Reclaiming a Diverse Ummah: Social Justice and Community among Young Muslims in the United States

This article explores how the concepts of dignity and conviviality impact the social justice work of young-adult Muslims in the United States. Here, conviviality demands confronting and coping with historical discrimination, exploitation, and abuse (Gilroy 2004) and is examined in relation to the ideology of the Muslim ummah, a united, global community of all Muslims. However, the Muslims this article focuses on see a tension between the ideology of the ummah and the practice, which results in inequity and a lack of dignity experienced by some Muslims. The author argues that attempts at building convivial relationships inadvertently lead Muslims to feel distance and isolation from Muslim spaces and community. Their social justice work provides them with the ability to look beyond the Muslim ummah and see dignity in a shared humanity. Combined with their intellectual and academic study of social justice, these Muslims are developing their own ethical frameworks grounded in Islam. Though challenging to enact, by continually confronting their privileges, biases, and blind spots, these Muslims are striving to live, behave, and build relationships that prioritize the dignity of all people, inside the Muslim community and beyond.