Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Peril and Possibility 2 9 9Elijah Muhammad, Black Muslim leader, speaking to his followers at the Chicago Coliseum in1971. (Bettmann/CORBIS)vote on various issues depends on who they are—their race, gender, age, religiousviews, sexual orientation, national origin, class, and more. Some are socialconservatives who, like some orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, advocate“family values,” oppose gay rights, and want to ban abortion. Others arefar more concerned with poverty at home and abroad, a lack of equal opportu n i t y, and the state of public schools. Most have at least some views in common,especially regarding certain aspects of U.S. foreign policy. For example,most U.S. Muslims tend to support the establishment of a Palestinian state andquestion U.S. policy toward Israel and toward the Middle East more generally.For the past two decades, most national Muslim organizations have attemptedto organize Muslims into viable interest groups that exert greater influenceupon U.S. political life. For instance, ISNA, the largest national Muslimorganization, educates Muslim voters about relevant political issues andencourages intra-Muslim dialogue on such matters. At the same time, ISNA,which was born out of the Muslim Students Association in 1982, provides manyother public forums for Muslim community development; organizations operatingunder the ISNA umbrella include the Muslim Students Association, theIslamic Medical Association, the American Muslim Engineers and Scientists,and the American Muslim Social Scientists. ISNA also distributes a popularmagazine called Islamic Horizons and holds a well-attended annual convention,