It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: The Religious Socialization of Muslim Immigrant Children Pubblico

Budak, Kemal (Summer 2022)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/4q77fs806?locale=it
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Abstract

This dissertation is a study of how Muslim immigrant families (parents and their

children) engage in the religious socialization process. I investigate the process by

conducting ethnographic research at three levels of analysis—(1) a comparison of three

Muslim weekend schools (the macro level); (2) participant and non-participant

observation and interviews with the parents of a weekend school (the meso level); and

(3) an extensive case study of a Muslim immigrant family (the micro level). In the first

level of analysis, I compare two multicultural and one monocultural (Turkish) weekend

schools, in which each school embraces distinctive theologies, to see how they provide

an Islamic education to students who are second-generation immigrants. That

comparison demonstrates that the theology (e.g., “cool Islam” vs. “light Islam”) and, in

turn, the Muslim identity conveyed by these schools (e.g., Muslim-American vs.

Turkish-American) display notable variations. Moreover, the Muslim children at the

schools are not passive audiences of the sophisticated religious socialization process, as

they shape that process by displaying agency within or outside the classroom. At the

other levels of analysis, I examine the religious socialization process through the eyes of

Turkish families who are affiliated with the Gülen Movement—a transnational faithbased

religious community. The findings from the interviews, participant observation,

and case study reveal that parents go through different phases of religious socialization

as their first child ages and when that first child is joined by other siblings. That is,

religious socialization is not only a process, but it also a process that takes on distinctive

styles within a family. In transferring a Muslim identity to their children, parents shift

from an initial phase of highly structured efforts inside the household to a later phase of

organic efforts inside the household paired with the assistance of the religious

socialization efforts of others outside the home (such as weekend schools). Ultimately,

this dissertation and its findings reveal the importance of approaching both religion and

religious socialization as “lived” and dynamic activities.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………….1

Theoretical Background……………………………………………………………………………………….3

Religious Socialization………………………………………………………….………………………………3

Parochial and Weekend School……………………………………………………………………………10

Religion, Immigration, and Muslim Immigrants……………………….…………………………..12

The Need for This Dissertation………………………………………………….…………………………14

Methodology…………………………………………………...........................................................19

Researcher Positionality…………………………………………………….……………………………….33

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….……………………………….35

CHAPTER ONE

TRADITIONAL VS. COOL VS. LIGHT ISLAM: A COMPARISON OF THREE

SUBURBAN WEEKEND SCHOOLS……………………………………………….…..…38

Muslim Weekend Schools and Children’s Agency………………………………………..……..…38

Ahmad Islamic Masjid (AIM)…………………………………………………………………..………….42

Furqan Community Mosque (FCM)………………………………………………………..……………57

Turkish Cultural Center (TCC)……………………………………………………………..………..……71

Situating the TCC……………………………………………………………………………..………………..71

The TCC in Action………………………………………………………………………………………………76

Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………98

CHAPTER TWO

THE MAKING OF A MUSLIM-TURKISH-AMERICAN: RELIGIOUS

SOCIALIZATION IN GÜLEN MOVEMENT-AFFILIATED TURKISH

FAMILIES……………………………………………………………………………………..…106

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….…106

Families Affiliated with the Gülen Movement…………………………………………………..…109

Situating the Respondents…………………………………………………………………………………110

Joining the Gülen Movement…………………………………………………………………………..…121

Religious Socialization at Home: The Key Actors…………………………………………………123

Religious Education and Language…………………………………………………………………….127

Halal Food and Religious Socialization……………………………………………………………….137

Celebrating Religious and Cultural Holidays…………………………………………………….…145

Moral Education……………………………………………………………………………………………...150

Decline in Religiosity……………………………………………………………………………………..…153

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………….158

CHAPTER THREE

FORGETTING INSTANBUL IN AMERICA: THE CASE OF THE YILMAZ

FAMILY……………………………………………………………………………………………167

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………….……167

Meet the Family……………………………………………………………………………………………....168

The Religious and Moral Socialization of Selim and Pelin…………………………………….174

Social Life, Muslim Identity, and Hot Topic Issues………………………………………..…….193

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………....211

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………..216

The Gülen Movement………………………………………………………………………………….……221

Lived Religion………………………………………………………………………………………………….225

Bi-Directionality in the Socialization Process………………………………………………..……229

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………….….231

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