The city of Detroit, Michigan is famous around the world for Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Ford Motor Cars. But it may come as a surprise that the city lovingly called Motown, is also known as the Muslim Capital of America.

The suburb of Dearborn, outside Detroit boasts one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the USA, with 30,000 largely integrated American Arabs. Like the UK, Dearborn is buoyant with the vibrancy typical of ethnic areas. There’s all the signs of a thriving community - cafes, shops, even a halal McDonalds.

Unlike the UK, the story of Muslim migration to Dearborn is largely one of economic success and cultural integration.

While UK Muslims are blighted with identity issues, Muslims in Dearborn have found a balance between their heritage and The American Way. Their contribution to the prosperity of Dearborn is celebrated in the Arab American Museum.

But what is Dearborn like and why hasn’t the fallout of September 11^th affected its citizens?

Presenter Tanzeen Ahmed spends a few days in the town and gets to know its people and places of interest. Amongst her pit stops is the largest mosque in northern America, Ford Motor company and even a halal turkey shop! She also gets into the thanksgiving spirit by going on a traditional hunting trip with guns and all!

On her travels Tanzeen meets the Sareini family. Father Mustafa is amongst the long line of Muslims who have worked at all levels at Ford. He explains why he voted for Bush and why his brother joined the Marines. Mother Fadawa explains what thanksgiving means to them, while their eldest son, Mussa, shows us what it’s like being an American Muslim teen.

Useful Links

Arab American Museum
Islamic Centre of America
Wikipedia
Council on American-Islamic Relations