Deep Dives with ISPU

Books do more than tell stories. They help shape how children understand themselves and the world around them. For generations, many Muslim children grew up without ever seeing their lives, families, or communities reflected in the books they read. Today, as more diverse stories have found their way onto library shelves and classroom reading lists, those same books are increasingly becoming the ta...

When we asked our team a simple question — what’s one ISPU data point that has stayed with you — we expected a range of answers. Instead, a clear pattern emerged. Across data on civic engagement, discrimination, and persistent stereotypes, one throughline connected them all: the gap between how American Muslims show up and how they are still perceived. In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, we h...

Entertainment media portrayals don’t just shape culture—they shape policy. For decades, Muslims in film and television have often been depicted through narrow and harmful stereotypes. New research from ISPU shows those portrayals have measurable consequences, influencing public attitudes toward Muslims and shaping support for policies that restrict civil liberties for everyone.  In this episode of...

Communities can grow up together and still miss key pieces of each other’s stories. For Black Christians and Muslims, familiarity doesn’t always translate into understanding. In this episode of Deep Dives, Muslim Wellness Foundation Founder and President Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera joins Youth Pastor Candace Simpson of Quinn Chapel AME and ISPU’s Senior Outreach and Partnerships Manager Petra Als...

The American Muslim story is constantly evolving — and ISPU’s American Muslim Poll has been tracking it for nearly a decade. In this episode of Deep Dives, ISPU’s Director of Research and report co-author Saher Selod, PhD, joins Executive Director Tuqa Nusairat to unpack key findings from the 2025 American Muslim Poll.  You’ll hear how Muslim voters showed up in the 2024 election, what the data re...

ISPU’s research Access to Healthcare Among Arab and South Asian Muslims in Southeast Michigan: A Systems Approach offers a model for using a community-based systems approach to understand and address the barriers Muslim communities face in accessing care. On this episode of Deep Dives , Madiha Tariq, Deputy County Executive of Oakland County, MI, and Megan Collado, Senior Director at AcademyHealth...

Islamophobia doesn’t just harm Muslims–it endangers everyone. In the years since 9/11, policies driven by anti-Muslim sentiment have expanded government surveillance, empowered immigration enforcement, and undermined civil liberties across the board.  In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Tuqa Nusairat, ISPU Executive Director and Saher Selod, PhD, ISPU Director of Research unpack how Islamopho...

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, American Muslim voters in swing states received unprecedented attention from mainstream media and policymakers. With concerns about the U.S. role in Gaza at the forefront, American Muslims significantly increased their civic engagement—mobilizing politically, forming coalitions, and shifting their support in ways that had the potential to...

According to demographic data from ISPU’s American Muslim Poll, 9% of Muslims in the United States are Latino, a steadily growing percentage. In previous research, ISPU found that Latinos have lower levels of Islamophobia than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States and the general public. These demographic trends, coupled with the lower levels of Islamophobia found among this populati...

In today’s episode of Deep Dives with ISPU ,  Executive Director, Meira Neggaz, sits down with SpearIt, former ISPU Scholar and current professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh, to discuss a unique aspect of American Muslim life: Muslims in the U.S. prison system. Released in August of 2023, SpearIt’s new book, Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition , explores how incarce...

Native Americans are often invisible in our public discussion of America, and even more so in any discussion of Muslims in the United States. There is an absence of awareness and lack of representation of Native American and Indigenous Muslims both in the broader US public and within the US Muslim community. Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories: Reclaiming the Narrative project (NAIMS) ,...

In recent years, Muslim individuals, businesses, and nonprofits have reported facing potentially discriminatory practices at some of the nation’s largest banks. As part of our American Muslim Poll 2022, we published an analysis on the experiences of Banking While Muslim . In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU , ISPU Executive Director Meira Neggaz interviews Banking While Muslim author Dr. Youss...

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, ISPU Executive Director Meira Neggaz, in conversation with Imam Saffet Catovic, a long-time US Muslim community organizer/activist and environmental leader, discuss the hotly debated topic of climate change. Opinions about causes of and solutions to climate change were one of several hot button topics covered in our American Muslim Poll 2022, and this conve...

Fielded between mid-February and mid-March, American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Status Report provides a snapshot of American Muslims and Americans of other faiths as well as no faith two years into the COVID-19 pandemic as we enter a new phase of living with the virus. In its sixth installment, this poll presents an updated demographic profile of American Muslims, measured the Isla...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...

Visions and Voices, the first publication from ISPU's Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS): Reclaiming the Narrative project, is the first-ever photo narrative project to center the lived experiences of Native American and Indigenous Muslims in the United States. This research amplifies Indigenous Muslim voices to highlight the challenges, strengths, and needs of this small b...