"Islam in Urban America contains a wealth of detailed material about a variety of immigrant Muslim institutions and organizations in Chicago. It reflects amazingly meticulous fieldwork and thoughtful reflections. Presented in a lively fashion, and often in the words of Chicago's Muslim immigrants themselves, this book is an outstanding contribution to an exciting new field."—Karen Leonard, Departments of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at UC Irvine, and author of Muslims in the United States: The State of Research
"This is a wonderful, informed, readable and comprehensive look at Sunni Islam as practiced by immigrant Muslims in Chicago in the mid to late 1990s. Garbi Schmidt examines the practice, teaching, and foci of Islamic activists and members of community organizations, Muslim student groups, and paramosques. She deals well with issues of gender and the meaning of women's dress. As a study of religion and the religious aspect of immigrant communities, it is an extremely well done study and interpretation. Islam in Urban America is an invaluable tool for persons studying communities of Muslims."—Dr. Louise Cainkar, University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute
"This work contributes significantly to the academic literature on ethnic and religious identity."—Islamic Horizons