In this thesis, women who identify as both queer and Muslims living in North America tell their stories of family, religion, and home. These immigrants and first generation Westerners describe their identities in an effort to acknowledge the difficulties that can accompany being both Muslim in the diaspora in a time when religious and political tensions are aimed at the Middle East. While each has a unique life history, the participants represented here challenge assumptions about the "inherent" contradictions that are assume to exist for those who are both Muslim and queer due to constructions of Islam as sexually and socially conservative. They also offer insight into the usefulness of the current international LGBTQ movement for Muslim lesbians. Using the in-depth interviews from eight women, as well as several first-person published narratives, the aim of this research is to explore how each of these individuals to experience their identities in the diaspora.

Discursive psychology was used to analyze constructions of Canadian Muslim identities in the Canadian mainstream daily press. News and opinion discourse from a six-month period (November 1, 2008 - April 30, 2009) was examined. Whereas previous research has typically focused on negative news coverage, I examined the full range of identity portrayals of Canadian Muslims available in the daily press. Not unexpectedly, the most overtly negative identity constructions of Canadian Muslims were found in coverage of terrorism trials. In that coverage, the accused were typically worked up as endorsing an extreme interpretation of Islam. These extreme descriptions of the accused may suggest a particularized and therefore non-representative Muslim identity. Negative identity was also constructed in articles that reported on Canadian Muslims’ interactions with the legal and immigration systems: the behaviours of some Canadian Muslims (e.g., polygamy) were formulated as a threat to mainstream Canadian social values. The coverage also dealt with the issue of discrimination against Canadian Muslims. The case for discrimination was accomplished via comparison (e.g., government treatment of Muslim versus non-Muslim Canadians). However, in some coverage, Canadian Muslims were indirectly and subtly portrayed as possibly deserving of discriminatory treatment. Canadian Muslims were favourably portrayed when they: 1) upheld mainstream Canadian social values, 2) had a sense of humour about their Muslim identity, and 3) educated non-Muslim Canadians about Islam. However, favourable identity constructions of Canadian Muslims were often accompanied by background information that negatively portrayed Muslims in general. This juxtaposition of positive representations of individual Canadian Muslims with negative general information about Muslims and Islam may have subtly suggested that good Muslims are an exception rather than the norm. Overall, it was found that Canadian press coverage offers a fuller picture of Canadian Muslim identity than elsewhere (e.g., the U.S. and the U.K.). However, Sampson’s (1993) distinction between accommodative and transformative voice suggests that this picture is still incomplete. Several possibilities for improvement are suggested; for example, the press’s reliance on ready-made news (e.g., staged events) may provide opportunities to increase favourable identity portrayals of Canadian Muslims.

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The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the topoi found in various writings on the Indian subcontinent, which depict Muslim mystics, the Sufis, as responsible for the conversion, forced or peaceful, of non-Muslim Indians to Islam. Our analysis of various historiographical traditions produced in the Subcontinent between the eleventh and the twentieth centuries, will show that this image of Sufis qua missionaries is more the result of socio-political considerations (legitimization of imperial order; posthumous images of Sufis in the eyes of different folk audiences, etc.) than the reflection of historical reality. This thesis also examines the processes, most of them indirect, in which Sufis were involved and which on the long run led to the acculturation and to the Islamization of certain non-Muslim groups, thus opening the way for the birth and then consolidation of a Muslim identity.

This study presents the complex situation of non-Muslim (Christian and Hindu) / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

The aim of this study is to examine new interpretations of homosexuality in Islam based on Scott Kugle’s book “Homosexuality in Islam” and the documentary “A Jihad for love” by Parvez Sharma. Through a theological perspective, a critical analysis is performed in order to find new interpretations and compare them with each other and with the Islamic legal tradition. Argumentative analysis is also used for both the book and the documentary for this essay.     Both Kugle and Sharma use new interpretations and arguments about love to find space for homosexuality in Islam. They use a Muslim language to have relevance with their discussions to Muslim readers and viewers. It is obvious that Sharma is aware of the scenes and arguments he chose to show in the documentary. Kugle focuses on unclear verses in the Qur’an, which contribute to that he could find possibilities to interpret homosexuals in the verses to fulfill his purpose and open up a topic for discussion. Their discussion show what Muslim homosexuals have to struggle with and with their new interpretations they both discover ways to find reconciliation between Islam and people’s sexual orientation by questioning the normative society.

This study is based on a comparative qualitative analysis of religion textbooks in elementary schools. The aim is to investigate how Muslim women have been represented in religion textbooks used as educational material in Swedish schools, between the 1970s and the 2000s. This study rests on the social constructivist theory which implies that reality is what we make it. In order to do a comparative qualitative analysis, three deductive stereotypes have been applied: the oppressed, the submissive and the uneducated. However, an additional, inductive stereotype was identified during the analysis of the material: the independent. The text analysis showed that Muslim women were mostly represented as oppressed and submissive, having no right to their own opinions, lives or bodies and simply needing to be covered to get accepted by the Muslim society. However, it was also possible to conclude that similar representations of Muslim women could be found in textbooks from the 1970s and 2000s.

This thesis examines the social role of the Indonesian women's organization known as `Aisyiyah, the female wing of the reformist group the Muhammadiyah, founded in 1912. This is achieved by analyzing the development of the organization vis a vis other Muslim women's organizations. It looks at the activities of `Aisyiyah during the period extending from its birth in 1917 until the late New Order era of the 1990s, with close reference to other women's organizations. / A comparison of the activities of `Aisyiyah with those of other women's organizations, and an analysis of the response of this organization towards such issues as polygamy, is also an important feature of this work. While there was much common purpose, still, inevitable differences in perspective, even disharmony developed between `Aisyiyah and other women's groups. This was due in many respects to its determination to maintain its identity as a Muslim women's organization, while it at the same time faced certain limitations by virtue of its being a part of the Muhammadiyah. In general, however, `Aisyiyah is no different from other women's organizations in Indonesia, all of which have tried to represent women's interests and have struggled for their enhancement, while at the same time being faced with the challenges posed by a constantly changing political situation.

This thesis deals with the political participation of Muslim women since the colonial period into the New Order period. It is a study of the Indonesian women's movement in its different trends: the roles of women in gaining and defending Indonesian independence as well as in Indonesia's politics in the Liberal Democracy, Guided Democracy, and New Order periods. It investigates the reasons for the relatively limited participation of women in politics. This low level of political participation is indicated by the ratio of women membership in the House of People's Representatives (DPR, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat), in the Consultative Assembly (MPR, Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat), and in the central boards of political organizations. This thesis also focuses on the political career and discourse of Aisyah Aminy, and examines her involvement as a case study. The prominence of Aisyah Aminy lies in her ability to transcend the barriers which usually obstruct Muslim women from getting involved in politics.

Since the 1980s, nearly 5000 Arab and Muslim refugees have been resettled in New Zealand (RefNZ, 2007) as a result of political instability and wars that have riddled the Arabic-speaking region. Upon arrival in a resettlement country, refugees face many challenges in adjusting to their new environment (Simich et al., 2006; Valtonen, 1998). Arab Muslim refugees have specific concerns that are different to other refugee groups due to the major role Islam plays in the way Muslim people go about their lives, and due to the controversial image of Muslims in Western countries since the September 11th (USA) and July 7th (London) bombings. To date, relatively little attention has been paid to the various ongoing resettlement issues that these refugees deal with. This research attempts to fill in some of these gaps by addressing the resettlement experiences of Arab Muslim refugees in New Zealand. It is expected that this research will assist the policy making and migrant services sector (a) to understand the refugees' lived realities; (b) to confront the stereotypes associated with refugees in general, and the stereotypes associated with Arab Muslim refugees in particular; and (c) to address the issues and challenges faced by Arab Muslim refugees. The significance of this research is located in its potential to influence policy and practice in the fields of refugee resettlement, immigration, and counselling. In addition, this study will contribute to knowledge about Arab Muslim refugees, especially those living in New Zealand. Recently, studies in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology on refugees and refugee resettlement have found that non-Western refugees experience a variety of resettlement and adjustment challenges when settling in Western societies. However, intensive research is needed on refugees' perspectives on their refugee journey, their resilience during resettlement, and the experiences that accompany the refugee journey. A deepened understanding of the phenomenon of the refugee journey may contribute to the development of appropriate support for refugees and foster welcoming host societies. It is therefore anticipated that this study of the refugee experiences of Arab Muslims will add to existing research on refugee resettlement and in particular Arab Muslim refugees in Western societies. Semi-structured, face to face interviews were conducted with 31 male and female Arabic-speaking Muslim refugees from Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Kuwait, and Tunisia. The participants had been "resettled" in New Zealand for at least six months and up to eleven years. Most of the interviews were conducted in Arabic and then translated to English. The interviews were analysed using an eclectic approach including thematic analysis with elements of life story narratives. The findings that emerged from this research suggest that whatever the national and ethnic background of the refugee, there are common key issues and themes relating to the refugee journey and the challenges experienced by refugees during their resettlement. The interviews revealed participants' experiences of their lives as refugees, which were described in three separate stages that I have termed the "three legs of the refugee journey." The first leg of the refugee journey included the refugees' pre-migration experience: reasons for fleeing their homelands, becoming a refugee, and the impact of the refugee label on their lives in their resettlement country. The second leg of the refugee journey involved their experiences in adjusting to their 'new' lives after leaving Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre (MRRC): their experiences with several resettlement agencies in NZ, their unforeseen resettlement challenges such as language barriers, unemployment, and their concern over raising their children in a non-Muslim society. The third leg uncovered the experiences participants went through after one year of their initial resettlement, and also explored methods of coping and resilience that participants used to overcome their ongoing resettlement challenges and mental health concerns, and their perspective on New Zealand as a resettlement country. This leg also included the participants' future aspirations and their long-term resettlement plans. Overall, participants were unprepared for the situation that faced them when they arrived in New Zealand. Their experience in the six weeks at the resettlement centre was disappointing for all of them and traumatic for some. Participants did not feel that they were equipped with "survival skills" for dealing with life outside the centre. All participants expressed that they had difficulties adjusting to their new life in New Zealand. In general, women found adjustment more difficult than men. Some participants expressed gratitude to New Zealand for accepting them as refugees. A minority were happy to remain in New Zealand, the majority were reluctant about staying, and a small number intended to return to their homeland or other Arab Muslim countries as soon as they could. It is significant that for the participants in this study, their identity as a refugee had an overwhelming impact on the way they talked about their lives. Participants had the perception that being labelled as refugees was a factor that alienated them from New Zealand society. Also, being Arab and Muslim as well as a refugee was seen as an additional disadvantage for resettlement opportunities in New Zealand and other Western countries. While Arab Muslim refugees share many of the concerns of other refugees, there are particular issues, including the challenge of maintaining their religious and cultural traditions, which they experienced as being in conflict with resettling in a Western country. Despite the fact that New Zealand has a long history in assisting in the resettlement of refugees, this research reinforces previous research in New Zealand which points to the inadequacies of the resettlement experience for refugees during all three legs of the refugee journey. The thesis therefore concludes with recommendations for improving refugee policies and services.