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chapter 9 How Deborah Became Aisha The Conversion Process and the Creation of Female Muslim Identity Nicole Bourque Until recently, most of the psychological and sociological research on conversion has been concerned with identifying: (1) what type of person might be predisposed toward religious conversion (Allison 1969; Batson and Ventis 1982; Christiansen 1963; Deutsch 1975; Gillespie 1991; James 1962; Lofland and Stark 1965; Meadow and Kahoe 1984; Salzman 1953; Ullman 1989); or (2) why someone converts (Allison 1969; Snow and Phillips 1980; Starbuck 1911). However, as Karin van Nieuwkerk indicates in the introduction to this volume, researchers are now recognizing that conversion is an ongoing process and are focusing their attention on the stages that converts go through (see, for example, Rambo 1993; Köse 1996; Poston 1992; Sultán 1999; Roald, this volume). These works recognize that there are various types of converts, many routes to conversion, and different types of Islam to which an individual may convert. Three important issues, however, are neglected in most studies. First, a consideration of how conversion to Islam requires not only a change in the convert’s religious identity, but also a renegotiation of social, gender, and national identities. Second, how these new identities are embodied through taking up new bodily practices. Third, the wider context in which these identities are re-created, including power relations , interactions with other Muslims, and learning how to be a Muslim in a largely non-Muslim society. Inthischapter,Iwilladdresstheseissuesbylookingattheprocessofconversion and the re-creation of religious, gender, and national identity in Glasgow, Scotland. The bulk of the research upon which this discussion is based involved participant-observation and interviews with a group of twenty-five female Sunni converts who attended a weekly Islamic education/discussion group for women. I have also included information from an interview with a male convert and his wife who were not attached to this group.1 I begin my discussion by looking at the conversion story of Aisha, the leader of the Islamic education/discussion group. Her case study illustrates the importance of considering the social context in which the conversion 234 t r a n s m i s s i o n a nd i d e n t i t y process takes place. Not only was Aisha’s conversion affected by her interactions with other Muslims, Aisha herself and the meetings she leads have had an impact on other convert women. I then look more closely at the conversion process and the re-creation of identity amongst the women in the group. This will include a consideration of how a Scottish Muslim female identity is embodied through changing bodily practices, shaped and internalized through discourse, and affected by interactions with other Muslims and with wider Scottish society. Meeting Aisha: Talking to the Converted When I first met Aisha and she told me her conversion story, she had been a Muslim for twenty years. She was born as Deborah and was raised in a working -class part of Glasgow. One day, when she was seventeen, she went to a local corner store that was run by a Pakistani family. She saw a man kneeling and bowing. She told me that at that time, she knew nothing about Islam. She thought that he was doing exercises. She waited with her purchases until he was finished and then asked him what he was doing. He explained that he was praying to God. The fact that a person would stop selling goods in order to pray impressed her deeply. The man lent her several books on Islam, and she frequently returned to the shop to discuss them. Aisha said that she found that Islam answered many questions that Christianity did not. She decided to convert, changed her name to Aisha, and married the man who had introduced her to Islam. Aisha’s parents accepted her conversion. They said they could see that she had changed for the better. She no longer went out drinking and dancing, as other girls of her age did. She was also more respectful to her parents. Her husband’s family, however, were against the marriage. They had wanted him to marry “a nice Pakistani girl.” They did not believe that a “white” girl could be a good mother and faithful wife. They feared that she would lead him “away from the path of Islam.” At first, Aisha found relations with her in-laws very difficult. This was complicated by their inability to speak English. Aisha...

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