Muslim group competition signaled Islam’s denominational maturation in America

Evidence

The beginning of competition among them was an indication that Islam had become a bona fide American religious tradition structured at least in part by larger patterns of denominationalism. Whether born in the United States or just visiting, US Muslims had acknowledged their religious differences, and in taking such notice, they also viewed the Muslim “other” as part of a nascent American religious community. There had been contact, exchange, and conflict in a shared political space. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 387

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines denominationalism as a maturation structure: intra-tradition competition and dispute presuppose a shared community proving bona fide status.
• XREF: The denominationalism logic (competition-as-community) parallels the Protestant denominational model used by H. Richard Niebuhr and the corporate liberal account of religious pluralism.