There’s More Than One Way to Tie a<i>Ḥijāb</i>: Female Conversion to Islam in Ukraine

Shestopalets, Denys

doi:10.1080/09596410.2021.1882144

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Apart from these considerations, the available narratives and interviews significantly vary in length, genre, thematic focus and the level of biographical detail, such as mentioning the precise age of conversion, professional status of individuals, etc. Nonetheless, despite these drawbacks, there have been a number of fruitful attempts to utilize online accounts (Kończak, 2019;Nieuwkerk, 2006;Sibgatullina, 2020;Shestopalets, 2021). While face-to-face interviews remain a standard method of data collection in conversion studies, the use of online materials still allows gathering a larger source base containing cases from different regions of a country.…”

Section: Sample and General Demographics Of Russian Convertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between faith and ethnicity: motifs of conversion and attitudes to ethnic Muslims in the discourses of Russian converts to Islam

Shestopalets

2021

Cont Islam

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This article offers an analysis of conversion to Islam in Russia through the lens of the problem of contemporary relations between converts and the country's indigenous Muslim communities. Following the theoretical schemas of Lofland and Skonovd, Wolhrab-Sahr and Allievi, the article traces the key reasons for choosing Islam among the Russian population, the role of ethnic Muslims in this process as well as the general portrayals of the latter in online conversion narratives. In this regard, the study aims to contribute to the discussion about the prevalence of latent "Muslim Islamophobia" among Russian converts and their claims to cultural and religious superiority over Russia's born Muslims as well as labour migrants from Central Asia. In particular, this article demonstrates that various forms of interaction between Russians and ethnic Muslims, involving the formation of close interpersonal bonds and deep fascination with ethnic Muslims' personal values, religiosity and cultural traditions, may be viewed as the predominant factor that drives conversion to Islam in Russia. I also argue that while some converts in the sample do suggest the existence of some specific forms of Islam linked to the Russian cultural ethos, others strongly reject this position, downplay their ethnic identity or advocate the supra-national universality of Islam.

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Section: Sample and General Demographics Of Russian Convertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between faith and ethnicity: motifs of conversion and attitudes to ethnic Muslims in the discourses of Russian converts to Islam

Shestopalets

2021

Cont Islam

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“…Беручи до уваги вищевказане, видається логічним, що гендерний аспект проблеми, а саме особливості навернення в іслам серед чоловіків та жінок, так само залишився практично недослідженим. Тоді як вивчення досвіду новонавернених жінок у західних країнах та Східній Європі продовжує зростати [Van Nieuwkerk 2006;McGinty 2007;Soutar 2010;Stoica 2011;Guimond 2017;King 2017;Shestopalets 2021], існує тільки одне дослідження такого плану щодо російської ситуації ]. Ба більше, джерельна база дослідження Коньчак включає переважно наративи жінок, які прийняли іслам заради можливості одруження з іноземцями, часто вже проживаючи за кордоном у панівному мусульманському середовищі.…”

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“…Незважаючи на те що саме ісламське жіноче вбрання, хіджаб, стало чи не найбільш контроверсійним аспектом сприйняття новонавернених у публічному просторі Росії, ця тема порушується лише у третині онлайн�акаунтів (n -46). Зага�лом наявні в них підходи до питання збігаються з тими, які раніше були виявлені серед українських жінок�новонавернених [Shestopalets 2021]. У цьому аспекті най�поширенішим засобом аргументації на користь мусульманського одягу є підкреслення особливої краси жінок у хіджабі.…”

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Female Conversion to Islam in Russia: Preliminary Observations

Shestopalets¹

2021

Shìdnij svìt

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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.

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Who’s Afraid of Religious Extremism?

Shestopalets

2021

J. Muslims Eur.

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This article explores the dynamics of competition between Muslim organisations in Ukraine after the eruption of the Russian–Ukrainian crisis in March 2014. In particular, it deals with the issue of religious extremism as another ideological fault line between two main centres of Islamic religious authority, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine (SAMU) and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine ‘Umma’ (SAMU-Umma). Although these structures agreed that Islam as a religion should be completely dissociated from all manifestations of extremism and terrorism, their inherent theological and cultural differences led to the SAMU and the SAMU-Umma adopting mutually exclusive discursive strategies for achieving this goal.

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There’s More Than One Way to Tie aḤijāb: Female Conversion to Islam in Ukraine

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Between faith and ethnicity: motifs of conversion and attitudes to ethnic Muslims in the discourses of Russian converts to Islam

Between faith and ethnicity: motifs of conversion and attitudes to ethnic Muslims in the discourses of Russian converts to Islam

Female Conversion to Islam in Russia: Preliminary Observations

Who’s Afraid of Religious Extremism?

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