Identity Matters: Culture and Religion as Key Factors in the Migration of Muslims

Abstract

Using as a springboard the Islamic concept of الْهِجْرَة Hijrah (migration)—whereby migration is conceived as a way of saving the faithful from religious persecution—I analyze how culturally, economically, and socio-politically disenfranchised and marginalized Muslims decide or, better yet, have no other choice but to leave their homeland in search for a better life in non-Muslim lands. Adaptation, assimilation, and compromise vs. maintaining their cultural, linguistic, and religious identity while living in دار الْحَرْب dār al-Ḥarb (land of the enemy, i.e., non-Muslim territory) are oftentimes a barrier to fully enjoying the benefits of living free from danger in their adopted homeland. Finally, cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, and (trans)gender issues will be analyzed as these modern-day مُهَاجِرُون muhājirūna (migrant Muslims) negotiate their (new or reshaped) identities away from home, i.e., دَار الإسْلام dār al-Islām, the land under Muslim sovereignty.