The purpose of this study is to examine whether religious behavior or religious identity changes when a person with Muslim background moves to a Christian country and also very secular such as Sweden. I have interviewed five people with Muslim background that have moved from Turkey to Sweden. In this study I have applied Anthony Giddens and Thomas Ziehe's theories about building up an identity but also Nader Ahmadis theory of migration and identity.The results of this study show that there is a change in the practice of religion but also that this differs between these five people who came from the same country. Nevertheless, a change in the practice of religion can on one hand be as a result of modernity and on the other hand, exclusion of family. It also proves that it is not possible to draw general conclusions on this issue instead it should be looked at from an individual perspective..

The purpose of this study is to find out how Swedish Muslim girls use Facebook and its functions in constructing their Muslim identity on the platform. The study is based on a qualitative method which consists of nine interviews with Swedish Muslim girls between the ages 17-23 and who use Facebook daily.The study is based on the view of Facebook as a scene where individuals can perform for an audience. I have used Erving Coffman?s dramaturgical perspective that explains why individuals appear in an appropriate manner to achieve confirmation from their audience. I also used theories about identity construction, community and the theory about how individuals create a social presence online.

This is a sociological study of religion that examines how gender and female Muslim identity is expressed during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the swedish paper Dagens Nyheter in the year 1951, 1989 and 2009. The aim is to see who creates the image of Islam and Muslims in general and in particular the image of the Muslim woman and whose Islam is given space in the article material. The picture has changed with the increase in immigration from Muslim countries and that we have gone from a modern to a late modern society in which other patterns shape our identity. The historical summary of the paper Dagens Nyheter illustrates how the Swedish society is formed in relation to Islam and Muslims. It provides a deeper understanding of the problems in the swedish multicultural society today..

This study concerns ways in which Muslims in Sweden construct their identities. The theoretical approach of the study is based on the assumption that people construct their identities through narratives. Circumstances such as time, place, and relationships affect how narratives are told and therefore how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.In the wake of 11th of September 2001, the old colonial narrative of ?the West vs. the East? has become powerful, and makes many question the possibility of successfully integrating Muslims immigrants in Western countries.

This essay focuses on the relationship between Islam, secularism, girls and sexuality. These categories problematize gender and how it affects identity processes of young women with a Muslim background. Sexuality is especially emphasized. The Muslim background is placed in contrast to the prescribed norms and ideals of the Swedish society/context concerning gender, sexuality and identity and this essay analyses how young women create gender and identity and which possibilities and strategies they have and use to negotiate about space in the relationship to other people. A girls? relationship to her own and others? sexuality is precisely what makes her a girl, but more importantly, also to which kind of girl.

The purpose of this comparative study is to investigate if the views of Sayyid Qutb and Tariq Ramadan regarding social structure and religion are possible to unite with western liberal democracy. The basis of the study is the problematizing approaches written by Qutb and Ramadan regarding the possible unity between Islam and democracy. These problematizing approaches are then tested on the political philosophy of liberalism to see if a unity is possible.The result showed that Qutb's view did not meet the criteria of democracy, which wasn't surprising due to his negative views on the system. However, Ramadan's reformist view on Muslim identity did unite with the views of liberal democracy, though questions regarding the possibility of creating and preserving a European Muslim identity in the secular society were immediately brought to attention.The importance in Qutb's view is social equality, unity and submission to God and the importance of Ramadan's view is to create and preserve a European Muslim identity and adapt to the society where you live and participate as a citizen. Qutb's view will not tolerate diversity and one is to keep or convert to the Muslim faith.

The purpose of this comparative study is to investigate if the views of Sayyid Qutb and Tariq Ramadan regarding social structure and religion are possible to unite with western liberal democracy. The basis of the study is the problematizing approaches written by Qutb and Ramadan regarding the possible unity between Islam and democracy. These problematizing approaches are then tested on the political philosophy of liberalism to see if a unity is possible.The result showed that Qutb's view did not meet the criteria of democracy, which wasn't surprising due to his negative views on the system. However, Ramadan's reformist view on Muslim identity did unite with the views of liberal democracy, though questions regarding the possibility of creating and preserving a European Muslim identity in the secular society were immediately brought to attention.The importance in Qutb's view is social equality, unity and submission to God and the importance of Ramadan's view is to create and preserve a European Muslim identity and adapt to the society where you live and participate as a citizen. Qutb's view will not tolerate diversity and one is to keep or convert to the Muslim faith.

Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to Muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on Muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to Muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on Muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

Independent schools are a central issue in the school world, the perception of independent schools varies and many people express opinions about them in the media. An independent school is according to the National Agency a school that has a different principal than the county or municipality. Independent schools may not charge fees but their revenue comes from municipal grants from municipalities (Berglund 2007, p. 10). An independent school can be driven by an association, foundation or company and to run an independent school requires a permit from the Education Department.The purpose of this paper is to see how four principals at independent schools with a Muslim profile are working to strengthen their students? Muslim identity in relation to the society they live in and how schools work with value issues.

The purpose of this essay was to examine the role of religious beliefs, actions and practice in young people's own description of their identity. An additional goal was to examine how young people describe their identity in relation to their primary and secondary socialization. A qualitative method was used with semi - structured interviews and six young people between the ages of 18 and 23 were interviewed.            The interview results show that three out of the six young people think of themselves as religious while the remaining three emphasize that they are secularized Muslims. The results also show that the young people emphasize that the celebration of feasts in the family is the main focus.  Four out of the six young people point out that they are themselves among friends, their families and in the mosque, while the remaining two feel a communion with their Muslim friends and people in the mosque.       Three out of the six young people consume alcohol and eat pork, while the remaining three refrain from this. The young people emphasize that their beliefs are a personal matter between themselves and God, and that their actions don't define them as being Muslims or non-Muslims..

Is the Muslim Brotherhood a political force that can be able to push Egyptian society in to the process of democratization? We think that the answer to that question is yes, even though the movement clearly state that their main aim to create a democratic state, but based upon the Islamic shari?ah-laws. In this paper, we examine if the Brotherhoods? political platforms and ideas are compatible with the classic ideas of how a democratic state should be. We discuss Robert A.

The aim of the study is to examine how religion legitimates outrages and it what ways we can regard religion as politics. The study uses the theory that Eickelman and Piscatori present in their book Muslim politics. They use the term ?Muslim politics? to describe the relation between Islam and politics. Eickelman and Piscatori divide Muslim politics in five elements that the essay uses to structure the analysis.

This thesis explores how Muslim youths? lifeworlds are depicted and narrated in the following two studies on Muslim youth in Sweden and Denmark: Muslima (2007) and Samtidsislam (2010). The aim of this thesis is to answer the following question: In what ways do these works treat the aspects of the lifeworlds that are being highlighted in their studies of Muslim youth in contemporary Sweden and Denmark? An underlying aim is to analyse the results within the framework of theories of socialisation, cultural emancipation and rituals and traditions.With a hermeneutic approach I analyse the texts and operationalize the research question into four themes: the effects of socialization, cultural emancipation, rituals and traditions and secularization. The texts are treated in the analysis with textual analysis and hermeneutic method.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the lived experiences and treatment of Muslim women in their encounters with the social services. The primal themes for this study was: How does Muslim women experience the treatment of their case in the social services in a situation of need? How can the encounter and experience with the social services affect the clients trust in the social services?  What is the ideal treatment of women with a Muslim identity by the social services?The aim of this study was to investigate and capture the respondents lived perceptions and experiences with the social services, and thus the qualitative interview methodology was implemented to answer the research questions and hypotheses. Seven interviews with Muslim women were conducted in various districts of Stockholm, a city in northern Sweden. Five of the respondents were of ethnic Swedish origin and two were of other ethic origin.The results show that the majority of the respondents experienced a negative response at least once when in contact with the social services.