Islamic Religiosity in the West: Belonging and Political Engagement in Multicultural Cities

Research Project and Final Report 2013 - 2017
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A three-year comparative study funded by the Australian Research Council, exploring the everyday experiences of practicing Muslims in three Western countries: Melbourne (Australia), Lyon, Grenoble and Paris (France) and Detroit (USA).

Funded by an Australia Research Council Discovery grant (ARC DP130102601) and supported by 25 partner organisations, the project ran from 2013-17 and collected data from 384 participants across the three sites. Read about our research team and partners.

Watch the report video or scroll down to learn more about the project findings.

Contemporary debates about Muslim Diasporas frequently focus on the question of whether Muslims living in the West have the capacity to be fully active citizens while maintaining their religious obligations.

Participants in all three research sites shared the perception that Islam and Islamic practices nourish a grounded sense of social justice, responsibility, and respect for the rights of others including non-Muslim neighbours, co-citizens, and the environment.

“There is a saying from Prophet Muhammad: ‘No man will enter paradise who feeds himself but whose neighbour goes hungry’… My job here on this planet is to make the world a better place.”

Badda, 25–34, Pakistani background.

Many participants described justice as a central precept of their faith, not only grounded in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, but also in their everyday lives. Islamic scholars and reformers, such as Tariq Ramadan, speak about the importance of equality and social justice. They believe that these universal principles create connections and solidarity between Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

However, participants thought that negative media representation of Islam and Muslims fuelled misconceptions about their faith, and in more extreme cases, led to racist encounters. Participants saw this as a significant barrier to feeling social connection and belonging in the places where they lived.

“[S]ometimes you’re not given that opportunity to engage with the community. You are looked at as something – they look at you because they do not understand the religion –they only know what they have seen on the news.”

Tahwid, Egyptian background, international student, Melbourne

“I just have to be kind…to show them that Islam is not terrorism. Islam is not a religion of hatred or oppression. It is just a religion of peace.”
Mouna, Moroccan background, born in Paris

Working with 25 partner organisations, including mosques, community centres and Muslim organisations across three countries, researches spoke with over 300 Musims in Australia, France and the United States. Three key themes emerged:

  • Self, identity, and Islamic rituals
  • Religious practices, public space, and social connectedness
  • Citizenship, belonging and political engagement in a changing geopolitical context

 

Self, Identity and Islamic rituals

For Muslim participants across all three cities, their personal relationship to God is a significant, if not central, aspect of their identity, worldviews and ways of dealing with hardship and each other, and is sustained through daily rituals and practices. In each country, people’s different experiences were shaped by political structures and social policies.

In Melbourne, Australia, participants felt free to practise their faith as a core aspect of their identity. Nonetheless, the ways in which religion is expressed, or mixed with other cultural identifiers and practices, is complex and dependent on several variables, including place of residence, gender, class, race, country of birth, and their specific religious sect or school.

In Detroit, USA, religious identity and spirituality are more pronounced among African American Muslim groups, whose historical conversion to Islam dates to the Black civil rights movement there. All African American participants in the study saw Islam as a key source of resistance, challenging systematic histories of racial injustice and helping to rebuild experiences of self-worth, confidence, and agency.

In Lyon/Grenoble/Paris, France, the secular politics and laws of the French Republic shaped participants’ experiences of religiosity. Some participants experienced these secular laws as a barrier, not only to public expressions of religiosity, but also to subjective feelings of freedom, agency, and hope. In that context, non-obligatory practices, such as wearing the hijab, took on extra significance as visible signs of resistance to secular state policies and the Islamophobic gaze.

Religious practices, public space, and social connectedness

Participants reported that communal meanings and importance of many religious practices (such as hajj, fasting, and prayer during Ramadan) instil special feelings and produce particular moralities, many of which relate to issues of social justice.

In Melbourne, Australia, neighbourliness – described as caring for one’s neighbours – is both an important civic virtue and integral to Muslim beliefs, and faith-based practices. This suggests that Muslim religious beliefs and practices are tied with conceptions of virtuous citizenship and social connectedness.

In Detroit, USA, the experiences of Muslim communities reflect historical upheavals associated with migration, industrialisation, de-industrialisation, and racial tensions. These historical circumstances have increased the importance of place and community as spaces of resistance and resilience for Muslims.

In Lyon/Grenoble/Paris, France, some participants reported that observing the five daily prayers at work or place of study was challenging because of the secular laws that limit the observance of religious practice in public institutions, but nevertheless increased feelings of inner strength that led to openness and tolerance.

Citizenship, belonging and political engagement in a changing geopolitical context

This study found that the core beliefs and practices of Islam correspond with both liberal and republican traditions of citizenship in Western liberal democracies, including a focus on values of equality, diversity, and rights, as well as practices of active citizenship and commitment to social justice and a ‘common good’.

In Melbourne, Australia, multicultural policies have supported the establishment of Muslim representative bodies and organisations that represent and advocate for Muslim Australians’ rights, participation and inclusion in civil society.

In Detroit, USA, Muslim communities address poverty and racism through grass-roots initiatives that focus on supporting community, renewal of public spaces, and outreach activities, well as becoming politically engaged.

In France, participants strongly expressed Muslims’ responsibility to role model good citizenship by contributing to the advancement of the whole society economically and socially, irrespective of religious, ethnic, or cultural belonging.

Acknowledgements

Funding body

This research was funded by an Australia Research Council Discovery grant (ARC DP130102601).

Research Team

  • Fethi Mansouri
  • Michele A Lobo
  • Amelia Johns
  • Bryan Turner

Acknowledgement of the support of the following colleagues

  • Liudmila Kirpitchenko
  • Matteo Vergani
  • Virginie Andre
  • Reem Faiq
  • Anne Faithfull
  • Martine Hawkes and Paula Muraca
  • Lisa Tribuzio and Helen Heath
  • Saeed Khan and Roohi Rahman

Partners

  • Victorian Arabic Social Services (Broadmeadows, Melbourne)
  • Hume Islamic Youth Centre (Broadmeadows, Melbourne)
  • Albanian Saki Mosque (Dandenong, Melbourne)
  • Emir Sultan mosque (Dandenong, Melbourne)
  • Hazara Women’s Network (Dandenong, Melbourne)
  • Greater Dandenong City Council (Dandenong, Melbourne)
  • Australian International Academy (Coburg, Melbourne)
  • Deakin University Islamic Society (ISDU)
  • Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV)
  • Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights (MWCHR)
  • Wayne State University (Detroit, USA)
  • Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
  • Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
  • Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
  • The Muslim Centre of Detroit (Detroit, USA)
  • Al-Islah Islamic Centre (Hamtramck, USA)
  • Masjid Mu’ath Bin Jabal (Hamtramck, USA)
  • Islamic Centre of Hamtramck (Hamtramck, USA)
  • Islamic House of Wisdom (Dearborn, USA)
  • Islamic Center of America (Dearborn, USA)
  • Tawhid Islamic Centre (France)
  • Union of Young Muslims (France)
  • Islamic Association Al Islah (France)
  • Organisation Against Islamophobia (France)
  • CRIDAF-Pléiade, Université Paris 13 (France)
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A woman wearing a peach coloured hijab and a lighter pink top, sitting on the sand at the beach in bright daylight. We see her from the back, facing the waves.