CONVERSION TO ISLAM IN UKRAINE: PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
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Abstract
With the onset of a religious revival in Ukraine in the 1990s and the emergence of several Islamic organisations, conversion to Islam became a viable religious choice for many Ukrainians. This article offers several preliminary observations with an aim to go beyond traditional stereotypes about the key gender and ideological aspects of this process. The source base of this study encompasses thirteen unstructured in-depth interviews conducted by the author as well as a number of conversion accounts published by Ukrainian media and Islamic religious web resources. The theoretical framework employed for the analysis of these data is based upon Lofland and Skonovd’s schema of six major modes of conversion which emphasises different paths of adopting a certain religion. Following the investigation of the converts’ narratives, the article demonstrates that conversion to Islam in Ukraine constitutes a complex and multifaceted social phenomenon. Due to the developments in modern technology and social media, it now occurs not only in large cities with active Islamic centres, but also in small rural localities without any Muslim presence. Furthermore, while for some women turning to Islam is directly or indirectly linked to marriage to foreigners from Muslim countries, the majority of female conversions also contain other important facets, such as spiritual search, cultural immersion or even mystical experiences. On the opposite side of the spectrum, even though cases of conversion to Islam among Ukrainian men arguably are not as common, they offer important insights regarding the dynamics of religious choices of Ukrainians and the potential emergence of Ukrainian Islam as a local phenomenon. These and other issues merit further detailed analysis of conversion to Islam in Ukraine.
How to Cite
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conversion, European Islam, Islam, Ukraine, Ukrainian Muslims
Allievi S. (1999), “Pour Une Sociologie Des Conversions: Lorsque Des Européens Deviennent Musulmans”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 283–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003005
Allievi S. (2000), “Les conversions à l’islam. Rédefinition des frontières identitaires, entre individu et communauté”, in Dassetto F. (Ed.), Paroles d’islam. Individus, sociétés et discourses dans l’islam contemporain, Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris, pp. 157–182.
Berger P. (1969), The Sacred Canopy, Anchor Books, New York.
Bowen P. (2014), “Conversion to Islam in modern Western Europe and the United States”, in Tottoli R. (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West, Routledge, London, pp. 259–272.
Bogomolov A. V., Danilov S .I., Semivolos I. N. and Yavorskaya G. M. (2006), Islamskaya identichnost’ v Ukraine, 2nd edition, Stylos, Kyiv. (In Ukrainian).
Bogomolov O. (Ed.) (2015), Islam ta hromadyans’ke suspil’stvo v chasy vyprobuvan’. Analitychna dopovid’, A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies, Kyiv. (In Ukrainian).
Bulliet R. (1979), Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732810
Daynes S. (1999), “Processus De Conversion Et Modes D’identification à L’islam: L’exemple De La France Et Des Etats-Unis”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003007
Ensminger J. (1997), “Transaction Costs and Islam: Explaining Conversion in Africa”, Journal of Institutional & Theoretical Economics, Vol. 153, No. 1, pp. 4–29.
Guimond A. (2017), Converting to Islam: Understanding the Experiences of White American Females, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54250-8
Hermansen M. (1999), “Roads to Mecca: Conversion Narratives of European and Euro‐American Muslims”, Muslim World, Vol. 89, No. 1, pp. 56–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.1999.tb03669.x
Hermansen M. (2014), “Conversion to Islam in Theological and Historical Perspectives”, in Farhadian C. and Rambo L. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 632–667.
Jawad H. A. (2012), Towards Building a British Islam: New Muslims’ Perspectives, Continuum, London.
Jensen T. (2006), “Religious Authority and Autonomy Intertwined: The Case of Converts to Islam in Denmark”, Muslim World, Vol. 96, No. 4, pp. 643–660. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00151.x
Köse A. (1994), “Post-conversion Experiences of Native British Converts to Islam”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596419408721032
Köse A. (1996), Conversion to Islam. A Study of Native British Converts, Üegan Paul International, London and New York.
Köse A. (1999), “The Journey from the Secular to the Sacred: Experiences of Native British Converts to Islam”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003006
Köse A. and Loewenthal K. (2000), “Conversion Motifs Among British Converts to Islam”, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 101–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327582IJPR1002_03
Krotofil J. (2011), “‘If I Am to Be a Muslim, I have to Be a Good One’. Polish Migrant Women Embracing Islam and Reconstructing Identity in Dialogue with Self and Others”, in Górak-Sosnowska K. (Ed.), Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, pp. 154–169.
Levtzion N. (1979), Conversion to Islam, Holmes and Meier, New York.
Lofland J. and Skonovd N. (1981), “Conversion Motifs”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 373–385. https://doi.org/10.2307/1386185
Mansson-McGinty A. (2007), Becoming Muslim Western Women’s Conversions to Islam, Culture, Mind, and Society, Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1037/e619482011-080
Nieuwkerk K. (2006), Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
Nieuwkerk K. (2014), “Conversion to Islam and the Construction of a Pious Self”, in Farhadian C. and Rambo L. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 667–687.
Poston L. (1992), Islamic Daʻwah in the West Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam, Oxford University Press, New York.
Roald A. (2004), New Muslims in the European Context: The Experience of Scandinavian Converts, Brill, Boston.
Setta E. (1999), “Le Suisse Converti à L’islam: émergence D’un Nouvel Acteur Social”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003009
Shanneik Y. (2012), “Conversion to Islam in Ireland: A Post-Catholic Subjectivity?”, Journal of Muslims in Europe, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 166–188. https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-12341235
Shatzmiller M. (1996), “Marriage, Family, and the Faith: Women’s Conversion To Islam”, Journal of Family History, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 235–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/036319909602100301
Sultán M. (1999), “Choosing Islam: A Study of Swedish Converts”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 325–335. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003008
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1996), “Konversion Zum Islam Als Implementation Von Geschlechtsehre”, Zeitschrift Für Soziologie, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-1996-0102
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1999a), “Conversion to Islam: Between Syncretism and Symbolic Battle”, Social Compass: International Review of Sociology of Religion, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 351–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003010
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1999b), Konversion zum Islam in Deutschland und den USA, Campus Frankfurt/M., New York.
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (2006), “Symbolizing Distance: Conversion to Islam in Germany and the United States”, in Nieuwkerk K. (Ed.), Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, pp. 71–95.
Yakubovych M. (2010), “Islam and Muslims in Contemporary Ukraine: Common Backgrounds, Different Images”, Religion, State & Society, Vol. 38, Issue 3, pp. 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2010.499287
Yarosh O. and Brylov D. (2011), “Muslim Communities and Islamic Network Institutions in Ukraine: Contesting Authorities in Shaping of Islamic Localities”, in Górak-Sosnowska K. (Ed.), Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, pp. 252–265.
Zebiri K. (2008), British Muslim Converts: Choosing Alternative Lives, Oneworld, Oxford.
REFERENCES
Allievi S. (1999), “Pour Une Sociologie Des Conversions: Lorsque Des Européens Deviennent Musulmans”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 283–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003005
Allievi S. (2000), “Les conversions à l’islam. Rédefinition des frontières identitaires, entre individu et communauté”, in Dassetto F. (Ed.), Paroles d’islam. Individus, sociétés et discourses dans l’islam contemporain, Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris, pp. 157–182.
Berger P. (1969), The Sacred Canopy, Anchor Books, New York.
Bowen P. (2014), “Conversion to Islam in modern Western Europe and the United States”, in Tottoli R. (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West, Routledge, London, pp. 259–272.
Bogomolov A. V., Danilov S .I., Semivolos I. N. and Yavorskaya G. M. (2006), Islamskaya identichnost’ v Ukraine, 2nd edition, Stylos, Kyiv. (In Ukrainian).
Bogomolov O. (Ed.) (2015), Islam ta hromadyans’ke suspil’stvo v chasy vyprobuvan’. Analitychna dopovid’, A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies, Kyiv. (In Ukrainian).
Bulliet R. (1979), Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732810
Daynes S. (1999), “Processus De Conversion Et Modes D’identification à L’islam: L’exemple De La France Et Des Etats-Unis”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003007
Ensminger J. (1997), “Transaction Costs and Islam: Explaining Conversion in Africa”, Journal of Institutional & Theoretical Economics, Vol. 153, No. 1, pp. 4–29.
Guimond A. (2017), Converting to Islam: Understanding the Experiences of White American Females, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54250-8
Hermansen M. (1999), “Roads to Mecca: Conversion Narratives of European and Euro‐American Muslims”, Muslim World, Vol. 89, No. 1, pp. 56–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.1999.tb03669.x
Hermansen M. (2014), “Conversion to Islam in Theological and Historical Perspectives”, in Farhadian C. and Rambo L. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 632–667.
Jawad H. A. (2012), Towards Building a British Islam: New Muslims’ Perspectives, Continuum, London.
Jensen T. (2006), “Religious Authority and Autonomy Intertwined: The Case of Converts to Islam in Denmark”, Muslim World, Vol. 96, No. 4, pp. 643–660. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00151.x
Köse A. (1994), “Post-conversion Experiences of Native British Converts to Islam”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596419408721032
Köse A. (1996), Conversion to Islam. A Study of Native British Converts, Üegan Paul International, London and New York.
Köse A. (1999), “The Journey from the Secular to the Sacred: Experiences of Native British Converts to Islam”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003006
Köse A. and Loewenthal K. (2000), “Conversion Motifs Among British Converts to Islam”, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 101–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327582IJPR1002_03
Krotofil J. (2011), “‘If I Am to Be a Muslim, I have to Be a Good One’. Polish Migrant Women Embracing Islam and Reconstructing Identity in Dialogue with Self and Others”, in Górak-Sosnowska K. (Ed.), Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, pp. 154–169.
Levtzion N. (1979), Conversion to Islam, Holmes and Meier, New York.
Lofland J. and Skonovd N. (1981), “Conversion Motifs”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 373–385. https://doi.org/10.2307/1386185
Mansson-McGinty A. (2007), Becoming Muslim Western Women’s Conversions to Islam, Culture, Mind, and Society, Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1037/e619482011-080
Nieuwkerk K. (2006), Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
Nieuwkerk K. (2014), “Conversion to Islam and the Construction of a Pious Self”, in Farhadian C. and Rambo L. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 667–687.
Poston L. (1992), Islamic Daʻwah in the West Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam, Oxford University Press, New York.
Roald A. (2004), New Muslims in the European Context: The Experience of Scandinavian Converts, Brill, Boston.
Setta E. (1999), “Le Suisse Converti à L’islam: émergence D’un Nouvel Acteur Social”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003009
Shanneik Y. (2012), “Conversion to Islam in Ireland: A Post-Catholic Subjectivity?”, Journal of Muslims in Europe, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 166–188. https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-12341235
Shatzmiller M. (1996), “Marriage, Family, and the Faith: Women’s Conversion To Islam”, Journal of Family History, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 235–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/036319909602100301
Sultán M. (1999), “Choosing Islam: A Study of Swedish Converts”, Social Compass, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 325–335. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003008
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1996), “Konversion Zum Islam Als Implementation Von Geschlechtsehre”, Zeitschrift Für Soziologie, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-1996-0102
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1999a), “Conversion to Islam: Between Syncretism and Symbolic Battle”, Social Compass: International Review of Sociology of Religion, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 351–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776899046003010
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (1999b), Konversion zum Islam in Deutschland und den USA, Campus Frankfurt/M., New York.
Wohlrab-Sahr M. (2006), “Symbolizing Distance: Conversion to Islam in Germany and the United States”, in Nieuwkerk K. (Ed.), Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, pp. 71–95.
Yakubovych M. (2010), “Islam and Muslims in Contemporary Ukraine: Common Backgrounds, Different Images”, Religion, State & Society, Vol. 38, Issue 3, pp. 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2010.499287
Yarosh O. and Brylov D. (2011), “Muslim Communities and Islamic Network Institutions in Ukraine: Contesting Authorities in Shaping of Islamic Localities”, in Górak-Sosnowska K. (Ed.), Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, pp. 252–265.
Zebiri K. (2008), British Muslim Converts: Choosing Alternative Lives, Oneworld, Oxford.
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