Gender, Identity and Conversion: A Comparison of Male and Female Converts to Islam in Australia

Abstract

Over the past several decades, the phenomenon of conversion to Islam in Western societies has received a significant amount of attention, both in academia and in the mass media. Much of this attention has focused on the motives and experiences of female converts, a likely result of suggestions that higher numbers of Western women than men are converting to Islam, as well as pervasive views of Islam as a religion that mistreats women. Yet despite this fixation on conversion and gender, understanding of the compared experiences of male and female converts remains limited. This article seeks to address this key gap in the existing literature by examining the differences and commonalities in the experiences, beliefs and identities of male and female converts to Islam in Australia. It is hoped that this research will contribute to a greater understanding of the complex relationships between gender, conversion and identity, while encouraging further research in this area.