The Role of the Mosques in Promoting Cohesion in the American Community

Since the 9/11 attacks that targeted the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the American government adopted nationally anti-terrorism policies to maintain domestic security. Some of the measures implemented put mosques under scrutiny. The latter institutions have been considered as places where radicalization that leads to terrorism is taking root and where terrorist attacks on the United States of America are encouraged. This article aims to assess the proper role of mosques for the Muslim community residing in the United States but also for the American society. To this end, it studies the religious teachings and the activities provided by the mosques. It analyzes tenets of Islam as well as survey data and interviews conducted in the United States mosques. Our findings show that mosques are beneficial not only for the Muslim group but also for the American society as a whole by enhancing community cohesion.