Islam has never been stranger to America. There is evidence to suggest that Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers and the third president of the United States, had pondered deeply about Islam as it related to English common law. He bought a copy of the Quran and sought to understand Islam even as he had no particular liking for the faith.

America’s foundational values seem to struggle to reconcile with the ‘them’ versus ‘us’ mentality.

He as well as other founding fathers, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, did envision Muslims as future citizens of America. Many others drew upon Enlightenment ideas to create space for tolerating Muslims, even though Muslims were deemed outsiders in Western society at that time. Over time, the American Muslim citizenry has grown as millions of Muslims have settled in America and made it their adopted home.

It was only after the horrifying terrorist attacks of 9/11 that Muslims and their faith came under a sharper scrutiny in American political and thought circles. The Bush administration vowed to fight what he called ‘Radical Islam’. Islamophobic sentiment began to rise all across America and Europe. Yet, the US president did not submit to populist fear-mongering, as such an approach would have taken a heavy toll domestically.

Instead, he doused the inflamed sentiments of grieving America by drawing a distinction between terrorism and the faith of Islam, which represents peace while terrorists embody evil and war. Yet, the suspicions about Muslims and their faith lingered on in America. There were hardliners who continued to stoke fear and anger, lashed out against Muslims, and proposed treating them as the ‘other’.

It is in this context that several notable American Muslims set out to project the true face of Islam and its adherents. They would promote inter-faith dialogue and explain how Islam as a faith stood for peace and that terrorists were only using the name of Islam to advance their nefarious agenda.

The pluralist identity of America remains resilient and deeply rooted.

One prominent voice amongst the Muslim thought leaders in the US has been Akbar S. Ahmed, Distinguished Professor and Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, Washington DC. During the past two decades, he has been on a mission to create a better understanding of Islam in the West and also explore the relationship between Islam and American identity.

He formed a team and undertook a quartet of studies, based on anthropology and ethnographic fieldwork, to understand and explain the relationship between the Muslim world and the West after 9/11. He first published ‘Journey into Islam’ in 2007, followed by the study ‘The Thistle and the Drone’ in 2013, which was about the global impact of the war on terror. His next project was a ‘Journey into Europe’ that was published in 2018, examining the place of Islam in European history, culture, and civilization.

This year (2025), Akbar S. Ahmed has published ‘America at the Crossroads – Race, Islam, and Leadership’.  This book seeks to address a question of phenomenal relevance to today’s America: What does it mean to be an American today when fear, identity, and leadership collide? The objective of this quartet of studies is to answer this question, facilitate a better understanding of Western-Islamic relations, recall the richness of Islamic civilization, and promote harmony amongst diverse people living in the West.

The book ‘America at the Crossroads’ is particularly relevant to contemporary America as it explores how Muslims and other minorities living in the US relate to American identity. Many recent events have befogged American identity: the coronavirus pandemic, racial reckoning marked by the Black Lives Matter movement, acute political polarization when Donald Trump entered the electoral scene, rising Islamophobia, and the vocal voices of white supremacists.

American Muslims are asserting their place within American pluralism by public acts of courage, cultural expression, political engagement, and interfaith dialogue.

America’s foundational values seem to struggle to reconcile with the ‘them’ versus ‘us’ mentality. The January 6, 2021-assault on Capitol Hill by Trump’s supporters tarnished the very symbol of American democracy, the Constitution, and way of life. An ominous trend had set in that justified resort to violence to protect and defend one’s identity based on race, culture, or religion.

Akbar Ahmed describes three shades of American identity. The primordial identity is one that was represented by ‘white in color, English in language, and Protestant in faith’. Out of this emerged a pluralist identity of America, which stood for freedom of religion and tolerance.

Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant messaging during the 2024 election cycle brought in the third shade of American identity, the predator identity. Akbar contends that out of three, it is the pluralist identity of America that remains resilient and deeply rooted, and will continue to define American personality even as the contours of the other two identities remain strong. Akbar concludes by recalling how George Washington defined true Americans: civil, decent in their behavior, and respectful of one another.

Americans would be better served by bringing their thinking in line with the broader vision, common sense, and wisdom of the Founding Fathers. This will be the supreme test for America as it stands at a crossroads.

This will be the supreme test for America as it stands at a crossroads.

As today’s America straddles between primordial, pluralistic, and predator identities, Muslims living in America are asserting their place within American pluralism by their public acts of courage, cultural expression, political engagement, and interfaith dialogue. American Muslims are also endeavoring to integrate well with the American mainstream, convinced that their journey must reflect the broader struggle for dignity, representation and recognition as an integral part of a pluralist America.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.