Identity Matters: Culture and Religion as Key Factors in the Migration of Muslims
Identity Matters: Culture and Religion as Key Factors in the Migration of Muslims

Summary/Abstract: Using as a springboard the Islamic concept of رةَ جْ هِ ْ ال Hijrah (migration)—whereby migration is conceived as a way of saving the faithful from religious persecution—I analyze how culturally, economically, and socio-politically disenfranchised and marginalized Muslims decide or, better yet, have no other choice but to leave their homeland in search for a better life in non-Muslim lands. Adaptation, assimilation, and compromise vs. maintaining their cultural, linguistic, and religious identity while ْ دار َح ْرب in living ال dār al-Ḥarb (land of the enemy, i.e., non-Muslim territory) are oftentimes a barrier to fully enjoying the benefits of living free from danger in their adopted homeland. Finally, cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, and (trans)gender issues will be analyzed as these modern-day رونُ جِ هاَمُ muhājirūna (migrant Muslims) negotiate their (new or reshaped) identities away from home, i.e., سالمْ اإل ارَد dār alIslām, the land under Muslim sovereignty.

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