xv Preface Islam in America: Exploring the Issues is a follow-up to Muslims in Amer- ica: Examining the Facts, which was published by ABC-CLIO in July 2018. While Examining the Facts focused on the lived experiences and views of U.S. Muslims through the lens of primary documents, statistics, and evidence-based resources, Exploring the Issues dives further into Is- lamic theology, Islamic history, the history of U.S. Muslims, and specific religious and ethnic communities living in the United States. Both of these books are reference works that are written in accessible prose to account for a range of people including academics, religious leaders, politicians, activists, and everyday U.S. citizens. Islam in America: Exploring the Issues is inspired by my love of our common humanity and my hope that bridge building between diverse groups of people is a remedy to cure our country and world of its ills. As an Irish/Italian Catholic and U.S. citizen from Boston, Massachusetts, I am inspired by the journey of my immigrant ancestors, who struggled to make their way in the United States, by my Catholic faith, which calls on me to love my neighbor as I love myself, and by my affiliation with U.S. identity, which I see as rooted in civic national principles like religious pluralism, racial equality, constitutional rights, and democratic governance. Islam in America: Exploring the Issues is structured around 48 entries, ranging from Islamic concepts like jihad, sharia, and taqiyya, to the Prophet Muhammad’s life, and to historic profiles of ethno-religious Muslim com- munities like African American Muslims, Arab American Muslims, Asian American Muslims, as well as Turkish American Muslims. Each entry pro- vides an overview of various terms or issues pertaining to the Islamic faith and subsequently places these topics in the context of U.S. Muslims them- selves. In one example, the life of the Prophet Muhammad is summarized and then analyzed through the lens of contemporary depictions of him in U.S. society. In a second case, the matter of women’s rights according to
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