Islam's Past and Present in the United States

For much of my childhood in India, the sound of the adhan -- the Muslim call to prayer broadcast from the minaret of a mosque -- was what I heard upon waking each morning. In the shared religious life of my small hometown, we celebrated the festivals of Eid with our Muslim neighbors and they joined us at the time of Diwali, a holiday primarily celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. Religious education happened quite informally in these day-to-day interactions.