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..

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.

Religious congregations and social work have long been a neglected field of research. Although the number of studies have increased during the last twenty years. With a starting point in the situation in this field of research and in the current public debate in Sweden the focus of this study will be on how Christian and Muslim congregations view cooperating with the municipalities, organizations, the religious community to whom which the congregation belongs and how the congregations view cooperating with other religious communities. Qualitative method of research was used. Representatives of four religious congregations was interviewed; a deacon in a congregation in the Swedish Lutheran Church, a pastor in a congregation belonging to the Mission Covenent Church of Sweden, the chairman in a the board of a Muslim congregation and volunteerleader in another Muslim congregation.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att titta närmare på två pedagogiska program för att se hur dessa beskriver islam i Sverige. Först gjordes en näranalys av vardera program för att sedan jämföra de båda i en komparativ analys. Genom dessa analyser och diskussioner i skenet av postkoloniala teorier har följande slutsatser vuxit fram:Bilden av islam framställs i båda programmen genom porträtt av muslimer. Det första från 1989 Olika tro i Sverige- islam- ett sätt att leva låter Nagat, en ung tjej berätta om islam och då framför allt om de fem pelarna. Fokus ligger på att informera om islam och inte berätta om Nagat.

Vårt syfte med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur sex elever på högstadiet förhåller sig till slöjan.Hur skiljer sig deras åsikter åt beroende på vilken religiös, kulturell eller etnisk bakgrund detillhör? Resultatet har vi fått fram genom att utföra två kvalitativa gruppintervjuer av lågstandardiserad karaktär. Vi kommer i uppsatsen fram till att de sex elever som vi intervjuathar en sekulariserad syn på slöjan. Vi kommer även fram till att åsikterna och kunskapernahos de sex eleverna inte skiljer sig avsevärt åt beroende på vilken religiös, kulturell elleretnisk bakgrund de tillhör..

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.

The aim of this paper is to perform a comparative study between France and Sweden analyzing the veil debate that took place in 2003 and 2004. This debate has been one of the central features of the renewed conflict between the West and Islam post 9/11, and has the presumed oppression of the Muslim veil in focus. With help of critical theory and a differentiated citizenship theory, including gender and post-colonial perspectives, I analyse the veil in a Western context in the arguments presented and the actions taken. Through that I try to distinguish the potential problems posed for the Muslim minorities living in the two countries.Three main areas are covered: the different political actions in the two countries, the consequences for this sidestep in liberal citizenship theory and in what way the view on equality splits the two parties. I conclude: that the French secularism and the Swedish equality have played key roles; the ideal of liberal citizenship is being abandoned for a more partial state; and the view of the veil as simply oppressive is part of a colonial heritage that can be challenged..

The aim of the study is to analyse the stories of four homosexual women with Muslim backgrounds about coming out as homosexuals, from an intersectional perspective. The experience of coming out as lesbian and the intersectionality are related to different social contexts. The homosexuality becomes a problem in connection to family and countrymen while the Muslim background becomes more of a problem in relationships. Heteronormativity and gender system appear to be cooperating systems of oppression.These women don?t describe themselves as oppressed, but potential oppression is still something that influences their lives.

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.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka förekomst av etnisk diskriminering och könsdiskriminering i en rekryteringsprocess. 46 studenter vid en högskola och ett universitet i en större stad i Sverige deltog i studien. Testdeltagarna fick utifrån en fiktiv platsannons bedöma tolv fiktiva arbetsansökningar (CV) och skatta hur troligt det var att de skulle anställa personen i fråga. De oberoende variablerna var etnicitet (svensk eller muslim) och kön (man eller kvinna) och visades av namnet på den sökande. Resultatet visade inget stöd för att etnisk diskriminering eller könsdiskriminering ägde rum..

Mitt syfte med detta arbete har varit att försöka ge en beskrivning över vilken relation den konverterade muslimen i Sverige har till Koranen. Jag har valt att försöka belysa detta genom frågeställningen:Hur tillgodogör sig konverterade muslimer i Sverige Koranen?Arbetet är en kvalitativ fallstudie där jag genom fyra djupintervjuer på ett så brett vis jag förmått försökt omfamna de olika uttryck som relationen tar sig. Intervjuerna redovisas som referat i berättande form, och de föregås av en översiktlig beskrivning av Koranen.Arbetet avslutas med en utvärderingsdiskussion där jag konstaterar att arbetet är ofullständigt då jag ej kunnat belysa den företeelse som frågeställning avser på ett begreppsligt vis. Slutligen så redogör jag för en möjlig fortsättning..

In a Swedish classroom today there will be students with different ethnicities, world views and religious beliefs.  The students will be taught religion through a non-denominational education, where as a teacher you are meant to be objective, open-minded and fair in the representation of different traditions. This representation is colored by the outsider-perspective and the students then learn about religion from a party which is not involved in the religion being taught. This essay discusses how to balance the outsider-perspective in religious education in the Swedish school with insider-voices. More specific, the use of Muslim websites when teaching about Islam.The material this essay studies are three Muslim websites: al-islam.se, islaminfo.se and islamguiden.se. In order to make a didactic analysis of the websites, they are compared to a standard Swedish textbook.

The aim of the study is to analyse the stories of four homosexual women with Muslim backgrounds about coming out as homosexuals, from an intersectional perspective. The experience of coming out as lesbian and the intersectionality are related to different social contexts. The homosexuality becomes a problem in connection to family and countrymen while the Muslim background becomes more of a problem in relationships. Heteronormativity and gender system appear to be cooperating systems of oppression.These women don?t describe themselves as oppressed, but potential oppression is still something that influences their lives.

In the years between 2012 and 2014, Burma has been shaken by waves of violence against Muslims which has resulted in destroyed mosques and shops, at least 140 000 displaced and 200 killed persons. The person who is said to lay behind this violence is the Burmese Theravada monk Ashin Wirathu. Being the founder and leader of the radical Buddhist movement 969, he has been accused of indirectly motivating violence against Muslims and has been portrayed with titles such as ?The face of buddhist terror?. This essay investigates the relation between Wirathu and the anti-Muslim violence by applying the method of content analysis on a speech of him.

English abstractTitle: Islam and the limitations of the public will of choice.The purpose of this paper have been to investigate how three modern Islamic theorists view the limitations of the public free will of choice based upon their interpretation of the Islamic theology and doctrine.The paper focuses to highlight how all three chosen Islamic theorist interpret the Islamic doctrine based upon my elected theses and more specifically pinpoint were the free will of choice ends, and Islam as a religion starts to take hegemony. The paper?s aim is to further an understanding that in the modern world and as a effect of increased literacy, Islam has been somewhat inclined to split into several Islamisms, based upon the variety of fatwa?s on the Islamic doctrine that is available online. Therefore it remains to the modern day Muslim, to individually decide whether they choose to follow the message of the Holy revelation in the Quran or trust a mufti?s fatwa in their everyday life as a Muslim.The material used and analyzed in this paper is prime source material.