permitted and haram/forbidden behavior (such as
abstaining from alcohol and pork, both of which
are endemic to many work and social settings in
American culture).
Basic Islamic religious roles and institutions,
such as the mosque (masjid) and imam (religious
teacher and leader), have adapted to American
society to fill a wider range of social functions
than they cover traditionally in the larger Muslim
world, taking on “parish”-style responsibilities
for children’s and adult continuing edUcation,
community/youth social events, marriage/family
counseling, and neighborhood/media liaison. Tra-
ditional Islamic gender coding has also adapted,
bringing Muslim girls and Women into public and
coeducation schooling, into the workforce, into
mosque governance, and, ultimately, into the pub-
lic discourse of forming Islamic thought through
taking on the authority to interpret religious
texts, such as the qUran and hadith. Muslim
boys and men have been correspondingly affected
by American society in many of the same ways,
but with greater access to heterosexual contact
outside of marriage in the context of “dating.”
Muslim parents are still more conservative in the
standards set for daughters than for sons, and
although often disapproving of sons’ dating, will
turn a blind eye to it, whereas daughters engagingIslamic Center of America, a leading mosque for Shii Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan ( J. Gordon Melton)
United States 693 J