From Publishers Weekly
Contemporary American ReligionAs architect Akel Ismail Kahera notes in the introduction to Deconstructing the American Mosque: Space, Gender, and Aesthetics, "there is virtually no literature on the history of American mosques," so this theoretical volume makes a real contribution. It's clearly academic; on the opening page, for example, Kahera cites but does not explain Derrida's philosophy of deconstruction. But informed readers will be delighted by this sophisticated book, which posits some important questions about sacred space: Since many U.S. Muslims come from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, is there such a thing as an authentically "American" Muslim architecture? What are American mosques doing to enhance the status of women in worship? How much more symbolically important is the mosque to Muslims in America than in majority-Muslim countries? Generously illustrated and provocatively written, this thoughtful treatise will do much to increase understanding of Muslim aesthetics and religious practice in America.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
"This text will be the classic work in the field. . . . It will be extremely useful for general Islamic studies, for studies of religion in America, and for the study of Islam in America." --Aminah Beverly McCloud, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, DePaul University, Chicago From the avant-garde design of the Islamic Cultural Center in New York City to the simplicity of the Dar al-Islam Mosque in Abiquiu, New Mexico, the American mosque takes many forms of visual and architectural expression. The absence of a single, authoritative model and the plurality of design nuances reflect the heterogeneity of the American Muslim community itself, which embodies a whole spectrum of ethnic origins, traditions, and religious practices. In this book, Akel Ismail Kahera explores the history and theory of Muslim religious aesthetics in the United States since 1950. Using a notion of deconstruction based on the concepts of "jamal" (beauty), "subject," and "object" found in the writings of Ibn Arabi (d. 1240), he interprets the forms and meanings of several American mosques from across the country. His analysis contributes to three debates within the formulation of a Muslim aesthetics in North America--first, over the meaning, purpose, and function of visual religious expression; second, over the spatial and visual affinities between American and non-American mosques, including the Prophet's mosque at Madinah, Arabia; and third, over the relevance of culture, place, and identity to the making of contemporary religious expression in North America.
