This study examines a largely overlooked issue in immigration literature-theimpact Islamic institutions and Muslim religious leaders have on the cultural andpsychological adaptation of Muslim immigrant congregations in host Westernsocieties. Specifically, it explores whether and how variations in the cultures, teachingsand resources available to the mosques along with ideological differencesbetween and among imams (clergy) hinder or facilitate the acculturation ofMuslim immigrant women attending mosques in the United States. The findingssuggest that mosques indeed play a significant role in the acculturation process ofimmigrant Muslim women in their host society. It also establishes that immigrantmosques whose administrators and religious leaders have a futuristic and integrationistinterpretation of Islam and who perceive the mosque to be an organicentity that is changing, developing and adapting to the changes in the environment,are more successful in building bridges between their congregants and the largersociety in general, and in empowering women congregants and facilitating their culturaland psychological adaptation within their host society in particular. © 2010 Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs.

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