The Making of a Salafi Muslim Woman: Paths to Conversion

This is a very detailed doctorate level study into the lives of young ladies trying to live a spiritual islamic life in the context of 21st century London. The author managed to interview a community of these women and she gains a deep and personal insight into their backgrounds, their lives, the struggles they have choosing to become a salafi in their day to day lives, with their families and with other muslims, it describes the choices and compromises they have to make with education and employment and their own ethnic communities (I learnt quite a lot about the expectations somalian and eritrean communities place on these young people and how their religious choice creates conflict with that) and the decisions and compromises they have to make in their day to day lives. I found my self empathizing with them and getting frustrated with them. It describes how the dating process takes place in a traditional community. Its a great book, I found it easy to read. For anyone who does or might come into contact with salafis its an essential read. Thoroughly recommended,

This book is the result of the author’s ethnographic fieldwork of Salafi Muslim women in the UK, but principally in London. Inge’s study was undertaken over a period in excess of 2 years – 201-2012. She gained un-precedented access to the lives of a few women and their religion, both of which would otherwise be sealed off from the world. I would think that this therefore makes her book unique.I’ll get my one criticism out of the way first, which is why I have given a score of 4 and not 5. It is this: that Inge’s book is her phD thesis written as a book; she was advised to write it as a book from the start by her phD supervisors. This approach has meant that, in places, it reads more like a textbook written to impress professors rather than for a generalist audience.Nonetheless, the subject matter is extremely interesting and the information that Inge has obtained is truly eye-opening. The topics covered include amongst other things: what is Salafi Islam; the reasons for the women’s conversion either from other Islamic sects or other religions; the difficulties that they have encountered as a direct result of their conversion: conflict with their families, being on the receiving end of Islamophobia, reduced education and employment prospects and difficulties in finding a husband. The book ends with a brief update on Salafi Islam in Britain and a few of the women’s relationship to Salafism.Having read of all of the difficulties that these women encountered I was left perplexed as to what the attraction for them could be. Inge recounts the reasons that the women gave her for their conversion, but to my mind, at least, they seem to have paid such high prices for their perceived benefits. For the reader this makes for a very thought provoking read.If you want to learn more about the Islamic faith and the Salafi faith in particular, this is a must read for you.