Perceived religiosity among Muslims is decided by outside observers, not actual belief

Evidence

The terms Religious and Secular, as I use them in the typologies discussed above, are not intended to be objective descriptors but rather ascriptive terms based on Anglo-Protestant normativity that dominates American culture and race politics at a particular time. For example, a Muslim who wears a headscarf, has a beard, or prays the daily prayers is perceived as religious in mainstream American society today. In contrast, a Muslim who drinks alcohol, engages in premarital sex, or associates exclusively with non-Muslims is perceived as secularized and modern. Whether that person is in fact religious or secular according to Islamic tenets is not what determines where they fall in the Racial Muslim typology. Rather, it is how they are perceived by those doing the racializing. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 90

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Religious/Secular axis of the Racial Muslim typology as ascriptive, perception-driven rather than descriptive.
• XREF: Connects to the ‘immodesty panics’ article — both track how majority observers ascribe moral/religious categories onto minority bodies regardless of internal reality. — connects to: Islamicization operates independently of actual Muslim belief or visible identity markers — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 316