Mecca on Main Street: Islam in America

Religion

Mecca and Main Street

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the book "Mecca on Main Street" by Geneive Abdo Ruby Payne. Specifically it will contain a book review of the book, including an analysis of the concept of arranged marriage from the book. The author discusses many Muslim principles in this book, and gives her views on some of them, as well, such as Muslim women and the mosque. One of the most compelling concepts in this book is the arranged marriage, and her stories of young women forced into this arrangement is both disturbing and enlightening at the same time.

In one chapter of the book, the author discusses arranged marriages - how they are initiated, maintained, and how many Muslim women view them. The first example is Sherine, who is married to a man twice her age at the age of fifteen. She does not love (or even like) the man, but she submits because of pride and reputation. At her age, even in America, she is an "old maid" to the Muslim community. The author writes, "In this community reputation is more important than life itself. They'd rather have you dead than have a bad rep,' Sherine thought" (Abdo 39). Sherine feels pressure and anger that she is not allowed to grow up and experience her teenage years like other American girls. She marries the man, but divorces him after a few years, creating a scandal. Her parents arranged another marriage, since she was still a virgin, and that marriage seemed to work until her husband married another wife. Eventually, although she alienates the entire community and has to leave, she married a black Muslim from Ghana with the support of a Canadian mosque, since no one from her mosque will sanction the union.

The author uses this example to indicate that Muslim women are no longer content to have their families, communities, and husbands run their lives, and yet, they still want to remain true to their faith and their friends. Sometimes, because the religion can be so restrictive, this is impossible, as it was in the case of Sherine. She also shows that many young Muslims want to get more in touch with their faith and its roots, but they balk at some of the most restrictive aspects of the faith. Throughout the book, she illustrates how the old-school traditional Muslims and the younger, most liberal Muslims are butting heads and driving a rift in the people and the religion. The more "progressive" Muslims believe that women should play a larger role in the church and the faith, and that some of the religion's tenets must change to keep pace with the 21st century. Others are rooted in the past and want no change whatsoever, in fact, they might become even more restrictive.

Nothing represents this more than the beliefs and traditions surrounding arranged marriage. The Yemenis of the Dix mosque, where Sherine lived, are extremely representative of these old-school Muslims. Most do not plan to remain in the country, and most are extremely resistant to changing their ways to adapt to American society (Abdo 47). These are the groups of Muslims that are holding back others from more fully assimilating into American culture, and who many Americans distrust after the 9/11 attacks, because they seem to want to take advantage of all America has to offer without offering much in return. The author shows why they want to retain their roots and culture, but also shows how inflexible they can be, and how, in the last example, they even turn away enthusiastic converts to Islam if they are women, especially women who expect to be treated equally in the faith.