Tariq Nelson

Some American Muslim Associations have taken on a new initiative to lobby the government to allow more immigration from Muslim lands and stop harassment of Muslims when traveling. 

Any of us should be for stopping the needless harassment of traveling Muslims, but is it in America’s best interests, American Muslims’ best interests or in the best interests of the Muslim countries (considering the brain drain that happens) that America should increase immigration? 

The first and general thing is that it is not permissible for the Muslims to emigrate to non-Muslim countries. I am not going to go through the litany of statements from different scholars throughout the ages regarding this subject as I am sure that many of you have already read and/or heard this before. 

That aside, for American Muslims, on the surface it may seem like the best thing to increase the numbers of Muslims in America through immigration, but will continuing to import Muslims from numerous different cultures and differing interests help or impede the continuing development of a distinct American Muslim identity? Or will this lead to the continuing development of separate sub-groups of American Muslims (i.e., Palestinian American Muslims, Pakistani American Muslims, Somali American Muslims etc) each with their own separate interests?

I am of the controversial opinion that increased interracial/intercultural marriage is one of the ways that will lead to a meshing of a singular American Muslim identity. This would eventually lead to more of a blending in this country, culturally and genetically, of the many Muslim cultures as well as the American one. Intermarriage is one of the ways people that were once even somewhat hostile can become one group.

We are seeing native born Americans, of all religions, intermarrying in ever rising numbers, but when one looks at the numbers, the proportion of overall interracial births is still not growing at the rate one would think. Why is this? It is (at least partially) because of mass immigration. Immigrants are much more likely to marry someone from back home, or arrive already married, and it hinders the continuing merging of America’s ethnicities.

Now before some of you call me a Xenophobe (I am far from that) please read and consider all of my points.

Here in America, intermarriage played a major role in melding Irish, Germans, Scots, Anglo-Saxons, and Italians into a single white American ethnicity. These groups did not intermarry as much before, but after they started the result is what we see today in the many White Americans that do not think of themselves as any of those groups exclusively, but as simply ‘American’. One of the most important factors in causing this melding into one white American race were the restrictions on immigration implemented in the early 20^th century that impeded the inflow of potential marriage partners from their home countries, and therefore encouraging the young people to consider people from other white groups.

Prior to this, Irish married Irish, Germans married Germans, Italians married Italians in much larger numbers than today and as a result they all saw themselves as different groups with competing interests, but because of intermarrying, they are now one group.

Now let’s take this model and apply it to American Muslims. On the ground, it could potentially make one group more sensitive to more issues that affect another group. Using a simple example, let’s take the uneasiness that often exists between Pakistanis and Arabs that even leads to the establishment of separate masjids and enclaves of each ethnic group. Each group has stereotypes of the other group. Some may be based in truth, others myth, some something in between. In this type of situation, one group spreads one set of facts, to their relatives and friends. From there, the story sweeps rapidly via word of mouth throughout that group’s community. Meanwhile, the relatives and friends of the other group pass around a second set of myths.

Since there is so little intermarriage between Pakistanis and Arabs, each contradictory myth moves throughout the Pakistani American community and the Arab American communities unchallenged by the other group’s perspective because they are wholly separate, living in separate communities in different parts of town, and attending different masjids, their myths remain separate.

Now, think about how a half-Pakistani/half-Arab person might think. He would no doubt find this to be troubling, and probably wouldn’t pass on either group’s myths to others. Not only that, but he would likely enjoy the foods of both cultures (as well as American) have friends (and obviously family) from both cultures (as well as friends from other cultures), and have little to no partisanship toward an Arab or Pakistani masjids or enclave, etc. And let’s say that this person then marries a person of a totally different mix and so on and so forth. A melding would then happen and the result over generations would be people who are descended from numerous Muslim cultures, but having nationalism toward none.

If there were more American Muslim families that contained Arabs, Pakistanis, blacks, whites, Latinos and other mixtures, then there would be less ethnic conflict, more understanding and ultimately strengthen our community. The almost exclusively Pakistani, Arab and African American masjids and enclaves would slowly become more integrated and eventually even a thing of the past by Allah’s permission. So we see a very good example of how a melding would happen.

Still not convinced? Consider this:

In America since the 1970’s marriages between blacks and whites increased 400%, those between whites and Asians increased 1000%. In California, where mixed marriages happen most often, white male/ East Asian female marriages have become so common that it is becoming a norm.

In California, while multiracial births to native-born mothers rose significantly between 1982 and 1997 from about 14% to nearly 21% percent, immigration is keeping the overall numbers down because multiracial births to immigrant mothers declined to 7% by 1997.

Since 45% of California babies are born to foreign-born mothers, the state’s overall rate of multiracial children, as a result, is stagnating. Further, since much of the state’s population growth comes from immigrants, the percentage of multiracial people in California might well also be declining in spite of the growing number of interracial marriages and multi-racial children.

This willingness to marry interracially/inter-ethnically carries over to native born American Muslim converts, especially white converts. If a study or poll were done, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was found that over 95% of white American Muslim converts are interracially/inter-ethnically married. This, I think, reflects the growing acceptance of interracial marriage amongst Americans carrying over with the converts. Growing up in America also causes the children of immigrants to be more open to it as well.

Many of you, I am sure, personally know several interracial/inter-ethnic marriages between Muslim couples. Many of you are also probably are involved in such a marriage. But I suspect that because of immigration, the numbers are actually probably growing at relatively smaller rates. Bringing in more immigrant Muslims will only foster the formation of more enclaves that are more ethnically based than Islamic. With this being the case, the American Muslim community will start to become, like much of the Muslim world, divided into smaller and smaller sub-communities based on tribes and clans, each with its own loyalties and specific issues with little to no concern about the other Muslim groups or the Muslim community at large. This is why I don’t see the restriction of immigration as a totally bad thing. It should be seen as an opportunity for the American Muslim community to come together.

Many that have been Muslim for a long period of time have seen how things evolve as the Muslims grow in larger numbers…The community becomes more devided on ethnic grounds. A single masjid with all ethnicities splits into two masjids: One mostly Arab…One mostly Indo-Pak. Then at the Arab masjid, when the numbers of Palestinians are sufficient, they split from the other Arabs leaving a Palestinian Masjid and a mostly (let’s say) an Egyptian masjid. And so on and so forth. The people attending these masjids live near them and develop ethnic enclaves. How will a distinct American Muslim identity develop from this?

Would Malaysia or Indonesia have been what they are today had the Muslim traders that settled there closed themselves off into dour enclaves? 

Is having a bunch of different groups lacking trust for those outside of their particular group our idea of an American Muslim identity? Are we trying to develop a horde of sub-cultures in which almost every sphere of interaction, including business and social relationships, is done with one from our own background to the exclusion of others? Continuing at our current rate will surely keep immigrant groups inwardly focused and closely tied to their home countries. 

If immigration were restricted, we would be forced to start getting along with each other and intermarrying. And a true American Muslim identity could then be cultivated.