Indigenous Conversion(s) to Islam: Causes, Processes, and Consequences

Dear Colleagues,

Islam is set to become the world’s largest religion by 2075. Although much of this growth has been driven by higher birth rates among Muslims, conversion (reversion) to Islam is also on the rise. While conversion to Islam has been studied extensively, the growing appeal of Islam among Indigenous communities remains underexplored. Scholars examining Indigenous Muslims have mostly focused on individual country cases. For example, Islam’s increasing popularity among Aboriginal Australians has been explained by convergence between Islamic and Aboriginal cultures (e.g., similar attitudes towards marriage and the depiction of divinities) and Indigenous Australians’ resistance to Christianity, colonialism, and materialism. Scholarship on Indigenous converts to Islam in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States suggests that the key drivers in Islamic conversion are high taxes requested by churches, the benefits of communal living, and the feeling of protection offered by Islamic clothing. Studies on Indigenous Muslims in Africa and Papua New Guinea similarly indicate that socio-economic and political changes trigger Islamic conversions. Furthermore, while some Indigenous converts largely abandon their former culture, others integrate Islam successfully.

While most of these studies have looked at the causes and processes of Indigenous conversions to Islam, other important questions arise regarding the consequences of this trend, such as how the intersectionality of multiple minority statuses affect Islamic conversion and the differences between Indigenous cultures and the Islamic world. This Special Issue seeks to expand discussions around Indigenous conversions to Islam and approach the topic from a cross-regional perspective. The main goal is to identify local and global patterns and dynamics and provide up-to-date and analytical insights into the growing appeal of Islam among Indigenous populations across the world.

We welcome original research articles that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• How and why Indigenous people embrace Islam;
• Their phases of conversion;
• Individual and societal consequences and challenges of Indigenous conversions to Islam;
• Similarities or differences between Indigenous cultures and Islam, and how they influence and shape each other;
• Deconversion;
• How different groups of converts experience Islamic conversion;
• Indigeneity, intersectionality, critical race theory, securitization, decoloniality and decolonisation, gender analyses;
• Daily lives and experiences of Indigenous Muslims;
• The role of Indigenous Muslims within their respective Muslim and Indigenous communities.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send them to ayca.arkilic@vuw.ac.nz.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review. We particularly welcome submissions from early career, Global South-based, and/or Indigenous scholars. The Special Issue will be co-edited by a Muslim scholar (Ayca Arkilic) and an Indigenous Muslim, who is the co-founder of Ou Mātou Reo, the largest network of Māori Muslims (Noeleen Van de Lisdonk). In doing so, we will respect Kaupapa Māori research methodologies and seek to ensure the wellbeing and accurate representation of the Indigenous communities. We look forward to receiving your contributions. Please direct any queries to ayca.arkilic@vuw.ac.nz.

Dr. Ayca Arkilic
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Islam
• indigenous
• conversion
• intersectionality
• colonialism
• discrimination
• interaction