Yale University’s Critical Islamic Reflections group consists of a cross-section of graduate and undergraduate students organized to pursue critical academic scholarship on topics regarding Islam and Muslim society...[more about CIR]

Born of a polyglot community of practitioners, American Islam is characterized by its heterogeneity. Whether the descendants of African slaves, emigrants from the Ottoman Empire, or colonial subjects who entered America after the immigration law reforms in the 1960s, each American Muslim community has struggled to establish institutions to help its members negotiate and live their religion robustly within a minority context. What's more,the past decade has witnessed unprecedented change in the American Muslim landscape: the election of a Caucasian female to the presidency of the Islamic Society of North America, Loui Farrakhan's rapprochement with the community of his former Sunni rivals, and the emergence of new American Muslim institutions like the Muslim Alliance in North America, Zaytuna Institute, al-Maghrib Institute, and the Nawawi Foundation. In a more recent turn of events, a influential leader and pioneer of American Islam, Imam W.D. Muhammad, passed away in September, thereby raising critical questions of succession within one of America’s largest Muslim communities.

In light of these recent events, this year’s CIR conference will examine the institutions and
individual leaders of the American Muslim community as well as the future of such leadership.