Religious Migrant Women as Builders of the New Ummah in the Netherlands: a Belonging Path for Muslims

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between Islam and migrant Turkish and Syrian women living in the Netherlands and their patterns of belonging, while also questioning the dynamics of identity. It reveals that religious Muslim migrants tend to exhibit their Islamic identity as a salient identity with self-representation of being Muslims. This is seen through the new ummah concept and their demands for a Sharia Council. This new definition of the ummah is discussed in terms of the sense of belonging it brings, asserting that religion cannot always function as a means of resistance, in that the religiosity of Muslims in the Netherlands is not an attempt to exclude themselves from the system, but rather a means by which they can be part of it. The article reveals that the new definition of the ummah is highly driven by migrant religious women in the Netherlands, who resist both the traditionalist and institutional understanding of Islam, while also rejecting their national ties. They aspire to create an Islamic space (dar'al Islam) for themselves within the ummah and seek to achieve this legally through a Sharia Council.