Howell
Arthur Secunda Museum
Cleary University
November 8 - December 20, 2019
The Halal Metropolis is one where Muslims practice their faith freely, and contribute to society with all of their talents and commitments. It is created dialogically and requires Muslims to be visible to one another and to non-Muslims. It encourages Muslims to organize and speak as believers, citizens, and artists.
In contrast to the hyper-visible communities of Dearborn and Hamtramck, the Muslims of Livingston County live in relative obscurity. Halal restaurants and grocers in Brighton and Fenton suggest the presence of Muslim consumers in both the center and periphery of the county. Medical facilities in Brighton and engineering centers, like the GM Milford Proving Grounds, also hint that Muslim professionals reside nearby. Mosques in neighboring East Lansing, Flint, and Ann Arbor, have long welcomed Livingston residents, and the community of the Naqshbandi Spiritual Retreat Center, which opened on a small farm just south of Fenton in 1991, is growing and investing in homes nearby.
Frequently, Muslim communities in suburban and exurban settings become visible only when their plans to build mosques, establish summer camps, or develop graveyards, are met with opposition. This was true in Canton, Troy, and Sterling Heights, just as it was here in Livingston County. Resistance to the Naqshbandi Center quickly melted away when their lodge and mosque finally opened and they were able to get to know their neighbors.
Many of the county’s Muslim residents were born to non-Muslim parents. Their love of the outdoors, of fishing, hunting, riding, and cross-country skiing, did not dissipate when they donned the hijab or began praying five times a day. Those who moved here to be near work, near a spiritual retreat, or far from the noise and expense of the city, also continue to pursue their individual passions, often for the same American pastimes as their neighbors.
Given Livingston County’s profile as a mostly rural, exurban space, can we think of it as part of the Halal Metropolis at all? In this installation, we connect the visibility of the Muslim body and of Muslim institutions in greater Detroit to that of Muslims living and worshipping in more rural areas. Is this the future of Islam in Michigan?
Participating Artists:
Anthony Giannini
Endi Poskovic
Haleem ‘Stringz’ Rasul
Kecia Escoe
Maamoul Press
Mary ‘BGIRL MAMA’ Mar
Nour Ballout
Qais Assali
Razi Jafri
Sawsan Elgamal
Zarinah El-Amin Naeem
Special Thanks:
Cleary University, John Sauve, Naqshbandi Spiritual Retreat Center, Mike Ayoub, Zahrah tul Madina, Rahaf Khatib, Shaykh Taher Siddiqui
Muslim Visibility in Livingston County
Jenn Crooker, Rima Makhiawala, and Ali Hussain
We explore what it means to be Muslim in a rural, exurban place.