Nieuwe Nederlandse Moslims. Motieven voor de adoptie van de islam door autochthone mannen

Samenvatting

This article is the outcome of a research on an actual phenomenon in the Dutch modern society: native Dutch men embracing Islam, to which I will refer as New Muslims. Islam is one of the topics of growing interest in Western countries in both media and social science over the past decades. Most research has been conducted on women. Therefore questions on motives, expectations and consequences of men embracing Islam remain unanswered. Based on data from fieldwork I distinguish three categories of motives for the adoption of Islam: rational, relational and religious motifs. In relation with gender research reveals that part of the participants are attracted to Islam because of traditional points of view regarding male and female gender roles. Although some of these new Muslims do not consent with this. Because opinions on male and female (religious) behavior in Islam differ, changes in relation to gender for the New Muslim also vary. Thus, insight into processes of religious transition to Islam among Dutch men and the relation to gender will add to the scientific and social relevance of this article.