In the western world, Islam has been interpreted based on stereotypes of muslims. The stereotype image leads to the fact that many Muslims in Sweden today are forced to face Islamophobia and preconceptions about Islam's meaning. To enhance the image of Islam, lived religion as field of research is useful as it opens the opportunity to study people's lived experiences of religious traditions beyond religious institutions and doctrines. The field can show how religious traditions are expressed in people's everyday lives by lifting the voices of individuals which are not otherwise noted. Lived Islam is thus an area that highlights Muslims' living experiences of Islam in their daily lives. In this essay, lived Islam is studied as it may occur among individuals who define themselves as women and Muslims in Karlstad, Sweden. The aim is to enhance the image of Islam and raise female experiences of Islam. This will broaden the already existing research spectra that usually takes an androcentric perspective. The women's experiences are investigated through life stories interviews. Based on a material perspective on religion, the paper examines how Islam is manifested and expressed through material practices, objects, and different phenomena in the women’s everyday life. The result shows that Islam is described as a framework of how life is interpreted and expected to be lived. Islam is expressed in form of material practices like for example regular prayers, but also as an approach to the outside world. Lived Islam in Karlstad, as it can be expressed among individuals who define themselves as women and Muslims can be said to mean a perspective that encompasses all content in life. The Muslim women in the paper are positive about their life’s in Karlstad, but some elements can also complicate everyday life, such as meetings with preconceptions about Islam and the Muslim woman.

This essay examines the perspective of lived Islam. This is based on a qualitative content analysis and an image analysis of a selection of teaching materials for religous education in upper secondary schools in Sweden. The theoretical basis of the essay is the seven dimensions of lived religion presented by Enstedt and Planck and Jackson's interpretive approach. The 20th century globalization and influx of refugees has been a deciding factor in making Islam the second-largest religion in Sweden, which means that Muslims are no longer seen as residents in a place far away from Swedish society but as an integral part of it. Previous research has shown that teaching materials are frequently used in teaching, and many students feel that there is a discrepancy concerning the religion they face in the school subject to religious education with the religion they practice themselves. The result shows that the selected material adresses several aspects of lived religion, but that lived Islam is more complicated than it seems. This is because there is a great variation of Islam around the world and within countries. In other words, it is difficult to improve the presentation of lived religion without impairing understanding elsewhere. For example, a textbook can fulfill all aspects of lived religion, but only show a specific way of living. In other words, does a good presentation of the conservative Baptist church in the United States of America not neccesarily match the lived religion of a liberal Christians in Europe or Africa. Similarly, the picture of Islam does not match the variety that exists both nationally and internationally.The presence of lived Islam can be identified in the selected sample of textbooks. However, an improvment is needed, and more specifically, all textbooks should highlight more people who present and represent their way of life based on the religion in question. This is because previous research shows great variation within Islam depending on everything from the country one lives in, the laws that exist there, their family, social circle and the individual himself. The question is, on the other hand, how to achieve this without losing the interest of the pupils by creating too comprehensive books, which in turn also means that they will not be able to spend as much time on the other religions or the subject of religion in general.