In case studies that include the Caribbean, South America, Mexico, and the United States, the contributors to this interdisciplinary volume trace the establishment of Islam in the Americas over the past four centuries. They simultaneously explore Muslims’ lived experiences and the ways Islam has been shaped in the New World—by "Muslim minority" societies such as the Shriners; through the Gilded Age’s fascination with Orientalism; in the embrace of Islam by American black intellectuals like Malcolm X and the Black Power movement; and by the ways hip hop artists re-create and reimagine Muslim identities.
Together, the twelve essays challenge the typical view of Islam as timeless, predictable, and opposed to Western worldviews and value systems, showing how the religion continually engages with issues of culture, class, gender, and race.