‘A Seed of Truth’: Ahmadiyya Muslim Propagation Networks and the Development of Islam in America

Abstract

Abstract: The reformist Ahmadiyya Muslim sect's contributions to the development of American Islam are frequently sidelined or diminished, in part due to sectarianism. But the Ahmadiyya movement has been central to building American awareness of Islam since the late 19th century, in the press and among intellectual circles; in building some of the country’s early Islamic institutions, including several historic publications and mosques across the country; in spreading its universalist vision of Islam and critiques of Christianity among Americans of varied backgrounds; and in shaping the development of American Islamic theologies in myriad ways, from notions of continuous prophecy to the idea of jihad of the pen. Taking these discourses, engagements and influences into account, this paper asks: How has sectarianism flattened public memory of early American Islam and its pioneers? How can focusing on networks, engagements and influences complicate our understanding of U.S. Islam’s historical figures, institutions and movements? And how might it look to write a history of Islam’s development in the U.S. that places the Ahmadiyya movement at its center rather than its periphery?