Mosque Involvement and Political Engagement in the United States

Confronted by a number of home-grown Islamic terrorist attacks, many Americans incorrectly assume that Muslim religiosity correlates with anti-American values and that the American mosque is the center of radical socialization efforts. This paper examines the nature of the relationship between mosqu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politics and religion
Subtitles:Symposium: Dialogue on Muslim American Sociopolitical Life
Main Author: Westfall, Aubrey L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2019]
In: Politics and religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B USA / Muslim community / Religious commitment / Political engagement
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BJ Islam
KBQ North America
ZC Politics in general
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:Confronted by a number of home-grown Islamic terrorist attacks, many Americans incorrectly assume that Muslim religiosity correlates with anti-American values and that the American mosque is the center of radical socialization efforts. This paper examines the nature of the relationship between mosque involvement and political engagement. It finds that mosque attendance is positively associated with political engagement only when the attendance engages congregants in ways beyond religious ritual. Attending mosque to pray does not significantly impact political identities or engagement like following politics, registering to vote, voting, or party membership, while participation in other social or religious activities at a mosque is associated with an increased probability of engagement. These results suggest that not all mosque involvement is equally beneficial for promoting political engagement and that religious participation must proactively engage with the social lives of the congregants to have a substantive political effect.
ISSN:1755-0491
Contains:Enthalten in: Politics and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S1755048318000275