The Strengths of Muslim American Couples in the Face of Religious Discrimination Following September 11 and the Iraq War

Abstract

In a qualitative research study, interviews with six married Muslim American couples revealed their remarkable strengths in coping with the trauma of religious discrimination following September 11 and the Iraq War. Using the lens of trauma theory, this article examines how Muslim American couples are relationally affected by religious discrimination and, paradoxically, how they have responded with increased resiliency through the strengths of their shared faith practice. This article informs social work practitioners how to recognize and foster the strengths, coping mechanisms, and faith integration of Muslim Americans as they respond to the negative affects of their present-day sociopolitical environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Muslim
• Muslim American
• Islam
• marriage
• strengths
• resilience
• September 11
• Iraq War
• cross-cultural counseling
• couples counseling
• social conditions
• religious discrimination
• social work
• psychology

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This article is a summary of the findings in a Smith School for Social Work exploratory thesis written in 2008. The complete study can be found at http://scholar.simmons.edu/handle/10090/5950.

Notes

1 Religious discrimination is defined as “those attitudes, actions, circumstances and dynamics in which, in relation to factors concerned with religion, an individual or group is treated less favorably than another individual or group either of a different religion, or of no religion” (Weller, 2004, p. 67).

2 The term Islamophobia has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary since 1997, and is defined as a dread or hatred of Islam and fear or dislike of Muslims (Runnymede Trust, 1997, as cited in Sheridan, 2006).