American muslims’ da’wah work and islamic conversion

Abstract

Prior to the “9/11 attacks”, negative images of Islam in America were prevalent, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks made the situation for, and image of, Islam more sinister than before. Notwithstanding the extreme Islamophobia, one notes that, ironically in America, more people have been embracing Islam since, at least, the beginning of the twentieth century. Conversion to Islam in America seems to be a deviation from the adverse American public opinions towards Islam. An important question that, therefore, arises is: “Why are Americans converting to Islam despite negative public perception of the religion?” Perhaps Americans have been coerced into conversion by Muslim preachers through the latter’s meticulous and hard-hitting missionary work. In this qualitative study, the authors aim to explore how the missionary work, i.e., “Da’wah”, by some American Muslim missionaries influenced the conversion to Islam of those who were in contact with them. The authors argue that, unlike other Abrahamic proselytizing faiths such as Christianity or the Bahai faith, American Muslim proselytizing was not solely based on direct teaching of the tenets of the religion but also one that demonstrated faith by deeds or actions, which then made Islam attractive and influenced conversion of non-Muslims. These findings come from in-depth fieldwork that included interviews with forty-nine Muslim converts across the United States between June 2014 and May 2015.