Fleeing to the West Puts Religious Practices to the Test

Vegter, Noortje (2023) Fleeing to the West Puts Religious Practices to the Test. Bachelor thesis, Bachelor Religiewetenschappen.

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Abstract

In conclusion, this thesis examined how the religious practices of Gülen Muslim refugees adapt when they come to the Netherlands. As I have argued throughout the thesis, religious adaptation happened in terms of frequency of practices and where they practiced Islam. All the interlocutors initially experienced a decline in their practices. Besides, amongst the three interlocutors that experienced subsequent changes, two decreased their practices further over time although they did not stop completely. One increased his practices over time although he did not completely retain his mosque attendance. The last one did not adapt his practices over time. They all also adapted the places of their practices. None of them at any point in time completely stopped practicing. The reasons why their religious practices adapt are partly shared and partly different. Generally, it seems that their new environment forces them to make decisions about their religious practices, while some could also start deciding themselves about their practices. Whereas previous studies on refugees and religion primarily focused on religious practices in relation to integration and mental health, the findings in this thesis indicate that only immigration policies and integration affected the practices of one interlocutor in terms of assumed prejudices and forced dispersal to a place with no mosques nearby. The religious practices are mainly affected by the differences in the societal contexts and their political identity. For three interlocutors, persecution because of their political identity affected them. Everyone, due to their political identity and/or due to the different religious context, adapted their practices because of the lack of institutions. All of them to some extent mimicked the more secular and religiously diverse environment while some experienced a lack of co-religionists performing Islamic practices. Two interlocutors experienced that they could now decide themselves about their practices. Therefore, the Netherlands seems a religiously diverse and secularizing context that has less Muslims. It is individualist and hosts an intracommunal conflict while also upholding restrictive immigration policies and it is assumed to have citizens who might consider Muslims terrorists. It possibly lacks co-religionists and/or a cooperating Muslim community to create more mosques. Whereas three of them seem to negotiate the new environment, one of them suggests this environment negatively affects him. Whereas these findings provide new insights, they also raise new questions. It seems that persecution is not limited to the context in which it has originated, but that it can flee with the refugee and may subsequently affect their life elsewhere. Future research might consider whether others share such experiences and whether this affects their religious lives in other ways. Furthermore, this study has indicated that Gülen Muslim refugees are, besides their political identity, more affected by differences in the societal contexts than by resettlement factors. Future research might consider whether other refugee groups are also more affected by the different societal context or whether this is maybe the result of their educational status or other factors. Lastly, it might be considered what affects the lack of mosques and whether there is a larger group of people who experience a lack of mosques. If a larger population experiences difficulty with practicing Islam in the Netherlands, this might lead to political implications and policy recommendations.

Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisors (RUG):	Supervisor E-mail Tutor organization Tutor email Martinez-Arino, J. Faculteit GGW, Vergelijkende Religiewetenschap J.Martinez.Arino@rug.nl
Degree programme:	Bachelor Religiewetenschappen
Academic year:	2022-2023
Date of delivery:	30 Nov 2023 14:28
Last modified:	30 Nov 2023 14:28
URI:	https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/749

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