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This thesis examines the religious experiences of American-born converts to Islam. The social nature of religion has been long ignored in research on the lives of religious people. A review of research on Muslim identities reveals an emphasis on immigrants, women, and youth in the British context. However, there is little to no research on the unique constituency of converts to Islam and the importance of social aspects of faith for establishing a sustainable and transformative practice of Islam. This research closes this gap through a case study of the religious experiences of American-born converts to Islam. Through in-depth interviews with converts and community leaders, and sustained engagement with the Cincinnati Muslim community, I examine the extent to which social interaction (understood as both site and process) shapes convert identities and their understanding of religious belief and practice. My research suggests that religion not only occupies a variety of everyday lived spaces for converts, but that Islam can be understood as a way of being in the world. Since understanding of religious belief and practice is multifaceted and diverse, I explore the influence of social interaction and community on converts’ spiritual modalities. I argue that spaces not deemed officially sacred (e.g. places of worship or pilgrimage sites) are just as influential in shaping the religious identities of converts, and help converts develop a religious way of being that is self-transformative and sustainable in the American context.

Conversion to Islam in the Ottoman Balkans initially followed a pattern similar to the one established by Bulliet for the regions incorporated in the course of the seventh and eighth centuries into the Islamic realm. By the early eighteenth century, close to forty percent of the Balkan population belonged to the Muslim community. However, Islamization came to a sudden halt in most of the Balkan lands in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. / I have sought an explanation for this phenomenon in kisve bahasi petitions, which reflect the unique economic and social conditions in the Ottoman Empire during the period 1670s--1730s. The transformation from religious syncretism to religious conservatism in the second part of the seventeenth century changed the nature of conversion by introducing ceremonies and documentation of conversion. I argue that the practice of granting kisve bahasi evolved into an institution of conversion, which substituted to a certain extent for the devsirme institution. For the socially weak, the kisve bahasi institution served as a form of social welfare. Conversion to Islam for the new Muslims converted through the kisve bahasi institution was, therefore, primarily a pragmatic rather than spiritual affair. I also argue that the process of conversion in the Balkans was cut short by a premature "laggards" stage in the period 1670s--1730s. This development, which points to the uniqueness of the process of conversion in the Balkans, may have been due to the rise of a more prosperous class of non-Muslims as a result of the Ottoman Empire's integration into the world economy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Ottawa, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 332-359).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 321-332).

Thesis (M.A.P.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [63]-64).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-120).

These (doctoral)--Université Marc Bloch, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [272]-280).

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Bergen, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [280]-293).