Scholarly activist research

The
Feeling

Muslim Project

The first study to directly ask American female converts to Islam what it means to feel Muslim — not just become Muslim. 257 women. Their voices, unaltered.

Explore the Data About the Study

257Respondents

73%Distinguish becoming
from feeling Muslim

40Survey questions

Scholarly activist research · University of Georgia · 2015 · Centering the voices of 257 American female converts to Islam

The Project

What does it mean
to feel Muslim?

The Feeling Muslim Project grows from a single, powerful question first posed by Karla N. Kovacik (then Evans) in her 2015 University of Georgia thesis: for American female converts to Islam, is there a difference between becoming Muslim — the formal act of taking the shahada — and feeling Muslim, the interior, lived experience of Muslim identity?

By a wide margin, the majority of the 257 respondents — 73.15% — affirmed yes, there is a difference. Many gave rich, detailed descriptions of the subtle nuances between being, becoming, and feeling Muslim. One major theme that emerged across responses is that feeling Muslim is a gradual process, a transition — marked by the ebb and flow of positive and negative experiences.

This study provides American female converts to Islam a platform on which to tell their own stories of conversion and experiences of Islam through a uniquely American lens — and to build communities that actively nurture their feelings of Muslimness.

Key Findings

The data, in their words

257 respondents · IRB-approved · University of Georgia · 2014

73%

Distinguish becoming Muslim from feeling Muslim

The central finding

41%

Say feeling Muslim develops gradually over time

Largest single response

80%

Report outside influences affect feelings of Muslimness

Community matters profoundly

72%

Satisfied with their current feelings of Muslimness

With room to grow

87%Want to feel integral to their Muslim community

but

Only half currently feel that way — a gap that calls Muslim communities to action.

48%Do not currently feel integral to their community

Explore All the Data

Participant Voices

257 women.
Unfiltered.

I feel Muslim because I have a community where we all actively try our best to help each other out — having people with so many things in common, not feeling alone.

SumayyahQ20 / 40

They are not the same. One is an external formulation — the shahada — and the other an internal state. The two may coincide, or one may precede the other.

KerryQ18 / 40

Feeling Muslim is an evolving process — a steadiness in the heart, a God-consciousness threading through daily life even when nothing outward marks me as Muslim.

AmiraQ20 / 40

Read All Voices

Explore the Project