The Dutch inside the ‘Moslima’ and the ‘Moslima’ inside the Dutch: Processing the Religious Experience of Muslim Women in The Netherlands

Abstract

This research focuses on Dutch Muslim women who chose to practice Islam, whether they were born Muslim (‘Newly Practicing Muslims’) or they chose to convert (‘New Muslims’). This study takes place in a context, the Netherlands, where Islam is popularly considered by the native Dutch population, as a religion oppressive to women. How do these Dutch Muslim women build their identity in a way that it is both Dutch and Muslim? Do they mix Dutch parameters in their Muslim identity, while at the same time, inter-splicing Islamic principles in their Dutch sense of self? This study is based on an ethnography conducted in the city of Amsterdam from September to October 2009, which combines insights taken from in-depth interviews with Dutch Muslim women, observations from Quranic and Religious classes, observations in a mosque, and one-time events occurring during the month of Ramadan. This paper argues that, in the context of being Dutch and Muslim, women express their agency, which is their ability to choose and act in social action: they push the limits of archetypal Dutch identity while simultaneously stretching the meaning of Islam to craft their own identity, one that is influenced by themes of immigration, belongingness, religious knowledge, higher education and gender.

Fashion and Faith: Islamic Dress and Identity in The Netherlands

“…In order to develop a suitable modest Islamic look, Muslim converts actively search for reliable sources of information and are continuously scrutinizing themselves and other Muslims (Stoica 2013). This can remind us of times where converted Muslimas choice of fashion was dependent on what was sold in the mosque or at the local tailor of a multi-cultural neighborhood in one of the bigger cities in the Netherlands (Hass 2011;Hass and Lutek 2018;Vroon 2007Vroon , 2014, unlike the present time, when more styles of Islamic clothing are available for purchase and ordering clothing online from all parts of the world has become a common practice. Furthermore, Stoica states that for Romanian converts, the biggest challenge they faced was to avoid the high degree of unwanted attention they experienced when wearing the hijab in public spaces.…”

“…Recent decades have seen the growth and spread of debates about the visible presence of Islamic dress in the streets of the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France and Scandinavia (Cesari 2005(Cesari , 2009Hass and Lutek 2018;Moors 2007Moors , 2013Tarlo and Moors 2013;Vroon 2014). Moors and Tarlo claim that these debates have intensified after 9/11, with a focus on the apparent rights and wrongs of covering, hijab and face veils, and whether their use is forced or chosen, and to what extend they might indicate the spread of Islamic fundamentalism or pose concerns for security (Moors 2013;Tarlo and Moors 2013).…”

“…The responses to the "Real Dutch" campaign were varied: some loved the idea, but also others claimed that "such women do not exist" or that "a real Dutch Muslim wouldn't wear a headscarf" (Hass and Lutek 2018;Vader 2011). Yet, these posters have given Muslim women a face, showed variety in Dutch Muslim women (all four women come from diverse cultural backgrounds), and have given Muslim women in general a voice in the debate, something that usually had been absent.…”

“…For many female converts, the stage of donning the hijab is a stage of "coming out" (Van Nieuwkerk 2014). It is a stage that marks them as the 'other', someone who is not completely/no longer Dutch/European, even though such a binary is problematic in the first place (Hass 2011), and it is often hard for the family to accept. Some converts found a solution by putting on an African-style head covering, instead of the hijab (Badran 2006;Badran 2013).…”

“…In this study, we inquire as to whether, and how, Muslim groups in the Netherlands struggle with these tensions in terms of being new (converts) or newly practicing (born Muslim, but embracing religion later in life) in their faith, and thus the practice of their religion in the context of being a Muslim in a non-Muslim country. This work will focus on Dutch Muslimas; native Dutch women who have chosen to embrace Islam at different stages of practice (often referred to as New Muslims) and born Muslim women who started to practice at a later stage of life also referred to as conversion, according to Rambo's conversion model, (Rambo 1999) (often referred to as Newly Practicing Muslims) since these women often befriend each other and study together in women-only Quranic classes, workshops, Arabic language classes and many other gatherings (see also in (Hass 2011;Hass and Lutek 2018;Vroon 2014)).…”