Muslims in Brooklyn oral histories
2018 (2018.006)

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION

This collection includes oral histories conducted and arranged by Brooklyn Historical Society in 2018. The interviews reflect varying approaches to religious observance among Muslim Brooklynites in relation to a wide range of communities and traditions within Islam, including Sunni, Shi’i, Sufi, Nation of Islam, W. D. Mohammed community, Five Percent, Dar ul Islam, Ahmadiyya, and Ansaarullah. Collectively, there is particular focus on cultural and religious customs, practices, and gender roles within these communities; education and the arts; immigration from South Asia and the Middle East; the Nation of Islam; Islamophobia in the wake of the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center as well as after the 2016 presidential election; political activism and engagement; and community relations with law enforcement and government officials.

This collection was processed and described with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program, the Ford Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the Nissan Foundation, the Pillars Fund, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council Members Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Brad Lander, and Rafael L. Espinal, Jr.

Muslims in Brooklyn oral histories