Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in North America

North America's relative openness to immigration and religious expression, as well as its unusually high rate of religiosity (especially in the United States) within the developed world, has allowed Islam to take root, thrive, and evolve in surprising ways. Islam is already the second largest religious tradition (behind Christianity) in Canada, and is projected by the Pew Research Forum to be the second largest religious tradition in the United States by 2040. Almost daily, one reads about news relating to Islam and Muslims, and many universities offer courses on the topic. While there is a growing body of scholarship, there are few resources focusing on Islam as a North American religious tradition, and none which consider the connections between Muslims across the region. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in North America provides the leading reference resource in this growing field, assembling scholars from religious studies, theology, history, gender and sexuality studies, political science, sociology, law, media studies, and the arts. With over 90 articles, the volume covers the major issues related to Islam in the West, including religious practice and communities, immigration, modernism, demographics, artistic expression, politics, and culture. Given their unique and varied interpretations of the religion, African American, Latin American, and Caribbean versions of Islam are also covered in detail, further demonstrating the ongoing evolution of a unique and varied North American Islam, part of a rapidly changing global religious landscape.

Amir Hussain is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on religion. His own particular speciality is the study of Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies in North America. His academic degrees (BSc, MA, PhD) are all from the University of Toronto where he received a number of awards, including the university's highest award for alumni service. He served as President of the American Academy of Religion in 2023. From 2011 to 2015, Amir was the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Hussain served as Dean of Women at University College, University of Toronto. Before coming to California in 1997, Amir taught courses in religious studies at several universities in Canada. He is active in academic groups such as the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion and the American Academy of Religion. He is on the editorial boards of four scholarly journals, the Journal of Religion, Conflict and Peace; the Ethiopian Journal of Religious Studies; Religious Studies and Theology; and Comparative Islamic Studies. He was an advisor for the television series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, and appears regularly on Ancient Aliens, History's Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne, Holy Marvels with Dennis Quaid, and The UnXplained with William Shatner. In 2008, he was appointed a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. Prior to his appointment at Loyola Marymount University, Hussain taught at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) from 1997 to 2005. Hussain won a number of awards at CSUN, both for his teaching and research. In 2001 he was selected for the outstanding faculty award by the National Center on Deafness. For the academic year 2003-04, he was selected as the Jerome Richfield Memorial Scholar. In both 2008 and 2009, Hussain was chosen by vote of LMU students as the Professor of the Year. His latest book, published in 2025 by Fortress Press, is One God and Two Religions. He is the co-editor for the fourth edition of A Concise Introduction to World Religions, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. He is also the co-editor for the fifth editions of World Religions: Western Traditions, and World Religions: Eastern Traditions, textbooks published in 2018 by OUP. In 2016, he wrote Muslims and the Making of America, published by Baylor University Press. His first book was an introduction to Islam for North Americans entitled Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God (Kelowna: Copper House, 2006). He has published over 60 book chapters and scholarly articles about religion.