Making Moderate Islam

Sufism, Service, and the “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8204028
AutoresIlyse R Morgenstein Fuerst (0000-0001-9310-5298, University of Vermont, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen86
Número1
Páginas276-279
Fecha de publicación2018-03-05
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfx068
OpenAlexW2766578472
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13

This is a multilayered book about the construction of a mosque, a community center, a sacred space, and a community; religion and patterns of religiosity in America; the elusive and yet omnipresent “moderate” Islam; race, ethnicity, and religion. Rosemary R. Corbett’s careful text traces the Muslim community beyond lower Manhattan for its attempt to build a community center after September 11, 2001 in close proximity to Ground Zero, the former location of the Twin Towers. Many of us who teach about Islam discuss the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy: this incident demonstrated the politicization of a particular community in local and national media and the always-already political nature of certain bodies. This moment crystallized post-9/11 American religious intolerance while joining a genealogy of heavy public scrutiny for religious and racial/racialized Others. Corbett’s book narrates the events around the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy, focusing on the rhetoric of its main supporters and detractors at first, then ultimately weaving in this particular Muslim community’s history, its ultimate failure to establish the community center in light of the controversy, and its self-articulation. But this is not merely a well-done micro-history with impressive, long-term ethnographic sources. It is, at its core, a book tackling broader and theoretical notions of “moderate” Islam, American belonging, and the limited acceptance of marginalized bodies within the American body politic.

Common ground · Ground zero · Islam · Political science · Politics · Religiosity · Scrutiny · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence