This research examined the lived experiences of an Afghan Muslim male participant group. This study explored their immigration from a Southwest-Asian, highly non-secular society to a Western-style, liberal, secular nation-state. Further, this research was an examination of Muslim male identity as an attribute that is closely related to lived experiences, environment and cultural assimilation. Also, this study looked closely at the meanings that this Afghan Muslim male immigrant group attached to identity, as well as exploring their unique narratives during pre-immigration and post-immigration periods. This qualitative research study used narrative methods to unearth the lived experiences of five Afghan Muslim male citizens. These participants immigrated to the U.S. while serving as interpreters and translators for the coalition forces during the Afghanistan War between 2003 and 2012. Several researchers have examined Muslim immigration from Eastern to Western nations, focusing on their adaptation, assimilation, and developmental patterns. The research objective of this study was slightly different and important to social science in that it focused on how a select group of Afghan Muslim males conceptualized their own sense of identity and how their notion of identity was shaped and influenced by their own pre- and post-migration experiences. To this end, the discoveries in this study revealed that the nature of the identities for many in this study may be deemed more blended and in some instances renegotiated, holding onto parts of their core native identities while embracing aspects of the cultural, ethnic, and social elements of their new host land that fit within their own individual frame of reference.

台灣與其中華文化並不像伊斯蘭人民將回教有很強的宗教關聯性。然而歷史上回教和穆斯林在中華的歷史中扮演著一個重要的角色。從1990年代初期，從東南亞有一批勞動者移民來到台灣，並在當地工作。近期，印尼籍的工作者已達到20萬人，他們成為台灣外籍工作者中數量最大的一群。在這當中，絕大部分的印尼籍勞動者都是穆斯林。為了保留自己的身分認同與文化，這群身在台灣的印尼籍穆斯林竟而形成了以宗教為主的許多社群，並因應在地差異與台灣的華人穆斯林進行社會適應上的交流與互動。 此篇研究的目的在於為台灣的回教與穆斯林研究踏出第一步，尤其是印尼穆斯林與當地的華人穆斯林如何進行社會適應，以及在台灣這樣一個異地環境，身為少數族群的他們如何保有自己的身分認同。此研究採用質性研究方法進行資料蒐集，並以集中性的田野調查中第一手資料的蒐集與觀察進行文獻探討，這些調查資料來自臺北、桃園、中壢、台中以及高雄等地。 此研究發現印尼籍穆斯林聚集並在台灣形成特定的印尼穆斯林組織，並與華人穆斯林有著積極互動，形成他們社會適應過程中的一環。然而，由於文化背景的差異，這些印尼穆斯林社群更需要改變他們社會中的生活習慣以因應在台灣的生活。 / Taiwan and its Chinese culture is not associated with Islam as religion and Muslim people. However, historically Islam and Muslim play an important role in Chinese history. Starting in early 1990s, there was a growing number of immigrant worker, mainly from South East Asian countries to Taiwan to work in informal sector. Currently Indonesian numbered 200,000, and become the biggest in terms of foreign workers in Taiwan. Majority of these Indonesian workers are Muslim. In order to preserve their identity and cultural life, the Indonesian Muslim in Taiwan formed various religious-based community, do a social adaptation with their environment and interact with Chinese Muslim in Taiwan. The objective of this study is to initiate the study of Islam and Muslim development in Taiwan, specifically how the social adaptation of Indonesian Muslim with Chinese Muslim in Taiwan, as well as how they preserve their identity as ethnic minority in Taiwan. Qualitative approach on data collection was undertaken, using literature review followed by collecting primary sources from intensive field research and observation in Taipei, Taoyuan, Chungli, Taichung and Kaohsiung. It’s found that Indonesian Muslim gathered and formed some Indonesian Muslim organizations in Taiwan, and they actively interact with Chinese Muslim as the part of their social adaptation. However, due to some differences in cultural background, those Indonesian Muslim communities need to adapt their habit and social life in Taiwan.

Dans l’histoire religieuse des États-Unis, la féminisation des dénominations protestantes a constitué un processus long et progressif. Cette féminisation a été caractérisée par la participation croissante des femmes dans les institutions religieuses, en tant que fidèles mais aussi en tant que leaders religieux. Bien que l’islam soit considéré comme une religion minoritaire récemment transplantée aux États-Unis, des indices tendent à montrer qu’à l’instar d’autres religions transplantées dans ce pays, comme le judaïsme réformé et le bouddhisme, les institutions islamo-américaines connaissent un processus de féminisation. L’émergence d’une théologie féministe islamique depuis les années 1970, communément appelée « féminisme islamique », et le développement d’un militantisme de terrain, plus particulièrement depuis les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, ont contribué à la féminisation de l’islam. Les militantes musulmanes américaines revendiquent une visibilité dans l’espace public et dans le champ religieux islamo-américain. Quels sont leurs revendications, leurs défis et leurs stratégies ? Quels sont les facteurs internes et externes qui ont conduit à la visibilité croissante des femmes et la focalisation autour de la problématique féminine au sein de l’islam américain ? Comment, de façon concrète, la participation croissante des femmes transforme-t-elle les institutions islamo-américaines, les croyances et les pratiques ? Voici certaines des questions que nous soulevons dans notre thèse. Les résultats sont notamment basés sur une étude qualitative exploratoire (entretiens semi-directif et observations participantes). Nous mobilisons également les données d’une étude quantitative sur l’inclusion des femmes au sein de l’espace cultuel publiée en 2013, afin de mettre l’accent sur les transformations du champ religieux islamo-américain. / In American religious history, the feminization of Protestant denominations has been a long and gradual process. This feminization has been characterized by the increasing participation of women within religious institutions, not only as worshippers but also as religious leaders. Although Islam is considered to be a newly transplanted minority religion in the United-States, there are indicators revealing that, like many other transplanted religions in the United States, such as Reform Judaïsm and Buddhism, Muslim religious institutions are undergoing a process of feminization. These indicators have included the development of an Islamic feminist theology since the 1970s onwards, commonly called "Islamic feminism", and the emergence of a religious grass-root activism, more significantly since the 9/11 attacks. American Muslim women activists claim visibility in the public sphere and within the US Islamic religious landscape. What are their demands, challenges and strategies ? What are the internal and external factors that have led up to the growing visibility of women and women's issues in American Islam ? How specifically has the increased role of women affected American-Islamic institutions, beliefs or practices ? Those are some of the questions we raise in our thesisThe results are based on a fieldwork (semi-directive interviews and participant observation). We also use the data of a report on the inclusion of women within the American mosque published in 2013. The transformations linked to the increasing women’s participation in the mosque are emphasized.

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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Impressions and perceptions about Islām, particularly in a world where much of what is known about Islām has emerged from after the tragic devastation of the Twin Towers in New York, are creating huge challenges for Muslims wherever they may find themselves. Women as the more visible believers in Islām are, what I believe, at the forefront of the growing skepticism surrounding Islām. And central to the modern day debates and suspicious regard meted out to Muslim women today is her hijāb (head-scarf). Ironically, it would appear that the same amount of detail and attention that Islamic scholars have devoted to the role of women in Islām and how they are expected to conduct themselves is now at the centre of the modern day debates and suspicious regard. Yet, the debates seldom move beyond what is obviously visible, and so little is known about what has given shape to Muslim women’s being, and how their understanding of Islām has led them to practise their religion in a particular way. This dissertation is premised on the assertion that in order to understand the role of Muslim women in a cosmopolitan society, you need to understand Islām and Islamic education. It sets out to examine and explore as to whether there is commensurability or not between Muslim women and the notion of cosmopolitanism, and what then the implications would be for democratic citizenship education and Islamic education. One of the main findings of the dissertation is that the intent to understand Muslim women’s education and the rationales of their educational contexts and practices opens itself to a plurality of interpretations that reflects the pluralism of understanding constitutive of the practices of Islam both within and outside of cosmopolitanism. Another is that inasmusch as Muslim women have been influenced by living and interacting in a cosmopolitan society, cosmopolitanism has been shaped and shifted by Muslim women. By examining the concepts of knowledge and education in Islām, and exploring the gaps between interpretations of Islam and Qur’anic exegesis, I hope to demystify many of the (mis)perceptions associated with Muslim women, and ultimately with Islām. And finally, by examining how Islamic education can inform a renewed cosmopolitanism, and by looking at how democratic citizenship education can shape a renewed Islamic education, the eventual purpose of this dissertation is to find a way towards peaceful co-existence.

The master thesis named The Transformation of Presentation of the Middle East Population in Post-9/11 American Films aims to closely analyze eight chosen mainstream American films with the help of the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The plot of the observed films has to be placed in the Middle East, picture terrorism or contain the Arabs or Muslims as characters. On the basis of a wide range of criteria and the final comparison, the thesis focuses on the comparison of the Hollywood movies which were created before and after the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001. The theoretical chapters are dedicated to the introduction of the social construction of reality, stereotyping and one-dimensional description of the Arabs in Hollywood films and mainly to the deep introduction of West and Islamic culture, not only from the historic but also cultural and valuable point of view. The applied methodology follows after. The detailed analysis of the chosen films is accompanied by photographs and excerpts directly from the films to help readers to understand the differences as much as possible. This part is followed by the final evaluation of the analysis on the basis of the comparison of the observed criteria. The hypothesis is confirmed at the end but there are also some other important...

Muslim family members constitute a significant migration flow to the UK (Kofman et al., 2013). Despite such observations, this form of mobility is under-explored in geographic scholarship on migration. Accordingly, this thesis examines the subjective experiences of migration of a small group of Muslim women, who migrated either with or to join their families in Scotland. Participant observation, focus groups and the life narratives of eight women are used to gain an in-depth understanding of both the reasons for and the consequences of migration for this group of Muslim women. In addition, this thesis examines the role of a secular community-based organisation in supporting migrants in their everyday lives. Drawing on conceptual approaches to migration, this study reveals diverse and complex motivations among participants in “choosing” to migrate. Far from “victims” or “trailing wives”, participants privileged their children's needs but also the possibility to transform their sense of self through migration. The study draws attention to the struggles of daily life in Scotland where, bereft of extended family, the synchronisation of migration with childbirth resulted in some participants enduring years of isolation. Such struggles resulted in changes in the home, with husbands providing both physical and emotional support. The experience of migration affected the women's religious identities, providing solace as well as a way to assert belonging in Scotland by drawing on Islamic theology. The community-based organisation provided a “safe space”, bridging the secular and non-secular and offering women the chance to socialise, learn and volunteer. The study shows that volunteering provided not only a way into paid work but also shaped women's subjectivities and home lives. However, the re-direction of national government funding towards “Muslim problems” threatens to undermine the organisation's ability to continue to meet the local needs of Muslim migrant women.

Esta tese apresenta elementos da simbólica religiosa islâmica, observados junto às comunidades muçulmanas das cidades de São Paulo e de São Bernardo do Campo, através da etnografia de suas festas - Desjejum e Sacrifício - e da oração obrigatória das sextas-feiras. Fundamenta-se, ainda, na análise de entrevistas, presenciais ou via Orkut e MSN, e na produção de vídeos e fotografias que interagem diretamente com o conteúdo aqui apresentado.Com apoio na teoria da performance, busca-se responder à seguinte questão: qual o sentido de ser muçulmano? Consideramos que o ethos muçulmano se expressa na recitação da palavra sagrada, sendo a noção de comportamento restaurado, proposta por Richard Schechner (1985), adequada à compreensão de uma religiosidade que se efetiva pela prática diária da oração, manifesta-se no comportamento e constitui performance. A Antropologia da Performance percorre a tese, especialmente como ferramenta de análise de diversas performances - dos muçulmanos (reversos ou de nascimento), do sheik e da própria pesquisadora -, em momentos de festas ou de oração. Nestes contextos foi possível apreender as redes que as constituem - o modo de ser \"correto\" e as formas negociadas de apropriação da religião -, estabelecendo-se, ainda, os significados do jejum do mês do Ramadã, da matança dos carneiros, da recitação do Alcorão, da construção do corpo feminino e da (re)elaboração dos sentidos que perpassam a religião.A conclusão a que chegamos, após nove anos de pesquisa (somando o período do mestrado com o doutorado), é de que, para o ser muçulmano, a vivência do Islã é uma entrega total a Deus, na qual se articulam, pela oração, não apenas as palavras, as ações e os gestos que a acompanham, mas também o corpo e os sentidos. Prostrar-se na oração é, sobretudo, um sinal de entrega, não só dos pensamentos, das palavras e do coração, mas do corpo e do espírito. / This thesis presents elements of Islamic religious symbolism observed among the Muslim communities of São Paulo and São Bernardo dos Campos. Research material is largely drawn from an ethnography of festivals - sacrifice and the breaking of fast - and Friday mandatory prayer. The thesis is also based upon the analysis of interviews, carried out in the presence of the researcher or by means of Orkut and MSN, and the production of videos and photographs that interact directly with the written text. In accordance with performance theory, an attempt is made to answer the following question: what is the meaning of being a muslim? We consider that the muslim ethos expresses itself in the recitation of the sacred word. The notion of restored behavior, proposed by Richard Schechner (1985), is particularly helpful for understanding a religious experience that becomes effective in daily prayer, and expresses itself through behavior, as performance. The Anthropology of Performance is used throughout the thesis, especially as a tool to analyze various performances - of muslims (by birth or conversion), of the sheik and of the researcher herself, during festivals and prayers. It was possible, in such contexts, to apprehend networks that constitute these performances - as expressions of \"appropriate\" behavior and negotiated forms of embodying religious experience. Also, it was possible to determine the manner in which meaning was attributed to Ramadan fasting, killing of lambs, Koranic recitations, and construction of the feminine body. Furthermore, attention is given to ways in which religious meaning is (re)elaborated.After nine years of research, at both master and doctoral levels, we have come to the conclusion that, for the Muslim, Islam involves an experience of complete surrender to God, as revealed in prayer, not only through words, actions, and gestures, but, also, through the very body and bodily senses. To prostrate oneself in prayer is a sign of surrender not only in word and thought, but, also, in body and soul.

A pesquisa proposta aqui tem como objeto de estudo o feminismo islâmico, movimento político-religioso de luta contra a opressão e a dominação sobre a população de mulheres, presente em países muçulmanos e em diásporas muçulmanas. Concebido aqui lato sensu como uma atuação feminista associada à reinterpretação das fontes religiosas do Islã, baseado nos conceitos islâmicos de ijtihad (interpretação racional das fontes religiosas) e de tafsir (comentários sobre o Alcorão), para repensar a posição da mulher na sociedade muçulmana. A hipótese que conduz a presente investigação é a de que o feminismo islâmico pode ser pensado a partir de três eixos constitutivos, interligados entre si: 1) a separação em duas vertentes, de um lado, um ativismo religioso, auto-definido como jihad de gênero, cujas reivindicações parecem sobrepor o Islã aos direitos das mulheres, e, de outro, um ativismo político, definido como defensor dos direitos humanos internacionais, cujas reivindicações são no sentido de aplicar ao Islã os direitos das mulheres; 2) a ideia de continuidade, no sentido de eliminar qualquer visão maniqueísta sobre as duas tendências, estabelecendo aqui um contínuo entre elas em que suas narrativas e atuações circulam de um extremo ao outro, de um lado dos extremos, aproximam-se de uma narrativa islamista e de, outro lado dos extremos, aproximamse de parâmetros discursivos do feminismo secular; e, 3) as forças em disputa, atualmente há três principais forças em disputa no âmbito dos movimentos sociais de mulheres em países muçulmanos e diásporas, considerando a realidade fora dos conflitos armados: os movimentos feministas seculares, o movimento islamista de mulheres (esses dois tipos de movimentos com origens nos anos 20, no Egito) e o feminismo islâmico (de origem, nos anos 80, desterritorializada e transnacional). Este estudo parte de dois pressupostos: primeiro, o de que os movimentos feministas em países muçulmanos não estão isolados do contexto internacional, os seus desenvolvimentos acompanham as tensões dos movimentos feministas internacionais, sendo expressões da internacionalização dos movimentos feministas seculares e, depois, de hibridações culturais e movimentos identitários pós-coloniais; e, segundo, o de que o feminismo islâmico, com as suas características específicas político-religiosas, tencionado entre o reformismo e o conservadorismo, é em sua essência um movimento relativista religioso, ao se dirigir exclusivamente às mulheres muçulmanas. Assim, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa é o de compreender quais as contribuições desse feminismo islâmico para a transformação da vida da mulher muçulmana, considerando duas questões centrais: a) como se pode compreender a relação do feminismo islâmico com os movimentos islamistas? e b) em que medida o caráter religioso do feminismo islâmico pode ser o limitador (ou extensor) de seu caráter feminista? Para tal, será feita uma abordagem dos seguintes recortes temáticos, que inicialmente parecem abarcar grande parte dos aspectos mais evidentes do objeto de estudo, na perspectiva proposta aqui: 1) o feminismo secular de origem ocidental e seus desdobramentos no mundo muçulmano, entre a secularização e a reislamização; 2) as afinidades passadas e presentes do feminismo islâmico com a ideologia, o movimento e o modelo islamista; e 3) o grau de persuasão em que o feminismo islâmico pode estar intervindo na consciência e na prática social, considerando suas contradições. / The subject of study of this paper, Islamic feminism, is a political-religious movement struggling against the oppression and domination of the population of women in Muslim countries and in Muslim diasporas. It is understood here, in the wider sense, as a feminist movement associated with the reinterpretation of the religious sources of Islam, based on the Islamic concepts of ijtihad (rational interpretation of religious sources) and tafsir (interpretations of the Koran), to rethink the position of women in Muslim society. The hypothesis underpinning the present study is that Islamic feminism can be thought of as having three interconnected constituent axes: 1) a separation in two distinct tendencies; on the one hand, religious activism, self-defined as a \"gender jihad\", whose grievances seem to superimpose Islam on women\'s rights, and, on the other hand, political activism, defined as defending international human rights, whose demands seek to apply Islam to women\'s rights; 2) the idea of continuity, in the sense of eliminating any Manichean view of the two aforementioned tendencies, establishing a continuum between the two in which their narratives and actions move from one extreme to the other; at one extreme, approaching an Islamist narrative and, at the other extreme, the discursive parameters of secular feminism; and 3) the forces in disputes; of which we can discern three current main forces in dispute within the social movements of women in Muslim countries and diasporas, taking into consideration the reality outside of the armed conflicts: Secular Feminist movements, the Islamist women\'s movement (these two movements have their origins in Egypt in the 1920s) and Islamic feminism (originating in the 1980s and characterized as de-territorialized and transnational). This study is based on two assumptions: first, that feminist movements in Muslim countries are not isolated from the international context, their developments accompany the struggles of the international feminist movements, being expressions of the internationalization of secular feminist movements and, later, of cultural hybridizations and post-colonial identity movements; and, second, that Islamic feminism, with its specific religious-political characteristics, exists in a state of tension between reformism and conservatism, and is essentially a relativistic religious movement, in that it is addressed exclusively to Muslim women. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to understand the role of Islamic feminism in the transformation of the lives of Muslim women, taking into consideration two central questions: a) how can we understand the relation between Islamic feminism and Islamist movements? and b) to what extent can the religious elements of Islamic feminism be the constraint (or expansion) of its feminist characteristics? To this end, we will address the following themes, which initially seem to cover a large part of the most obvious aspects of the object of study, within the perspective proposed here: 1) secular feminism of \"Western origin\" and its developments in the Muslim world, between secularization and re-Islamization; 2) the past and present affinities of Islamic feminism with Islamist ideology, the Islamist movement and its model; and (3) the degree of influence that Islamic feminism may have on social consciousness and practices, taking into account its contradictions.

Depuis la création des Sœurs Musulmanes, le chapitre féminin des Frères Musulmans en Égypte, le rôle que l’organisation a accordé aux femmes a changé plusieurs fois. Pendant certaines périodes, les militantes ont été inclues dans les activités politiques de l’organisation, alors que pendant d’autres périodes, elles étaient forcées de s’occuper de différentes activités d’aide sociale au près de la population. Ce mémoire essaie d’expliquer les raisons qui expliquent les différents changements dans le niveau d’inclusion ou d’exclusion des militantes dans les Frères Musulmans. Cette étude utilise trois périodes pour illustrer ces différents changements : 1952-1967 (inclusion), 1970-1984 (exclusion) and 1984-2005 (inclusion). Cette recherche conclue que, pendant des périodes où la survie des Frères Musulmans est remise en question, l’organisation sera forcée d’inclure les militantes dans leurs activités. Chaque changement dans l’inclusion des femmes est aussi marqué par un changement du contexte politique et des relations avec le gouvernement. Ces changements ne sont donc pas des produits de changement idéologique de l’organisation, mais plutôt causés par des raisons rationnelles. / Since the creation of the Muslim Sisters, the female chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the role that the organization gave women has been shifting. At times, female militants were included within the political activities of the organization, while during others; they were relegated to a role of care provider in various charity tasks. The thesis at hand attempts to explain the causes for those shifts in the level of inclusion and exclusion of female militants within the Muslim Brotherhood. For that purpose, this study will tackle three different periods: 1952-1967 (inclusion), 1970-1984 (exclusion) and 1984-2005 (inclusion). The research concludes that in periods where the survival of the Muslim Brotherhood is at risk, they will be forced to include female militants in their activities. Each change in the inclusion of women is also marked by a change in the political context and the relations with the government. Therefore these changes, rather than being ideological changes, are caused by rational concerns of the Muslim Brotherhood.