With Islamophobia on the rise in Canada, it may reasonably be expected that social work,
a seemingly care-oriented profession, would have effective support readily available for
the Muslim community. However, rather than the Muslim community experiencing social
services as a place where such support can be accessed, their interactions with these
services demonstrate the ways that Islamophobia seeps into social work settings amidst
discriminatory assumptions about Muslims and a lack of religiously informed care. In
response, informed by an Islamic worldview and drawing upon decolonial thought and
community-based participatory research principles, this study aims to centre Islamic ways
of knowing, being, and doing in considering how mainstream social services and social
work practice can most effectively support the Muslim community. Emerging from
interviews with five Muslim community leaders and scholars were four key themes: the
role of Islam in the lives and well-being of Muslims; anti-Muslim sentiment and the
devaluing of Islamic identity in mainstream social work education and practice; the need
for Islamically informed care; and reimagining social work from an Islamic worldview.
The findings reveal significant challenges for the Muslim community in accessing and
receiving effective support from mainstream social services, while also underscoring
important considerations for enhanced social work practice with Muslims. Implications and
recommendations for the social work profession, social work education, and the Muslim
community are discussed, alongside suggestions for future research and action, with an
emphasis on the importance of contributions from Islam and Muslims to elicit meaningful
change. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/27078 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Hussain, Tajseem |
| Contributors | Greene, Saara, Social Work |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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