The US city run by Muslim Americans

[Jilly_in_VA]

A Polish sausage store and an Eastern European bakery sit alongside a Yemeni department store and a Bengali clothing shop. Church bells ring out along with the Islamic call to prayer.

"The world in two square miles" - Hamtramck lives up to its slogan, with around 30 languages spoken within its 5 sq km area.

This month, the Midwestern city of 28,000 has reached a milestone. Hamtramck has elected an all-Muslim City Council and a Muslim mayor, becoming the first in the US to have a Muslim-American government.

Once faced with discrimination, Muslim residents have become integral to this multicultural city, and now make up more than half its population.

And despite economic challenges and intense cultural debates, residents in Hamtramck from different religious and cultural backgrounds coexist in harmony, making the city a meaningful case study for America's future of rising diversity.

But will Hamtramck be an exception or a rule?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59212355

[Aristus]

1. Man, oh man! You know the food in that town has got to be good!

[Haggard Celine]

5. My first thought was about the food, too.

It's no wonder I'm so damned fat. But just walking through that town and smelling those kebabs roasting and those pastries baking would have my mouth watering. I'll have to stop by there if I ever get to take my big USA road trip.

[multigraincracker]

6. I use to go to a Middle East bakery

there and the sweets are crazy good.

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

Am I the only that wonders how long before hate groups choose to disrupt life in Hamtramck?

Before Fox, NewsMax, and OAN is screeching lies and nurturing fear about the city?

And isn't that sad? That you read a feel-good story about an American city and have to worry about hate groups reading the same story and seeing an opportunity to spread their hate.

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. They already do about Detroit

Hamtramck is small potatoes to them.

[Solly Mack]

8. :(

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

Friction arose in 2004 following a vote to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer in public. Some residents have argued that a ban on bars near mosques hurts the local economy.

In June, when the city government approved flying a gay pride flag in front of the city hall, some residents were incensed. Several pride flags hanging outside of private businesses and homes were torn down, including one outside of a vintage clothing store downtown owned by Ms Majewski. "That sends a really alarming message to people," she said.

Marijuana has also become a source of controversy. Three dispensaries opening in Hamtramck have prompted dismay from some in both Muslim and Polish-Catholic communities.

Other residents are concerned about a lack of women's political participation in conservative Muslim communities.

On election night, Mr Ghalib, the mayor-elect, was surrounded by a jubilant Yemeni-American crowd in a post-election party serving baklava and kebabs. More than 100 supporters were there, all of them men.

[beaglelover]

13. As a gay man, I'll be sure to avoid this town.

[roamer65]

4. Hamtramck and Dearborn.

Great food and good people.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. Having lived in that area before

There's this misconception among people that Muslims are so much more devout in their religiosity than Christians are. It's not really a difference. You'll find a lot of people from Muslim families in the area who aren't devout at all, rarely pray, and go to Mosque not at all or a couple times a year. Dated a girl from a Muslim family and it was no issue with me being a white atheist former Catholic. Her family cared no more about that than if I was a Catholic dating a Protestant. Sure, there's variation and some fundamentalism everywhere, but there's not anymore of a domination of Islam in civic life in Dearborn, MI than there is of Calvinism in Holland, MI, probably less so actually.

The % of Muslims that attend Mosque regularly vs seldom or never is roughly the same as the % of Christians who attend regularly or seldom or never. In a lot of ways, it's people have differences over the house of worships that they don't even go to.

I think the devotion even in some Muslim countries is exaggerated too in the media.

[Skittles]

10. interesting

I would not have known that - all the Muslim folk I have known have been very devout.

[EX500rider]

11. Hope this part does not spread:

[SKKY]

12. Anyone who has been to Haifa, Israel sees Palestinians and Israelis living...

...side by side in harmony. It can happen, if willing.

[pecosbob]

14. Hamtramck is surrounded by urban Detroit for those that have not visited.

Both Detroit and Windsor, Ontario across the river have large Muslim communities.