The integration of Muslim migrants and of their descendants in Western countries has increasingly become a heated debate in the public arena about Western countries. In the European context, such claims refer especially to the children and descendants of Muslim migrants.
THE NEED AND MEANING OF STUDYING ISLAM AS AN EVERYDAY LIVED RELIGION
Major trends in the religiosity of Muslim migrants’ descendants
- Muslim youths’ religious vitality? The salience of Islam as an identifier
- An individualized and culture-less Islam
- The role of context: Islamic identity in non-Muslim societies
- The need to study Islam as an everyday lived religion
This often leads to the rejection of elements of their parents' practice of Islam, for whom, on the contrary, culture and religion are inextricably intertwined. This prevents the generalizability of the results to the wider population of Muslims in the West and makes it difficult to establish the direction of causality.
The study of religion as lived in the everyday. A research stance
- Personalized and de-institutionalized religion
- What does it mean to study everyday lived religion?
- The social relevance of everyday religion: strategies and tactics
In the case of the current research, it is true that I do not share the same heritage. As discussed by Ricucci (2017), among the younger generation of Muslims, the legacy of the “fathers” in the leadership of.
THE PRESENT RESEARCH
The everyday lived religion of youths of Muslim background
- The performative character of Islam
- Islamic orthodoxy as a discursive tradition
- Internal and external discourses
- Engaging everyday with internally and externally-defined religious normativity
- Power dynamics and scholarly research: organized vs non-organized Islam
As explained in Chapter 2, practices related to the body are central to the study of practices – especially in the case of Islam. However, the study of religion as practiced in everyday life must be open to the observation of religion wherever it 'emerges'.
Comparing organized and non-organized youths of Muslim background
- What is the present research about, and why. The rationale of the present study
- Research questions
- Research design
Indeed, Islam takes on different configurations at the local level, as we shall see in the last part of this chapter. We have spent 150,000 euros on the mosque project to participate in the bid [see above]. This is one reason why some volunteers are involved in creating religious-related content to be posted on the organization's social media channels.
Occasionally, the appeal for Yemen is announced on the Facebook page of the Italian branch. Islamic Relief offers the opportunity to comply with this religious norm through a donation, corresponding to the meat of the animal (Image 13). This way of presenting Islamic Relief undoubtedly seems to remove the religious component of the organization's identity.
Indeed, as this representative told me in an interview I had with him, the development of a "brand".
THE SETTINGS OF THE RESEARCH
The treatment of Muslims in Italy and the different configurations of Islam in Milan and
- The tropes of the “external discourse”: securitarian and culturalist framings of Muslims in the West
- The perception and the management of migrants and of Islam in Italy
- Islam in Milan and Turin
- The local configuration of Islam: different opportunities for youths of Muslim background
The tropes of 'external discourse': securitarian and cultural views of Muslims in the West As many scholars have amply demonstrated (for example, this is a common image of public debates in Britain and France – in the latter case the strong symbolism linked to the image of the banlieue is paradigmatic in this respect.5 In terms of institutional opportunities at the national level, Italy has one of the most restrictive citizenship and immigration regimes (Pilati 2016).
This mobilization managed to postpone the discussion of the reform in the Italian Parliament: the Chamber of Deputies approved the changes to the law in 2013. In the last paragraph of this chapter we will see how these conditions have been different in Milan and Turin. In the last paragraph of this chapter, I will focus more closely on the characteristics of the local context where the present research was conducted, in relation to the presence of Muslims and the management of Islam.
The integration and inclusion of immigrants had to happen "in a context of legality", according to the electoral program of the right-wing candidate for mayor in 2006 (Letizia Moratti).
We are not a religious organization”. Islamic Relief and its Italian branch
- Islamic Relief: “faith-inspired” action. The organization’s foundation and development
- The Italian branch
As discussed by Petersen (2015) and Benthall (2016), Islamic Relief has become a fully respected faith-inspired NGO in the field of aid and development communities. Indeed, young volunteers can be said to represent the essence of Islamic Aid's visibility and success in Italy, as we will see in the next section. They are more active depending on the "level of involvement" of their members and the time of year.
This is how we should read the characterization of the organization as “not religious.” As the representative of Islamic Relief Worldwide, who helped set up the Italian office, told me, this type of fundraising activity is completely new to the Italian charity culture, compared to the. Based on the description of Islamic Relief's organizational culture, activities, events and campaigns, we can now better appreciate the role that religion plays in the organization's discourses and concrete actions, as well as the type of orthodoxy and orthodoxy.
Specific emphasis would be placed on respecting the principle of non-discrimination in the implementation of activities, in particular emphasizing that the organization “simply provides assistance to those who need it”.
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION
Religion as free-floaters. Living Islam remotely from religious organizations
- Religious socialization and (non-)religiousness
- Want to get involved? No, thanks!
In this chapter I will describe how some of the non-organised young people I have interviewed relate to religion and to their cultural background. In order to deepen her knowledge of religious principles and the correct performance of practices, she mainly searched the web and surfed among the many websites in the "Islamosphere". I didn't keep in touch with the people of the Pakistani community in the town where I grew up [a small town close to Emilia-Romagna].
Nour's concern is not to "make mistakes" in his practice of religion - therefore the choice to resort to the most literal readings of the scriptures when distinguishing between different interpretations becomes too difficult. And the experience at that school made me reflect that I was actually still too afraid of the others. From being the protective cocoon where she could be whoever she wanted - although she also felt pressured to prove her "Muslim character" by wearing the veil - the association (like the Belgian school) had turned into a barrier that prevented her in revealing her true self to the rest of the world.
Najat cites an example of the possible - tactical - behavior a Muslim should adopt to counteract negative prejudices.
Muslimness in the foreground, Muslimness in the background. The strategies of the
- Muslimness in the foreground: addressing the Muslim community
- Muslimness in the background: addressing the non-Muslim public
- What strategies? And what tactics?
Figure 11 – Appeal to donate to Palestine in the event of incidents during border protests in the Gaza Strip. At the same Open Days, staff members would also emphasize the religious dimension of the "duty to do good", urging young people to volunteer because "it's not that much effort" and "we have no excuses in the face of a tragedy. such as the Syrian one". These contacts arose from the fact that some members of the Islamic Aid have founded in parallel the first Association of Muslim Scouts in Italy to date.
However, from the point of view of the organization's relationship to the "external discourse", this approach is more of a tactical nature, because it does not disrupt the external discourse's strategy. Ironically, however, it often appeared that volunteers of Islamic Enlightenment could not remember all five values of the organization, at least in the context of the interviews I conducted - typically forgetting about "compassion" and. Therefore, just as the power of the religious grand scheme manifests itself in "normal", routine,.
Indeed, it is worth it, as the “Italians” who participated in the events told Islamic Relief staff members how happy they were to have heard about the organization, how good the organization's projects are, and so on.
EXPERIENCES OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DISCOURSES ABOUT ISLAM
Religious reflexivity in the everyday. Challenging the internal discourse?
- Adhering to religious tenets and normativity
- Doubts, difficulties, uncertainties in enacting religious normativity
- Critically engaging with religious tenets… or with their imposition?
- What relationship can there be with religious “grand schemes”? Religious reflexivity and the strength of
- Conciliating concept and experience: the “making” of religion
Among the young people who participated in this research, the "strength" of the religious grand scheme and religious orthodoxy is variably evident at the level of what I define as "normal"—i.e. routine, unreflective actions - and at the level of implicit and explicit forms of what we can define a. A classic example of adherence to religious principles and moral norms is observing the obligation to wear the hijab or to avoid alcoholic beverages. The very fact that she was interested in wearing the hijab as a child shows how the veil is part of her habitus and her vision of the world.
One of the most repeated things is to admit one's own imperfections and mistakes in the application of religious prescriptions. There are many examples of this attitude among my informants; one of the most significant is that of Leila. Through this tactic, they can "save religion" from the danger of being "blamed" as the culprit.
This reveals that not only is there variation among religious people regarding their adherence to and internalization of religious norms, but also that there is variation within the behavior of the same person in the way religious normativity informs his or her life.
Patterns and practices of visibility. Challenging the external discourse?
- Sought-for visibility
- Unwilling visibility
- Invisible Muslimness
- Visible? Invisible? Both?
We should be friendly and polite and smile instead of answering back if someone insults us on the street or in the market when we go to collect on the street. While Islamic Relief's Muslimness is clearly visible in the foreground when addressing the Muslim audience, it remains hidden in the background when addressing the Italian audience. Yousuf in particular, who seems to have suffered greatly from experiences with Islamophobic behavior in the past, eventually found a kind of 'serenity' by showing that he is Muslim - but that is because the organization has provided him with effective arguments to to use. to counter negative stereotypes, such as the example of earthquake disaster relief in Italy.
In other words, if Islamic Relief were to promote "Muslimness" even among Italians, this would mean the implementation of a counter-strategy that subverts the strategy of the dominant negative discourse, and it would be appropriate to speak of resistance. But repeating this scenario in an interview situation (in which the mere fact that I am Italian must have played a role) is not the same as wanting to be seen. While many volunteers actively seek such visibility and achieve recognition through this scenario, as the exemplary cases of Yousuf and Rami show, many others do not want to be so visible – as we will see in the next section.
In order to claim recognition as a Muslim, Hamida foregrounds an aspect of being Muslim by entrusting the veil with a tactical quality.
Islamic Relief logo
Advertisement of the Open Day for volunteers organized in Turin
Advertisement of two “Challenges”: a trekking trip and a cycling trip
Prayer times on the Italian website
Friday prayer reminder
Countdown to Ramadan
Tenth suggestion about Ramadan
Malcom X quote
Pills of Ramadan”
Call to donate for Ghouta (Syria)
Appeal to donate for Palestine on the occasion of the incidents occurred during
Ramadan appeal for the donation of food aid
Appeal for the donation of Qurbani meat
Ramadan food distribution in Italy. 2018
The Islamic Relief volunteers’ annual camp
Program of the 2018 camp
Charity dinner at the Anglican church in Milan
Invited presentation of Islamic Relief at a high school in Milan