title: Conversion to Islam: A Study of Australian Muslim Converts
Creators: name: Mitchell, Paul
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: conversion
subject: Islam
subject: Muslim Australians
subject: gender

description: Over the past several decades, the phenomenon of conversion to Islam in Western societies has gained considerable attention, within both academia and the mass media. In the post-9/11 period, which has been characterised by widespread Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment, much of this attention has focused on converts’ motives for embracing Islam and claims that this group is over-represented amongst Western jihadists. Significant attention has also been paid to anecdotal evidence of higher conversion rates amongst females, prompting confusion and questioning over why some would adopt a religion which is viewed by many as curtailing the rights of women. The growing body of scholarship on conversion has shed some light on these, and other, aspects of the phenomenon of conversion to Islam in the West, particularly in relation to conversion pathways and the female experience. However, numerous gaps in the literature remain. These include convert demographics, understandings of converts’ Islamic identities and their perspectives on theological issues, the complex relationship between conversion and gender – particularly in relation to the male experience of conversion and comparative gender analyses, as well as in understandings of the differences and commonalities between converts to Islam and those who have been born/raised within the faith. In the context of Australia, existing research remains confined to a handful of qualitative studies which have focused on several aspects of the conversion phenomenon, such as the motivational factors and social experiences of female converts and the complex relationship between conversion and racial identity. This thesis seeks to address some of these gaps in existing knowledge through a comprehensive study of Australian converts to Islam. Utilising data collected in a mixed-methods study, consisting of an online, national survey of Muslim Australians and a series of subsequent focus groups which provided qualitative insight into the survey findings, this thesis provides a broad overview of Australian converts to Islam, and represents one of the largest and most wideranging studies on this topic to date. More specifically, this thesis contributes to existing knowledge in several key areas. Firstly, through the wealth of quantitative data collected in the survey component, this thesis establishes a demographic profile of Australian converts, and for the first time, provides an empirically based estimate of the overall proportion of converts amongst the Muslim Australian population. Secondly, this study moves beyond the existing focus on converts’ pathways to Islam and examines their identities and beliefs as Muslim Australians. This examination provides key insight into issues such as religiosity and ritual practice, the ‘types’ of Islam with which converts identify and practice, as well as perspectives on a variety of theological issues, ranging from jihad and the caliphate to the ethics of halal practices. Thirdly, this study expands upon existing understandings of the relationship between gender and conversion through a comparative analysis of female and male converts – an issue which remains largely overlooked within the existing literature. This analysis focuses on a range of issues, including conversion pathways, Islamic identity and belief, perspectives on religion, politics and society, as well as social connectivity and belonging. Finally, a comparative analysis of converts and born Muslims highlights a number of significant differences and commonalities between these two groups. While further research is needed to examine more thoroughly these and other aspects of this complex phenomenon, this thesis represents a significant contribution to knowledge of conversion to Islam in contemporary Australian society.