Causes and Effects of Conversion to Islam by White and Latina American Women: A Study of Community, Ethnicity, and Geography
Citation
Mansuri, Aroosha. 2018. Causes and Effects of Conversion to Islam by White and Latina American Women: A Study of Community, Ethnicity, and Geography. Master's thesis, Harvard Extension School.Abstract
This study deepens our understanding of the processes of religious conversion toIslam by identifying similarities and differences in the conversion processes of white and
Latina women in the US, and comparing the results with previous research on converts in
Europe and the Americas. The study employs a qualitative research design, drawing from
semi-structured biographical interviews with nineteen converts, eight Latina and eleven
white, from the Boston and Los Angeles areas. Findings are presented within a
framework based on a modification of Lewis Rambo’s seven stages for understanding
religious conversion and concentrates on understanding differences and similarities in
terms of 1) context, crisis and quest; 2) first encounter and interaction; 3) commitment;
and 4) consequences of conversion to Islam. The study finds similarities between these
two groups in many respects, including an unexpected preference for gender separation at
mosques, but finds differences in the ways Latinas respond to ethnocentrism from
immigrant Muslims by forming their own Latina Muslim associations. The study
concludes by presenting several key areas for further research.
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https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37364555
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