For Muslims living in the United States, community organisation is a task that can seem nearly impossible; this isn’t helped by the rest of the country’s ignorance and resulting hatred. This is largely because Islam encompasses such a huge number of sects within a geographical homeland, but also because ethnicity can play hugely into how Islam is practiced. Muslims with a certain ethnic background will practice Islam very differently than ethnically dissimilar Muslims. However, there are ways to remedy distances between those who practice Islam differently; in Journey to America, Ahmed examines the traits of optimism, love, and leadership that must go into this kind of organisation. Some of the mosques and communities are marked by openness, others by mistrust. Throughout the novel, Ahmed tries to piece together an image of what makes a well-run, cohesive, and safe community for Muslims Americans.
One of the most important ways to unify a Muslim community in the United
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After his experience in Gadsden, he expresses that “moments like this reconnected [him] to the purpose that had prompted [him] to launch this project in the first place” (Ahmed 24). Even though this ethnography is concerned with Muslim communities in America, it is also important to note how optimistic Muslims are shaping the future of many communities in the United States. Ahmed has been incredibly influential as an ethnographer, and his calm love is what he hopes to see when he examines Muslim communities in this country; like many of his faith, he wants his Muslim brothers and sisters to be at peace, no matter their differences. His points about leadership are reflected back onto him; his optimistic leadership is what is needed for Muslim unity on a national