirable) should be the deter-
mining factor in authenticating their faith or the level
of their commitment to Islam. They liken themselves to
the first generation of Prophet Muhammad’s followers.
However, this perspective is problematic to immigrant
Muslims and causes tension and dissention between
the groups. Immigrant Muslims and some HSAAM
members consider formal Islamic knowledge and train-
ing as the main criteria for Muslim leadership and view
African American Muslims who do not have this train-
ing as inauthentic and unqualified to lead. This results
in essentializing interpretations of Islam as “the authen-
tic Islam” which are, all too often, simply Muslim inter-
pretations of Islam. Ultimately, this binary opposition
results in a kind of othering of large segments of the
African American Muslim community who hold more
moderate views.
Another issue, which causes divisions among African
American Muslims, is the difference in the degree to
which they identify with their American nationality. The
AMS have expressed their loyalty to America in numer-
ous ways, including adding the American flag to their
© 2006 The Author
Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 American Muslim Leadership
national newspaper, the American Muslim Journal. On
the other hand, many members of the HSAAM, many
of whom were militant Black Nationalists and Pan
Africanists before converting to Islam, often maintain
aspects of their militancy and are critical of America,
particularly its foreign policies relative to the Middle
East and its unjust treatment of Blacks. In the past,
sharp differences have permeated the African American
Muslim community that have led to conflict and even
death (Smith 1999). Presently, despite these ongoing
differences, the African American Muslim groups have
succeeded in working together to resolve conflicts. A
critical American Muslim pedagogy designed to educate
African American Muslim leaders must include training
in conflict resolution and peace-building, which should
be applicable locally and globally.
Expanding the American Muslim Leadership
From our review of the historical development of
Islamic institutions and leadership among Muslims in
America, four typologies predominate: (1) immigrant
Imams, (2) immigrant western-educated professional
administrators/managers, (3) African American Imams
of the American Muslim Society (AMS), and (4)
Historically Sunni African American Muslim Imams
(HSAAM). As stated earlier, with few exceptions these
leadership positions are held by men. Presently the con-
sensus of the majority of Muslims is that women be
equally included in every category of leadership with
the exception of Imam. Thus, for the purpose of
developing a new critical American Muslim pedagogy
which focuses on training American Muslim leaders,
functional leadership positions should be expanded to
include the following:
• Chaplains in prisons, hospitals, and the military,
• Intellectual leaders in academia and the public
sphere,
• Muslim da’eyyah (Muslims who promote, propa-
gate, and recruit new members to the faith),
• Principals of Islamic schools and educational
institutes,
• Muslim activists who represent Islam and Muslims
in various social and political forums, meetings, and
so forth.
In Search of a New Critical American
Muslim Pedagogy
A new critical American Muslim pedagogy should
embrace the best educational practices informed by
Freire’s theory of critical pedagogy, as well as contem-
porary postmodernist, feminist, anti-racist, and post-
colonial theories. The following pedagogical constructs
are meant to serve as an overarching conceptual frame-
© 2006 The Author
Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
77
work which could be used to guide the development of
the new pedagogy and ensure that it embraces best
practices:
1) The student-teacher relationship reconceptualized so
that the classroom becomes a site where student and
teacher become partners in the learning process and
new knowledge is discovered through meaningful
dialogue, grounded in the experiences of both teacher
and student alike (the dialogical method, Freire
1970). This process inspires critical thinking, cre-
ativity, and inspiration which liberate the student’s
thinking.
2) Power and privilege monitored to ensure that they do
not marginalize and suppress women, minorities and
people of color when exercised in religious context
(critical pedagogy; Freire 1970).
3) The meta-narrative deconstructed to expose and
subvert the totalizing effects of the way canons and
exegesis are sometimes disguised as absolute truths
falsely attributed to the religion.
Using these constructs, the following are recommended
content of the new critical American Muslim pedagogy.
I. Knowledge of the Religion and its Doctrines such
that potential leaders acquire proficiency in Islamic
studies, which include Islamic theology (tauheed or
doctrines in the ideal) and Islamic and Muslim
sciences (jurisprudence and interpretation of the
Qur’an, etc.).
II. General Education that incorporates the latest
knowledge and research in subjects such as Ameri-
can history, comparative religion, business, law,
history of Islam in America, education, and the
liberal arts.
III. Leadership Expertise that includes best practices on
leadership developed by American think tanks and
research institutes that focus on topics such as
organizational development, prevention of domes-
tic violence, counseling, peace-building and conflict
resolution, and so forth.
IV. Understanding of the American Social, Cultural,
Political and Religious Landscape, including both
America’s significant contributions to human devel-
opment and its complex legacy of exploitation and
discrimination. Special emphasis should placed on
issues of women and gender studies.
V. Formal Teaching and Learning Methodologies
which have proven effective, for example, active,
integrative, and service learning; interdisciplinary
approaches; and critical thinking.
VI. Particularities Relative to Specific American
Muslim Communities to address the special needs
of each. Immigrant communities may need to learn
more about their American context, especially
78 al-Islam
American race relations: African American com-
munities may need more help in overcoming the
consequences of systemic injustice.
To summarize, in order to ensure the successful
development and application of a new critical American
Muslim pedagogy, it must be drawn from the experi-
ences of the lives of those it is intended to educate and
train, namely American Muslims. The new pedagogy
must be contextually relevant in order to address spe-
cific needs and challenges of the American landscape.
It must embrace all of the best practices in education
and leadership training which have been developed by
Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Finally, the new
pedagogy must be critiqued and monitored to ensure
women and minorities – their histories, stories, truths,
and contributions – are not overlooked, erased, dis-
counted, or marginalized. These are the philosophical
underpinnings upon which the new critical American
Muslim pedagogy should rest. Its urgency is self-evident.
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