Exploring the Giving Practices in American Mosques: Why Do Muslims Give So Little to Their Mosques?

This article represents the first effort to explore the giving practices of Muslims in American mosques. The research for this article was based on two studies: (1) a previously published study, “The American Mosque 2011,” which consisted of 524 telephone interviews of mosque leaders; and (2) a previously unpublished 2013 study of 3 mosques and the 2016 follow-up interviews with donors from the three mosques. The results show that mosque attendees give much less than their counterparts in churches. Interviews with donors in the three mosques were conducted in order to draw some preliminary conclusions as to why the giving rate in mosques is low. The interviews indicate that one of the underlying factors for the low rate of giving is that mosque attendees do not have a clear theology for giving to mosques and that a culture of giving to mosques does not exist among immigrant Muslims. It must be emphasized that this article is exploratory. Broader and more in-depth studies are needed to develop definitive conclusions about giving practices in mosques

Mosque-based emotional support among young Muslim Americans

Despite a growing literature on social support networks in religious settings (i.e., church-based social support), little is known about mosque-based support among Muslims. This study investigates the demographic and religious behavior correlates of mosque-based social support among a multi-racial and ethnic sample of 231 young Muslims from southeast Michigan. Several dimensions of mosque-based support are examined including receiving emotional support, giving emotional support, anticipated emotional support and negative interactions with members of one’s mosque. Results indicated that women both received and antic- ipated receiving greater support than did men. Higher educational attainment was associated with receiving and giving less support compared to those with the lowest level of educational attainment. Moreover, highly educated members reported fewer negative interactions than less educated members. Mosque attendance and level of congregational involvement positively predicted receiving, giving, and anticipated emotional support from congregants, but was unrelated to negative interactions. Overall, the study results converge with previously established correlates of church- based emotional support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107410/1/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13644-013-0119-0(1).pd

Utility in Classical Islamic Law: the Concept of 'Maslahah' in "Usul Al-Fiqh".

Questions concerning the nature of law and legal change are prominent subjects of legal debate both in the West and in the Muslim world. The focus in the discussion of these questions in the Muslim world is the concept of maslahah. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the issue of maslahah in classical legal theory by analyzing the views of the major legal theorists for the four schools of thought and the Mu('c)tazilah. Maslahah literally means utility or what is good and beneficial, but technically it refers to the purposes of legal rulings and the intended utility of the Law. The fundamental question of maslahah that confronts Muslim theorists is what role do the purposes of the Law and utility play in legal reasoning. The way a theorist answers this question is pivotal in how he underst and s the nature of law and legal change. The investigation of classical legal theory shows that legal theorists can be divided into two groups: limiters of maslahah and supporters of maslahah. The limiters of maslahah restrict the consideration of utility and the purposes of the Law to the confines of strict analogy (qiyas). For them, a general maslahah cannot serve as a justification for a new legal ruling. The supporters of maslahah, however, allow a greater freedom to considerations of maslahah. In their view utility and the general purposes of the Law are legitimate bases for new rulings as long as the maslahah is derivable from the authoritative sources of the Law. The supporters of maslahah, therefore, are more open to legal change than the limiters of maslahah. This dissertation will investigate such topics as the role of maslahah in qiyas, maslahah mursalah, istihsan, and other principles of maslahah like sadd al-dharai'('c).Ph.D.LawUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160917/1/8612469.pd