An Analysis Of The Development And Changes Of The Islam In The United States After World War Ⅱ(1945-2000)

As everybody knows, the United States is a country with thick religious atmosphere. Since the first puritans came to North America to build the"Mountain City"in their heart because of religious persecution, the religion have began to play an important role to maintain social morality , to ease social conflict and to make a stable social structure in American society. Especially after World War II, with the huge numbers of immigrants from around the world, a large number of non-European immigrants came to the United States. Christian was no longer the main body of American religion. Gradually, it became pluralism. During this period, Islam has developed rapidly in a completely heterogeneity society. Since 1960s, Islam has been the fastest growing religion in the United States. According to the data on the Internet of U.S. State Department in 2002 , Islam is expected to become the second major religion only behind Christianity.Recalling the development process of Islam in the United States, despite early Muslims arrived America during the colonial period, and several waves of Muslim immigrants began to develop Islam in the United States during the early 20th century, but the half-century from 1945 to 2000 was the most important period during the development process of Islam in the United States except"9 ? 11". A lot of Muslim immigrants came to the United States after the new Immigration Act in 1965. It effected a lot to American Islam. Muslim immigrants from more countries, especially from South Asia, enriched the original ethnic composition, and promoted the development of American Islam. Most Muslim immigrants during this period were well educated and with high economic and social status. They were more clearly recognized to maintain Islamic culture and integrate into American society. New immigrants, the second and third generation black Muslims and white converts, established many mosques and Islamic organizations in multi-cultural context. And they restructured and integrated themselves with various civil rights movements in the United States and regional conflicts in abroad Muslim countries.This thesis focused on the American Muslims during the particular period of latter 20th century. In this thesis, I will sum up the characteristics and situations of the Muslim groups, analysis the diverse backgrounds of Muslim immigrants in the United States and their interaction and integration, try to explore the efforts on keeping the balance between maintaining Islamic culture and integrating into mainstream culture of the United States.The main body of this thesis comes in three parts. The first part recalles the early development of Islam in the United States before the end of World War II. The second part introduces the development and changes of Islam in the United States from 1945 to 2000, and further discusses the characteristics of Islam in the United States during this period. The third part focuses on the assimilation and integration of the American Muslim groups in the multi-cultural backgrounds and how to maintain the Islamic culture and integrate into American society. The third part, mainly evaluates the development and changes of Islam in the United States between 1945-2000.