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dc.contributor.authorMitchell, Paul
dc.contributor.authorRane, Halim
dc.contributor.editorAbe W. Ata & Jan A. Ali
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-14T12:30:44Z
dc.date.available2019-02-14T12:30:44Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.identifier.isbn9780199487110
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/381174
dc.description.abstractIn recent years, Western Muslim converts have been exposed to signifi cant media attention and scrutiny. For this ‘minority within a minority’, the decision to embrace a religion which has come to embody the ‘other’ in Western discourse can lead to signifi cant societal obstacles and challenges. While religious conversion is undoubtedly a deeply personal journey, it is often also a journey through discrimina-tion and social marginalization, emanating from both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Despite this potential for marginalization, there are suggestions that converts may have the ability to play a vital role in bridging the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in Western societies—a notion which appears to be supported by many converts themselves. How do converts learn about and practice their new faith, and what kind of ideologies and interpretations of Islam do they embrace? How do they navigate social and community rejection and acceptance? To what extent can they serve as a bridge between Muslim communities and wider society? Based on in-depth, phenomenological interviews, this chapter examines the varying experiences of Australian male con-verts to Islam and considers how they build and maintain new identities in contemporary Australian society. In recent years, Western Muslim converts have been exposed to sig-nifi cant media attention and scrutiny (Brice 2010; Rayment 2006). For this ‘minority within a minority’ (Brice 2010), the decision to embrace a religion which has come to embody the ‘other’ in Western discourse (Haddad, Smith, and Moore 2006: 31) can lead to signifi cant societal obstacles and challenges. While religious conversion is undoubtedly a deeply personal journey, it is often also a journey through discrimina-tion and social marginalization, emanating from both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities (Brice 2010: 21–2). Despite this potential for marginalization, there are suggestions that converts may have the abil-ity to play a vital role in bridging the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in Western societies—a notion which appears to be supported by many converts themselves (Brice 2010; Soutar 2010).
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherOxford University Press
dc.publisher.placeIndia
dc.publisher.urihttps://global.oup.com/academic/product/islam-in-the-west-9780199487110
dc.relation.ispartofbooktitleIslam in the West: Perceptions and Reactions
dc.relation.ispartofchapter10
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom215
dc.relation.ispartofpageto236
dc.relation.ispartofvolume1
dc.subject.fieldofresearchIslamic Studies
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode220403
dc.titleFaith, Identity, and Ideology: Experiences of Australian Male Converts to Islam
dc.typeBook chapter
dc.type.descriptionB1 - Chapters
dc.type.codeB - Book Chapters
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorRane, Halim I.
gro.griffith.authorMitchell, Paul


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