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Religions
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Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies
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Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 13916

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Salih Yucel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University, Auburn, NSW 2144, Australia
Interests: faith-based movements; Muslims in Australia; Muslim identity; interfaith dialogue
Dr. Shaheen Whyte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University, Auburn, NSW 2144, Australia
Interests: Islamic religious authority; Islamic thought; Middle East politics; Islam in Australia and Muslim minorities in the West

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Identity is shaped and cultivated through a myriad of human, individual, and collective experiences, encompassing a broad range of racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, regional, historical, and socio-political realities. As one of the world’s largest and most diverse religious populations, Muslims routinely preserve, negotiate, and develop their identities in accordance with their everyday contexts. This Special Issue of Religions, “Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies”, seeks to explore new themes and trends emerging in Muslim majority, minority, and diaspora communities. It will critically analyse the intellectual efforts to advance diverse understandings of Muslim identity formation in the wake of new social, cultural, political, intellectual, and technological developments.

Key works on Muslim religious identity include Cara Aitchison, Peter E. Hopkins, and Mei-po Kwan, eds. Geographies of Muslim Identities: Diaspora, Gender and Belonging (Ashgate, 2007); Aaron W Hughes, Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia University Press, 2013); Derya Iner and ‎Salih Yucel, eds. Muslim Identity Formation in Religiously Diverse Societies (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), and a range of interdisciplinary works on Muslim identities in the West. The field has since grown to engage in debates about Islamophobia, state politics and Muslim identity construction, trans-locality and imagined communities, Muslim cosmopolitism, hybrid identities, Muslim youth cultures, the securitisation of Muslims, intersectionality, and digital Islam, to name a select few.

This Special Issue invites scholars of Islam, field experts, early researchers, and independent scholars from relevant field disciplines to submit original articles on the topic.

Possible themes and topics of interest include the following:

  • Qur’anic and Prophetic understandings of identity, difference, and pluralism
  • migration, citizenship, and belonging
  • identity formation and state politics
  • the umma, trans-locality, and Muslim cosmopolitanism
  • Muslim identity politics
  • hybrid identities
  • the impact of Islamophobia on the formation of Muslim identities
  • the projection and representation of Muslims in the media
  • securitisation of Muslim identities
  • religious identity of young Muslims
  • Muslim identities in the digital sphere
  • group identities and Muslim subcultures
  • intersectionality
  • Muslim converts

Dr. Salih Yucel
Dr. Shaheen Whyte
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Qur’anic and Prophetic understandings of identity, difference, and pluralism
  • migration, citizenship, and belonging
  • identity formation and state politics
  • the umma, trans-locality, and Muslim cosmopolitanism
  • Muslim identity politics
  • hybrid identities
  • the impact of Islamophobia on the formation of Muslim identities
  • the projection and representation of Muslims in the media
  • securitisation of Muslim identities
  • religious identity of young Muslims
  • Muslim identities in the digital sphere
  • group identities and Muslim subcultures
  • intersectionality
  • Muslim converts

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

3 pages, 283 KiB  
Editorial
Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies
by Salih Yucel and Shaheen Whyte
Religions 2023, 14(10), 1296; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101296 - 16 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1073
Abstract
Identity is shaped and cultivated through a myriad of human, individual, and collective experiences, encompassing a broad range of racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, regional, historical, and socio-political realities [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

12 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Australian Muslim Identities and the Question of Intra-Muslim Dialogue
by Shaheen Whyte and Salih Yucel
Religions 2023, 14(2), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020233 - 08 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1507
Abstract
This paper explores the connection between intra-religious dialogue and Muslim identities in Australia. Drawing on empirical literature and analysis, this article investigates the increasing identification and interplay between Australian Muslims from different sects, sub-sects and faith-based groups of Islam. It argues intra-Muslim dialogue [...] Read more.
This paper explores the connection between intra-religious dialogue and Muslim identities in Australia. Drawing on empirical literature and analysis, this article investigates the increasing identification and interplay between Australian Muslims from different sects, sub-sects and faith-based groups of Islam. It argues intra-Muslim dialogue is gaining more noticeability among Australian Muslims working to build civic and inclusive identities. At the same time, the article points to the socio-political, organisational and sectarian issues challenging intra-religious unity between Muslim groups in Australia. To achieve genuine and long-lasting intra-faith relations, the article argues for a need to develop organic, theologically inclusive and contextually grounded articulations of intra-Muslim dialogue in Australia. The article concludes that diverse experiences of identity formation in Australia serve as an impetus for strengthening intra-Muslim relations based on previous success with inter-faith initiatives, as well as intergroup contact with non-Muslims. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)
12 pages, 284 KiB  
Article
Identity among Turkish Shi’is: An Ethnographic Study
by Mehmet Ali Sevgi
Religions 2023, 14(2), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020142 - 25 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1990
Abstract
This article examines the cultural identity of Turkish Shi’is in a border province in East Turkey and how their ethnic and religious identities are positioned within the political and cultural context of Turkey. Shi’is living in Igdir, the easternmost province of Turkey, may [...] Read more.
This article examines the cultural identity of Turkish Shi’is in a border province in East Turkey and how their ethnic and religious identities are positioned within the political and cultural context of Turkey. Shi’is living in Igdir, the easternmost province of Turkey, may share the ethnicity of the majority in Turkey, but they are in the minority in terms of their religious identity. Their cultural identity is shifting contextually and is always under construction. In this context, cultural theorist Stuart Hall explains identity as a never-ending construction, a process never completed—always in progress. This paper traces the multilayered and interdisciplinary approach of Hall’s identity interpretations and applies them to discuss the social, cultural, and political positionings of Igdir Ja’faris in Turkey. The study uses ethnographic data based on field observation and semi-structured interviews with Turkish Ja’faris in Igdir. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)
18 pages, 346 KiB  
Article
(De)constructing a Dar-ul-Uloom Aalim’s Identity in Contemporary Britain: Overcoming Barriers of Access
by Kamal Ahmed and Sally Elton-Chalcraft
Religions 2023, 14(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010011 - 22 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2281
Abstract
The controversial events of 2001 (9/11) and 2005 (7/7) have led Britain’s media and policy makers to view the proliferation of orthodox Islamic seminaries, Dar-ul-Ulooms (DUs), and their graduates (Ulamaa) with suspicion, further exacerbating the marginalisation of an already marginalised Muslim minority within [...] Read more.
The controversial events of 2001 (9/11) and 2005 (7/7) have led Britain’s media and policy makers to view the proliferation of orthodox Islamic seminaries, Dar-ul-Ulooms (DUs), and their graduates (Ulamaa) with suspicion, further exacerbating the marginalisation of an already marginalised Muslim minority within mainstream British society. Due to ethnic, sociocultural, and religious differences, the identity of Ulamaa in modern-day Britain has become increasingly complex and supposedly contradictory due to the perceived differences between orthodox Islamic values proselytised in DUs and ‘liberal’ British values. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, this paper reports on data collected in 2020 through three in-depth interviews with an Aalim who graduated from a DU in England after 2005. It explores how he constructs and negotiates his religious and national identities. The interviews were undertaken by one of the authors, himself an Aalim, and the paper also provides reflection on the barriers of access to this under-researched group. Data suggest that although DU identity might not contradict British identity, and Islam is not seen as incompatible with British values, the perceived contradictions between DU orthodoxy and British values appear to be conflated with cultural resistances emanating from Britain’s colonial legacy in India; the birthplace of DUs. Thus, analysis of the data reveals, through an Aalim’s personal voice, issues of identity involving culture, religion, and community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)
12 pages, 1284 KiB  
Article
Loyalty and Identity Formation: Muslim Perceptions of Loyalty in France
by Abdessamad Belhaj
Religions 2022, 13(11), 1060; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111060 - 04 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1406
Abstract
This paper sets out to study loyalty as identity formation through the cases of three Muslim leaders in France (T. Ramadan, A. Mamoun and M. Zenati). First, I will discuss the state of research on “Muslim loyalties” in the West. Afterwards, Ramadan’s concept [...] Read more.
This paper sets out to study loyalty as identity formation through the cases of three Muslim leaders in France (T. Ramadan, A. Mamoun and M. Zenati). First, I will discuss the state of research on “Muslim loyalties” in the West. Afterwards, Ramadan’s concept of critical loyalties, Mamoun’s loyalty as gratitude, and Zenati’s human brotherhood as the basis of loyalty will be thoroughly examined. The main goal of the current study is to determine how the three Muslim leaders incorporate loyalty as an element of shaping the identity of French Muslim citizens while attempting to resolve the current tensions between the French state and Islam. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)
21 pages, 2618 KiB  
Article
Clothes That Make the Man: Understanding How the Extended Self Is Formed, Expressed and Negotiated by Male Tablighi Jamaat Adherents
by Ateeq Abdul Rauf
Religions 2022, 13(10), 981; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100981 - 18 Oct 2022
Viewed by 2291
Abstract
Deviating from the predominantly women-focused investigations on Islamic clothing in anthropology, religion and consumer studies, this research places men’s Islamic clothing under the spotlight to understand how the notion of the extended self is evidenced in a religious context. Using a multi-sited ethnographic [...] Read more.
Deviating from the predominantly women-focused investigations on Islamic clothing in anthropology, religion and consumer studies, this research places men’s Islamic clothing under the spotlight to understand how the notion of the extended self is evidenced in a religious context. Using a multi-sited ethnographic and in-depth interview approach to study the context of middle-class Pakistani male participants of the traditional revivalist movement the Tablighi Jamaat, this study finds that possessions such as clothing serve as a conduit to participants’ sense of extended self. In this case, the extended self is associated with the Muslim nation, its Prophet and his work. This investigation furthers the concept of the extended self by implicating the consumption of religiously identified clothing as an entity that becomes associated with the self. Moreover, this study concludes that possessions and the extended self are imbricated into one’s religious career path. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Muslim Identity Formation in Contemporary Societies)
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