Abstract:

The aim of this study is that examines the construction of Muslim identity and the functions of this identity from perspective of women who is Western female converts becoming Muslim and Turkish immigrant women. This study is based on a field research which conducted in Germany. According to the study, Islam is discovered as an alternative identity and suggestion of life by both of woman groups who criticize their social environment. Women refer a subjective mean to the Islam and make it their own. Thus, Islam rises as an important instrument of alternative lifestyle and being visible for women. By Muslim identity, women propose an alternative understanding of their feminity and describe themselves another way. In this way, both of woman groups catch an opportunity to see themselves another perspective. The most important result of this study is while Turkish immigrant women use the Islamic identity from the traditional to the modern, converted women use the Islamic identity from the modern to the traditional.

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