Bridge Builders or Boundary Markers? The Role of the Mosque in the Acculturation Process of Immigrant Muslim Women in the United States

Abstract

This study examines a largely overlooked issue in immigration literature—the impact Islamic institutions and Muslim religious leaders have on the cultural and psychological adaptation of Muslim immigrant congregations in host Western societies. Specifically, it explores whether and how variations in the cultures, teachings and resources available to the mosques along with ideological differences between and among imams (clergy) hinder or facilitate the acculturation of Muslim immigrant women attending mosques in the United States. The findings suggest that mosques indeed play a significant role in the acculturation process of immigrant Muslim women in their host society. It also establishes that immigrant mosques whose administrators and religious leaders have a futuristic and integrationist interpretation of Islam and who perceive the mosque to be an organic entity that is changing, developing and adapting to the changes in the environment, are more successful in building bridges between their congregants and the larger society in general, and in empowering women congregants and facilitating their cultural and psychological adaptation within their host society in particular.