American Muslim Identities: A Qualitative Study of Two Mosques in South Florida

Most existing research on Muslims and transnational Islam originates from Europe. 

However, the Muslim population in Europe differs from American Muslims in a number 

of important ways. In this research I aim to address the general paucity in sociological 

literature that originates from the U.S. and focus on the mosque as a space where 

American Muslim identity forms and evolves for both first- and second-generation 

American Muslims. I examine two American mosques in South Florida as the sites of the 

development of American Muslim identities based on ethnographic data and participant 

interviews. I find that the research sites perform functions that are consistent with the 

provision of refuge, resources, and respectability as classified by Hirschman (2004). The 

mosques I studied demonstrate the use of educational and cultural functions to transfer 

religious and cultural identity to younger generations of American Muslims. I also find 

the research sites to be spaces that are inclusive for women and children, which is 

different from mosques in Muslim- majority countries, but consistent with the findings of 

other scholars. I find that the two mosques I studied extend institutional services to 

facilitate linguistic and logistical assimilation of their members, encourage members’ 

political engagement through sermons, voter registration drives, and meetings with 

political candidates, and to engage in interfaith outreach efforts as means of assimilation. 

I find intergenerational differences in attitudes towards women’s spaces and resources at 

the two mosques. I also find evidence of a shift in norms that indicates greater flexibility 

and reflection upon the norms of mainstream American society.

Finally, I find that second-generation American Muslims experience a move away from parental cultures towards textual “pure” Islam and prefer to adopt a “Muslim first” identity, as some other 

scholars have noted. While this study sheds light on several themes that weave to create 

American Muslim identities, there is a need for more in-depth research on the 

assimilation trajectories of members that belong to diverse or homogenous mosques. The 

findings from this study also highlight the need for more extensive quantitative analysis 

of women’s roles and responsibilities in American mosques, as well as intergenerational 

differences in assimilation in the American Muslim community.  

American Muslim Identities A Qualitative Study of.pdf