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Denna uppsats handlar muslimskt konvertering bland unga vuxna i Sverige. Syftet är att undersöka vilka påverkansfaktorer som ligger bakom förekomsten av denna typ av konvertering. Genom att intervjua fyra konvertiter undersöks olika upplevelser, tankar och händelser i deras liv som kan ha bidragit till deras konvertering. Dessutom undersöks tillgången till information som en av de främsta förutsättningarna till att tidigare sekulära personer som rört sig i icke-religiösa miljöer genomgår en sådan omfattande livsstilsförändring som konvertering innebär. Denna information kan i många fall härledas till islamistiska organisationer och rörelser som medvetet riktar sig till yngre personer som lever i icke-muslimska länder. Vidare finns det ett syfte att undersöka hur denna islamistiskt präglade information påverkar konvertiternas trosuppfattning och religionsutövning. Urvalet består av fyra personer som vuxit upp i sekulära omgivningar och därmed inte uppfostrats till praktiserande muslimer. Intervjupersonerna består av två män och två kvinnor i åldrarna 20 till 25, som på eget initiativ konverterat till islam i myndig ålder. Dessutom intervjuades en representant från en islamistisk organisation i Sverige. Syftet med denna intervju var att undersöka hur denna rörelse arbetar gällande spridning av information samt rekrytering av medlemmar. Resultatet visade att samtliga konvertiter som intervjuades hade upplevt svårigheter och trauman i livet som enligt dem ledde till konvertering till islam. Detta kan jämföras med de islamistiska organisationernas uttalade ambitioner att inspirera unga vuxna som på något sätt lever utanför samhället eller upplever svårigheter i livet. Samtliga konvertiter uppgav även att de främst utgått från information på internet och böcker som publicerats av islamistiska organisationer. De menade alla att konverteringen fungerat som en lösning på deras tidigare upplevda problem och svårigheter. / This essay deals with Islamic conversion among young adults in Sweden. The aim is to explore the influencing factors behind the occurrence of this type of conversion. By interviewing four converts, various experiences, thoughts and events in their lives that may have contributed to their conversion is explored. The availability of information as one of the main prerequisites for previous secular people who were raised in the non-religious environments to undergo such a major lifestyle change that conversion means is also explored in this essay. This information can often be traced to Islamic organizations and movements that are deliberately aimed at young people living in non-Muslim countries. Furthermore, there is a purpose to examine how this Islamist influenced information affects convert in their beliefs and religious practice. The sample consists of four people who have grown up in secular surroundings and thereby not brought up to be practicing Muslims. The respondents consist of two men and two women aged 20 to 25, who on their own initiative, converted to Islam after the age of 18. There were also an interview with a representative from an Islamic organization in Sweden. The purpose of this interview was to explore how this movement deals with the spreading of information and recruiting members. The results showed that all the converts who were interviewed had experienced difficulties and traumas in their life which according to themselves led to a conversion to Islam. This can be compared to the Islamist organizations' stated ambitions to inspire young adults who in some way live outside the community or are experiencing difficulties in life. All converts also reported that they received most of the information on the Internet and books published by Islamic organizations. All of them stated that the conversion worked as a solution to their previously experienced problems and difficulties.

The socio-religious history of Algeria is characterised by a series of identity crises, to which the end of 20th century's civil war represents the paroxysm. Since the suppression of the marabout instances in the 19th and 20th centuries, the population was never able to find the right role of religion in society. The "second war of Algeria" does not only represent the climax of a series of identity crises, but also the result, the consequence, of all the ones which preceded it. The 1980 decade, which had preceded the civil war, was propitious to the growth of social protest in Algeria. Like in most of the social crises that Algeria had known, Islam was then the main vehicle for social protest. / This thesis intends to bring out the historical elements which had led to the civil war opposing religious groups and the government. Through four periods of the Algerian Islamic history, we will attempt to understand the evolution of the Algerian religiosity. A link between these four periods emerges: the quest for the national identity, to which a particular attention will be given. The goal of this thesis is then to bring out the principal events of the Algerian Islamic history in order to understand how a personal and dogmatic Islam became an ideological and political Islam in the 1980's and 1990's. / Therefore, this thesis will focus on Islam as a mobilisation, protestation and resistance agent for the Algerian civil society. More precisely this thesis will analyse how and why the Algerian Islam has been "instrumentalised" either by the government and the religious leaders of the society.

A standard element of many news stories that mention Islam is the 'expert.' An expert contributes what is presented as objective knowledge about Islam to a news story. Through ostensibly objective statements, an expert plays a significant role in the representation of Islam. / In this thesis I theorize the concept of an 'expert on Islam' in news media and I confirm my theoretical positions through a content analysis of two Canadian newspapers' use of the expert on Islam; these two newspapers are The Globe and Mail and The National Post. / The thesis develops two arguments based on the results of the content analysis: first, the representation of Islam and expertise on Islam in news media has more to do with the preoccupations of Western culture than with Islam itself; second, there are distinct patterns in these representations that can contribute to an understanding of the role of the 'expert' in relations of power.

This thesis will examine the role of Islamist political parties and what effect their interpretation of national identity has played in dividing the people of Sudan, resulting in two civil wars. It will examine the manifestations and interpretations of Islam and pan-Arabism among the various Islamist parties of Northern Sudan, exploring the ethnic and religious factors which influence Islamist political groups, as well as their social bases which are tied to economics, language, and the conception of a distinctly "Arab" or "African" culture. This thesis will argue that the predominance of these Islamist political parties in the Sudanese government combined with the lack of a Sudanese identity and historical factors have combined to prevent the consolidation of state power, leading to situations of protracted conflict. The imposition, or attempted imposition, of an Islamic identity on the state as a whole prevents unity as it necessarily excludes certain parts of the population as well as disenfranchising those who, whilst they might be Muslim, do not subscribe to the same interpretation of Islamic identity.

Most modern studies have portrayed the Mamluk period as that in which the Christian population of the Mamluk empire reached its demise. Two reasons are most often given for this situatoon: 1) the effect of the Crusades in arousing anti-Chrtstian sentiment and 2) the Mongol invasions to which several Christian powers gave active assistance. This study which is limited to the contemporary and later Arabic chronicles and which examines the reign of Qala'un as a case study for the Mamluk period, indicates that contrary to this view, no correlation exists between these two historical factors and the treatment of Christians in the Mamluk period during the relgn of Qala'un. In fact, the situation of the indigenous Christians seems to have been relatively stable. Those measures which were instituted were taken against a particular category of Christians, not against the populatlon as a whole. Not only do the Mamluks of this period seem to have distinguished between various Christian parties in their treatment of them, but a variety of opinion concerning Christians seems to have existed among various elements of the Muslim population as well. Furthermore, Mamluk policy at this period toward foreign Christian powers does not seem to have been motivated by purely religious considerations. Thus, our views concerning the Mamluk period must be revised to recognlze that, although the Mamluk period was certalnly a period of decline for Christianity, it should, nevertheless, not be described uniformly as being one of disaster for the Christian community.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, Faculty of Arts, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 463-491).

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007. / Thesis Advisor(s): Malley, Michael. "December 2007." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Apr 11, 2008). AD-A475 759. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-75). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Univ., Diss.--Mainz, 1999.