ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a brief overview of larger contextual frameworks for understanding experiences of Muslim women in America and Canada. Through a comparative discussion of major similarities and differences, the following cross-cutting themes are explored: (1) the varied ways in which women from different ethnic, cultural, sectarian, or interpretive contexts seek sacred meaning; (2) the complexity associated with manifesting a collective Muslim identity while living as a minority community within liberal democratic states; (3) the contextualized nature of Muslim women's issues within internal as well as external dynamics of identity politics; and (4) the presence of persistent suspicion and anxiety toward Muslims and Islam.
