THE TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE OF AMERICAN MUSLIMS: ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND POLITICAL MATURATION Louay M. Safi INTRODUCTION The growth of the American Muslim community in the last three decades has been quite remarkable, and holds a promise of bright future for Islam in America. America has in many ways transformed the Muslims, and in turn stands to undergo profound transformation by their presence. American Muslims, I contend, could contribute profoundly to the restoration of the spiritual and moral core of modern civilization which has been fading away with the advancement of hardcore secularism. Indeed American Muslims are in a position to restore the spiritual and moral dimensions of modern life while continuing to be faithful to the true spirit of liberalism. I further contend that for American Muslims to undertake this historic mission they need first to build their moral and political strengths by paying closer attention to two interrelated processes: Islamic education and political maturation. This article, therefore, examines the progress made on these two fronts, and then outlines an overall strategy for future Islamic development. THE GREAT LEAP To understand the earthshaking impact of the experience of American Muslims, let us first explore briefly the dynamism of the globalization process in the last half century, a period which constitutes the postcolonial era for the bulk of Muslim countries. The postcolonial era represents for most Muslim societies a time of great social turmoil and political upheaval. It has been also a period of experimentation and soul searching. Colonial powers have been fairly successful in destroying traditional social and political structures and altering Muslim consciousness by introducing new institutions and patterns of social organization and interaction, and by transplanting modern education system in Muslim societies. Colonial powers altered state boundaries, carving new smaller states out of old larger ones; changed the distribution of power; established armies led by new military elites; and introduced a new lifestyle and a modern taste among the educated elites; designed new curricula for schools modeled after European curricula. While these curricula reintroduced to Muslim societies sciences that had been neglected and omitted in traditional schools, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, they also included subjects which brought new interpretations and meanings of human experience, such as history, philosophy, and social sciences. In the postcolonial era most Muslim countries have witnessed varying degrees of economic deterioration, particularly experienced by social classes which lost their privileged position as a result of the change in power structures. Coup d’tant by ambitious military leaders became a frequent occurrence in most Muslim countries. Economic difficulties and political turmoil, combined with the desire of the newly independent countries of the Muslim world to upgrade their technical skills have brought hundreds of thousands of Muslims from the four corners of the world to the United States. Muslim migration to the United States increased after World War II and peaked in the seventies and eighties. Some came as students who were sent on government scholarships or by their families to pursue higher education in American universities, and then decided to make the New World their new home. Others came in pursuit of better jobs and better life. Yet others moved to the United States to escape civil wars, military occupation, or political persecution. 1