Download Religious Conversion and Conversion to Islam

Religious Conversion and Conversion to Islam
WhatisReligiousConversion?
•
Conversiontoanyreligioninvolveschangesinpersonalattitudesandbeliefs,and
acceptinganewsetofvaluesthatimpactmultipleareasofaconvert’slife.
WhatisIslamicconversion?
•
TheQur’anmostcommonlyusesthewordaslama(submission)todenotebecoming
Muslim,However,‘submission’doesn’tadequatelydefineorexpresstheprocesses
orexperienceofpeopleconvertingtoIslam,andnosingledefinitionofconversion
canbefoundeitherintheQur’anorwithinwiderIslamicscholarship.
•
TheformalmechanisminvolvedinbecomingaMuslimisthesamearoundtheworld
regardlessoftowhichsectapersonconverts(Sunni/Shia).Toconvert,thebeliever
mustpledgeasingleverbaldeclarationofthekalimashahada;preferablyinthe
companyofotherMuslims.Thisritualsymbolizesaconvert’ssubmission,
surrender,andacceptanceoftheonenessofAllah(God),knowninArabicastawhid,
andthedivinelawsestablishedintheQur’an.
•
Convertsrecitingshahadadeclarethefollowingstatement:Ashaduallailahailla
llah,waashaduannamuhammadarrasuluilah(IwitnessthatthereisnoGodbut
AllahandthatMuhammadishismessengerandservant).
•
Fromasocialscienceperspective,conversionisobservableattwolevels;what
peoplesayandwhattheydo.Thefirstisbasedonadeclarationandusuallythe
institutionalorcommunalrecognitionofthatdeclaration.Declaringshahadafulfills
thisrole.Thesecond,andmorecredibleindicator,isthepracticalapplicationof
Islamicreligiousprinciplestotheconvert’sdailylife.
•
ThepracticaldutiesofeveryMuslimarereferredtoastheFivePillarsofIslam.All
convertstechnicallyshouldpracticeshahada(ongoingbeliefinoneGod),salat
(ritualprayerfivetimesaday),zakat(compulsoryalmsgiving),sawm(fasting
duringRamadan),andhajj(pilgrimagetoMecca).
•
ThisemphasisonpracticecomesfromtheIslamicprincipleofIhsan,(perfectionor
excellence)whichmeansinordertoattainsalvationaMuslimmustcombinefaith
andaction,beliefandpractice,toshowone’simaan(innerfaith)inbothdeedand
action.
ConvertorRevert?
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
•
Theterms‘reversion’and‘revert’usedtodescribebecomingMuslimarenot
A 3-year, interdisciplinary collaboration to collect and analyze a large dataset of the
religious conversion experiences of new Muslims in the United States, to explore how
uncommon.TheyrelatetotheIslamicconceptoffitra;acorephilosophical
and where religious conversion intersects with radicalization
referencetothe‘innate’or‘primordial’natureofallhumanbeings.InIslam,
Funded by the Minerva Research Initiative
doctrinallyandphilosophically,allchildrenarebornMuslim.Muslimsbelievethat
THE PROBLEM
Allahcreatesallpeopleasinherentlygood,believinginoneGodandendowedwith
For reasons that are currently unknown, Muslim converts play a disproportionate
role in Islamist extremist violence (or “terrorism”).
theabilitytodifferentiatebetweenrightandwrong.Inotherwords,Allahcreatesall
Converts are statistically overrepresented in violent extremism and are in fact
childrenaccordingtofitra,anditismisguidedparentswhoteachtheirchildren
many times more likely to radicalize than people “born Muslim.”
incorrectbeliefsandraisethemaspolytheists,atheists,JewsorChristians.
OUR RESEARCH
Therefore,individualswho“convert”toIslamcouldbesaidtoto“revert”toan
Throughout 2016, we will collect and analyze ethnographic and statistical survey
original,pureor“true”religion.
data on approximately 250 “ordinary” Muslim converts in the general population
of United States.
• ThemajorityofWesternconvertsgenerallydescribethemselvesasconvertsrather
Beginning in 2017, using the same surveys and interviews, we will interview
thanreverts.Mostconvertsdonotappeartohavestrongviewsonwhetherone
Muslim converts serving prisons sentences for terrorism-related offences. We will
also collect archival data on these individuals from a number of secondary
termortheotherisusedtodescribethem.
sources, such as media accounts and court documents to reconstruct their
• AsmallminorityofmoredoctrinallyrigidMuslimconvertsinAustralia,Britain,
conversion experiences.
To these data we will apply a range of qualitative and quantitative analytical
WesternEuropeandAmericabelievethatby‘embracingIslam’theyarerevertingor
approaches and compare the conversion processes of participants to understand
returningtotheiroldortheoriginalformofreligionratherthanconvertingtoanew
the range of causes and processes of Islamic conversion and convert
religion.
radicalization.
•
Researchsuggeststhereversionnarrativethatsomeconvertsconstructonly
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
becomespartofaconvert’sbiographicalreconstructionaftertheirencounterand
Reduce suspicion and prejudice surrounding converts by offering evidence-based
understanding of understanding of the causes and processes of Islamic conversion and
interactionwithadvocatesofIslam.Forexample,aMuslimproselytewilltella
in doing so, improving public knowledge
potentialconvertaboutthedoctrineoffitraasatechniquethatprovidesmeaning
Build a predictive statistical model to understand convert radicalization
andinfluencestheconverttoacceptthenewreligion.Thenreversionbecomespart
PROJECT TEAM
oftheconvert’snarrative.
Professor John Horgan (PI): Georgia State University
Dr. Scott Flower (Co-PI): Global Centre of Research and Engagement (GCORE)
Scott Kleinmann: Georgia State University
WouldUniversity
you like toofknow
more about our research project?
Dr. David Mallet:
Melbourne
Don’t
hesitate
to
get
in
touch
with
via any of the links below.
Dr. Gentry White: Queensland University
of us
Technology