The most transformative is that Muslims can be American, already are American, and that the political system—in Dearborn—is a social field over which they can exercise considerable influence. This has nothing to do with shari`ah and everything to do with conventional electoral politics and immigrant incorporation. … The second lesson, which has been learned over and over again by the local Arab/Muslim communities, is that inclusion comes at the price of discipline.

DEFINE: Clarifies that Muslim political power in Dearborn stems from ordinary electoral politics and immigrant incorporation, not religious law — separating a common misconception from the actual mechanism.

Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ Th…, loc. 717