The past several decades have witnessed some profound changes in American society, with women and minorities making enormous inroads into the institutionalized racism and white male-domination that had characterized the country for generations. Indeed, it is reasonable to assert that women of all ages and races enjoy unprecedented opportunities and legal protections in the West in general and in the United States in particular today, but the sad reality is that these opportunities and legal protections still do not extend to all segments of American society. One of the major issues that continues to haunt the Islamic community in the United States is the abusive nature of many Muslim marriages, wherein females remain subjugated to their husband's whims by virtue of historic and religious mandates that have not been left behind in the Muslim world. Moreover, the growing body of evidence suggests that the problem is getting worse instead of better, and the secretive nature of the problem itself contributes to the ability of law enforcement and social work authorities to take any substantive action to help alleviate these problems. To help shed some light on the underlying issues involved, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and popular literature to determine the nature of abusive Muslim marriages in the United States, what social workers and feminist theory have to say about the issues, followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion.
             Today, many Muslim wives living in the West continue to be imprisoned in abusive marriages, unable to fight the gossip and shame that comes with defying their culture and religion. Many brides arrive with temporary "marriage" visas obtained through husbands who are U.S. residents or citizens. Lawyers and social workers say an angry or demanding husband might threaten to "call immigration" and have the wife deported, raising the horrify...