Female Conversion to Islam in Russia: Preliminary Observations

Abstract

Conversion to Islam among ethnic Russians is a complex and multifaceted process that includes not only religious and cultural but also psychological and socio-political dimensions. On the one hand, it concerns the need for individuals to overcome numerous popular stereotypes and historically determined prejudices on the way to learning about the Islamic faith. On the other hand, the prevalence of the concept of "traditional religion" in the Russian national security discourse has led to an even greater politicization of the topic of religious choice. Conversion to Islam has become a matter of public concern in Russia also due to the alleged involvement of Muslim neophytes in terrorist attacks and other illegal activities. In light of these tendencies, this article aims to provide preliminary observations on the basic aspects of religious experiences of women who have converted to Islam in Russia over the past two decades. Along with the issue of radicalization and securitization of converts, the article examines their spiritual trajectories, the basic motives for choosing Islam as a new religion, and their attitudes toward such sensitive issues as wearing ḥijāb in public places. The main source material for this study comes from various text and video ac-counts published in the form of interviews, personal narratives or journalists' reports in religious and secular media, on social media or in special sections of Islamic web resources. In total, the sample of this study includes 123 individual cases. As a theoretical framework, the article uses a hybrid classification of religious conversion motifs based on the typologies developed by Lofland and Skonovd, Allievi and Wohlrab-Sahr. Drawing on this, the main argument of the article is that the presence of a significant indigenous Muslim population and migration processes in Russia's regions directly determined the predominance of the relational-affectional motif. Purely intellectual, mystical or crisis-driven motifs are much less common, although in some narratives they may play a significant supporting role in the adoption of Islamic identity.