Muslim American Culture Essay

Muslim American Cultural Workshop
Cultural Diversity
Amanda Blackstock
Baker College

Muslim Americans were first known in American more than 400 years ago. Some evidence even shows that Muslims were aboard Christopher Columbus ship, but this information is scanty. (American Muslims in the United States, n.d.) Muslim Americans practice the Islam religion. The majority of Muslim Americans immigrated here from North Asia, Middle East, and South Asia. The estimate of Muslim Americans comes to some debate, being estimated anywhere from 2 -10 million. The Pew Research Center concluded that a fair estimation of Muslim Americans is 2.75 million. The estimated population is hard to determine because of the religion-based community.
Muslims range from Arabic, to Asian, White, African, or Black. Two thirds of Muslim Americans are the first immigrants from their families and only about 80 percent of Muslim Americans are legal American citizens. Detroit has the largest Muslim population followed by Washington D.C., the Philadelphia. An estimated 60 percent of Muslim Americans are between the ages of 18 – 39. (Senzai, 2012) Economical, political, and social aspects of Muslim Americans can range anywhere from political party stances, to overall views on hot topics such as terrorism. Second and third generation Muslim Americans are eager to bring political change to the community and start participating more. One of the topics that Muslim Americans feel that the government should do more to help people in need when it comes to financial hardship, and economic circumstances. Overall, Muslim Americans favor universal healthcare, eliminating racial discrimination, stricter environmental laws, increased afterschool programs, and more aid to poor people. Some social welfare topics that Muslim Americans are less favorable to stronger laws to fight terrorism, more income for tax cuts, requiring fluency in English, and elimination of affirmative action. Some cultural issues that Muslin Americans favor include banning the sale of pornography, faith based initiatives, school vouchers, and the death penalty. The cultural issues that American Muslims are less favorable to include same sex marriage, school prayer, doctor assisted suicide, and research in cloning. Regarding the less favored same sex marriage, Muslim Americans strongly discourage homosexuality, however, this differs from state to state. (Senzai, 2012) Muslim Americans share similar voting patterns as other dominant Americans do. These Muslims could consist of Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, or Conservatives. One party does not overrule the attention of the Muslim American people. (American Muslims in the United States, n.d.) Before 9/11, Muslims were well matched between Democrats and Republicans. After 9/11, due to an increase on the Republican side to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, many Muslim Americans were dissatisfied with their decisions. This lead to Muslim Americans leaning towards the Democratic Party, and eventually was a deciding factor when President Barack Obama was elected. Even after setbacks with President Barack Obamas decisions Muslim Americans still have a higher approval rating than the American public. Present day, Muslim Americans lean towards the Democratic Party About 95 percent of Muslim Americans do believe that Muslims should take more responsibilities in the American political system. Only about 66 percent of Muslim Americans registered to vote in 2011, showing a general lack in interest compared to the general public. (Senzai, 2012) Muslim Americans believe that the immigrant population in the United States overall benefits the country. While some Muslim Americans in states differ, in general, Muslim Americans are favored to immigrants. About 56 percent of American Muslims want to adopt American customs, and ways of life. Another social topics that effect include the hot topic of the fight against terrorism. Only about 40 percent of Muslim Americans support the Afghanistan war, and only about 14 percent supports the Iraq war. On astounding 87 percent believe that the Iraq war could mean more terrorism in the United States, and that the Iraq war could destabilize the Middle East. Most Muslim Americans believe that the United States should financially reduce supporting Israel, and start supporting Palestine state. An estimated 60 percent of Muslim Americans believe that Israel and Palestine can coexist. (Senzai, 2012) Educational culture in Muslim Americans is very similar to the broader American culture. However, Muslim American immigrants come to the United States in search of higher education. An estimated 40 percent of Muslim Americans have a college degree, placing them in second place over the Jewish culture. The same study concluded that Muslim American females are the second most educated women to Jewish American women. (Kahn, 2011) Overall, Muslim Americans have a strong commitment to education. This explains why Muslim Americans have more than twice the national average of master’s degree. One in 10 Muslim Americans has a medical degree. In the top 10 occupations of American Muslims, 20 percent are students, with 10 percent being a physician, and about 5 percent being a small business owner. Some occupations that Muslim Americans try to avoid include journalists, attorneys, and/or directors. (The Growing Muslim-American Market, n.d.) Family aspect in Muslim American culture always starts with marriage, and reject any from of sexual relationships outside of marriage. Marriage is seen as a psychological, emotional and spiritual companionship between husband and wife that generates love, kindness, mercy, compassion, mutual confidence, self-sacrifice, and solace. Children are seen as a huge value, and are a significant piece to a fulfillment of Muslim Americans human personality. (Fai, MD, G., 2011) Muslim Americans have an estimated 25 percent larger family size that the average U.S. household. (The Growing Muslim-American Market, n.d.) Muslim American families are more likely to adapt to their surroundings. Traditions that are taken from their elders are modified to fit the more Americanized way. Even though aspects are changed when Muslims move to America, elder Muslim Americans still hold their rank over younger Muslim Americans. Male siblings often have a sense of protection over their female siblings, or relatives, which sometimes leads people to thinking theirs too much control over females. Many Muslim Americans have educational success that can lead to career triumph in business, arts, and sports. (Hamdy, K., n.d.) Religious practices in most modern Muslim Americans are very important. They believe in the Islamic faith based on the Quran. An estimated 2/3 of Muslim Americans pray every day, with about 48 percent of them praying five times a day. About half American Muslims attend mosque at least once a week. Most Muslim Americans believe that there isn’t just one true way of teaching Islam. An estimated 3 in 10 American Muslims have a high commitment level to their religion throughout all age ranges. Fifty percent of American Muslims have a medium level of commitment for all age ranges. There is no religious difference between Muslim American men and women. Even though the religious commitment is not different, almost 50 percent of Muslim Americans believe that women should not be allowed to pray with men. These play along side with the question should a women be able to work outside the home. Most Muslim Americans who believe in women and men praying in the same space should be able to work outside the home, while only 64 percent Muslim Americans that oppose women and men praying together think women should work outside the home. (Section 2: Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2011) Muslim American fashion starts first and foremost very modest.
This includes not baring arms, or knees. Next, Muslim American women usually wear a Hijab. This Hijab marks devotion and commitment to their faith. Most Hijab’s are full of color and light, and give women the opportunity to express their personalities, rather than their bodies. Besides having to cover up part of the body, Muslim American fashion is similar to the broader American culture. Having conservative dress, and wearing a Hijab doesn’t stop Muslim Americans from snowboarding, or going out in public, and is more of a form of self expression rather then oppression. (Spinks, R. J., n.d.) Another tradition that is somewhat limiting to Muslim American women is shaking of hands. Most women decide against shaking of hands, because it can be seen as rude if done by the opposite gender. A greet with a slight nod and a smile is usually the correct greeting. (Local Muslims, Scholars Weigh In On Shaking Hands with the Opposite Sex, 2014) Ramadan is a holiday celebrated on the ninth month on the Muslim calendar. It celebrates the day that the Quran was given to their prophet Muhammad in 610 CE. During Ramadan, American Muslims are to not consume food or drink from dawn to dusk. This is to focus on prayer, and to purify the body and mind. (Ravinsky, J., & Zirulnick, A., 2013) Due to the number of times that a Muslim American could pray a day, pets are strongly discouraged. The home needs to be a clean space, and
having saliva, and hair on the floor is no option. (Hijazi, S., 2014) Practicing the Islamic religion limits some of the dietary needs of Muslim Americans. This include prohibiting the consumption of pork, alcohol, and only eating other meats that have been blessed in the name of Allah. (Elgindy, 2005) Health Information Technology is my profession, all while pursuing a degree in Health Services Administration. Currently, I’m in an office setting at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in Detroit. The following examples of Muslim American factors will navigate possible culture conflicts in my office setting. The Muslim American population is increasing dramatically, and with their high graduation rates, and successful careers, I will more than likely am working with multiple Muslim Americans. Due to their high commitment to religion, Muslim Americans need to be accommodated for. These might look as nuisances to certain employers who prefer not to hire someone with such high principles. The first factor that plays a part in a Muslim Americans profession to start is wearing the hijab. The hijab is supposed to represent devotion and commitment to American Muslim women’s faith. (Spinks, R. J., n.d.) However, because the hijab is available for everyone to see this is an automatic indication that this individual is of a different faith or culture. With everyone assuming, most people in American of other beliefs assume that the Muslim American employee is part of the Middle East, and/or a terrorist. The majority of Muslim Americans immigrated here from North Asia, Middle East, and South Asia. (Senzai, 2012) Just because this Muslim American is wearing a hijab does not mean that she’s automatically associated with the Middle East or terrorist. Another conflict that could arise with wearing a hijab is the employee dress code. Because other employees are not allowed to wear any sort of hat, why should Muslim American women be able to wear their scarfs? The following is a real world example in my workplace concerning Muslim American women wearing a hijab. Our department in Coding and Documentation Accuracy consists of 25 people. Today, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan decided to hire on three new people, including one woman who is wearing a hijab named Dina. Immediately, the entire office directs their stares at her, and starts stereotyping her culture. While training Dina, a worker starts a conversation to find out why she is wearing her hijab. Dina replies “Its for my religion.” The worker replies snarky with, “oh”, and walks away to tell her friends. After that, Dina starts to realize that people are less helpful to her than they are to the other new people. She feels the automatic discrimination without any proof. A week later, a different employee walks into the office wearing a hat. Her supervisor immediately tells her that it’s against the dress code policy to wear hats. The employee shakes her head and says, “Well then why does Dina get to wear hers?” While Dina was in the restroom, other employees walk in without knowing Dina is in the stall. They start talking about the possibility of her being a terrorist due to her religious views, stating, “She’s probably from the Middle East and supports terrorism!” After they leave the restroom, Dina lets her supervisor know what happened. Her supervisor pushes it aside trying not to cause conflict, and says, “Their probably just curious about your culture.” This example shows how unguarded Muslim American women who choose to wear a hijab could possibly feel in an office setting with automatic discrimination. The second factor that plays a part in a Muslim Americans profession is touching. This is a huge issue for Americanized business people who use the form of a hand shake as a sign of respect. In Muslim American culture, it is not appropriate to touch someone of the opposite sex. This rule applies to men or women. This declination of mutual respect from businessperson to businessperson could indicate a sign of disrespect to the employer. Due to this Islamic rule, Muslim Americans need to decide what is the best way to handle situations like this that could arise. Sometimes the best thing to do is warn the employer before any type of face-to-face interaction of your standards. However, this could tell the employer that certain aspects of your job will likely be different than other employees, and may be a downfall in future employment. (Local Muslims, Scholars Weigh In On Shaking Hands with the Opposite Sex, 2014) The following is a real world example in my workplace concerning Muslim Americans dealing with touching. Today at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the department is having the vice president come into our office to go over some reports with the top auditors, and search for improvement the department can make. The meeting will consist of the vice president, the vice presidents assistant, three auditors, including Joe (a Muslim American), and the team lead. This meeting has taken weeks to prepare for, and should show why our department needs to stay around. The vice president walks in, and everybody stands up to great her. The vice president leans over the table to shake everybody’s hand, until she gets to Joe. Joe looks at her with a pleasant face, puts his hand on his heart, and says, “I’m sorry, I can’t shake your hand.” The vice president looks stunned, insulted, then blurts out, “Let’s get started”, and sits down. During the meeting, when Joe was presenting his findings the vice president has little to no interest in what he was saying. When the meeting concluded, the vice president didn’t even acknowledge Joe, and said farewell to everyone else. The vice president informed the team lead that she doesn’t want Joe to go to any more important meetings if he isn’t going to show respect by handshake. Not wanting to argue with the vice president and effect the entire department, the team lead nods, and walks away without letting her know that it’s against his religion. This example shows how not knowing ones culture can be interpreted as disrespect, and could possibly affect the entire department based on lack of culture. The third factor that plays a part in a Muslim Americans profession is dietary needs during Ramadan. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslim Americans sustain from eating or drink from sunrise to sunset. Due to the requirements of fasting, employees might keep themselves away from certain work activities to avoid any temptation. Because the moon determines the start of Ramadan, it’s hard to give an employer notice to when you will be missing from certain activities. Other problems that can arise in the workplace is tiredness. American Muslims stay awake until the sun fully goes down, and wake up before the sun rises to eat before work. That only leaves them with a few hours of sleep a night for four weeks. Coming to work for Muslim Americans wouldn’t be a problem at first; however, it might lead to less productivity from that employee. (Ravinsky, J., & Zirulnick, A., 2013) The following is a real world example in my workplace concerning Muslim Americans dealing with dietary restrictions during Ramadan. During the month of July, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the third quarter has started, and the most audits are coming in. This is also the month of Ramadan, and for Muslim American Maj, its by far the most exhausting. Maj has a new supervisor whom is not aware of his religious standpoint. Maj’s supervisor starts to notice a decline of completed audits, and lets him know he’s on going to get put on probation if he doesn’t start producing more. After some consideration, he lets his supervisor know his poor performance is due to the fact that he’s fasting all this month. His supervisor, who isn’t aware of the rules of Ramadan, looks at this as an excuse, and lets Maj know that he will still be put on probation regardless of his fasting. Maj tries to pick up the pace, but chooses his religious beliefs over his work productivity. He is then placed on probation, until his productivity numbers increase. This example shows how someone who is unfamiliar with Muslim culture would be unable to relate to Maj while he 's fasting during Ramadan. Main objective is to educate employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan on the different cultural concepts of Muslim Americans. In this Muslim American training module, the three main topics to discuss is different cultural aspect of Muslim Americans, including, wearing a hijab, touching rules, and dietary needs during Ramadan. These three topics were the most dominant topics in the Muslim American culture, and need to be further discussed in order to have everyone being treated fairly without discrimination or stereotyping. The workshop will be three hours long, and will include interactive learning activities for all employees to participate in. The annotated agenda will be as followed: 10:00AM – 11:00AM: Introduction to the Muslim Culture. Muslims come from all aspects of the world. They are not all from the Middle East. The majority of Muslim Americans immigrated here from North Asia, Middle East, and South Asia. Muslims range from Arabic, to Asian, White, African, or Black. (Senzai, 2012) Certain stereotypes exist regarding the Middle East and American Muslims. Most, if not all of these allegations of terrorism are completely false. Plus, not all American Muslims come from the Middle East.
11:00AM – 12:00PM: Unfamiliar Muslim American Issues in the Office.
In the Muslim American culture, women wear headscarves called hijabs. These hijabs symbolized commitment and devotion to their religion of Islam. Women want to reflect their personalities at people, not the rest of their bodies. (Spinks, R. J., n.d.) In the Muslim American culture, people are not allowed to shake the hands of the opposite sex. This includes any form of touch. While in the business world, this is our main form of communication; it is not in the Muslim American community. (Local Muslims, Scholars Weigh In On Shaking Hands with the Opposite Sex, 2014) In the Muslim American culture, Ramadan is celebrated. This celebration is based on the day the Quran was given to the prophet Muhammad. The Quran is similar to the Bible. During this celebration, American Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. This leads to exhaustion due to relatively odd eating hours, and could lead to less productivity. (Ravinsky, J., & Zirulnick, A.,
2013)
12:30PM – 1:00PM: Activities. Trying on the hijab for all the women: This is to show how hard it is to express yourself when you are fully covered, and have to depend solely on your personality skills. After this module, women should be able to relate to the Muslim American women who do wear a hijab every day. Communication without handshaking: In order for the entire company to be more versatile, we first have to accept that everyone we work with comes from different cultures and backgrounds. If you know some of the opposite gender is American Muslim, don’t put your hand out for shaking, be courteous and try a new method. Simply waiving a hello, or nice to meet you, etc. Anything without contact. If you are not sure, you could wait it out, and see if that employee puts their hand out to shake. If you put your hand out and the Muslim American employee rejects it, don’t be insulted, its their way of letting you know they feel strong about their religion. Flextime Implementation: For American Muslims, they try hard to sustain normal life during Ramadan, however, challenges do exist. During that time, if you know your employee is fasting, give them the option to come in later to catch up on some sleep, or start earlier to get home quick. This will increase their overall productivity by giving them the best option to do optimal work.
1:00PM – 1:30PM Appreciations and Conclusions. Multiple Muslim American employees will be speaking during this last half hour to express how grateful they are that the company is looking out for their best interests. After that we will recap on things to do for Muslim American employees, and ways to overcome any discrimination or stereotyping. All the information covered on the PowerPoint will be emailed to all participants. The sample workshop material that will be given to all participants is a quick, smart guide to decrease any stereotyping in the office of minorities in American culture. This will be useful if an event of stereotyping or confusion of culture arises as a quick reference. Another workshop material being given is a poster of non-verbal communication. This opens up the door for ways to say hello and good-bye without shaking hands. The last material being given is a calendar with full details of Ramada with encouragement and motivational tips. Although the exact start date is not know until the moon cooperates, this will allow employees to understand what Muslim Americans are going though during their fasting. In conclusion, this training module will help tackle some of the cultural aspects of Muslim Americans. The best thing to do is be familiar, and sensitive to every person you come in contact with, so work flow can continue smoothly, and discrimination can be destroyed.

References
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