Western Muslims and Alienation: Connecting Religiosity with Sociopolitical Engagement

Political and social alienation among Western Muslims is a concern for government and Islamic communities alike. Due to the delicacy of this subject matter, most rigorous field research relies on in-depth interviews or ethnographic methods, rather than the blunter edge of statistical instruments. From this work, key hypotheses have been developed about the role of religion and religiosity in the process of marginalizing Western Muslims from civic life, but also mainstream Islamic community life. To test these hypotheses, this paper employs a new data set that more meticulously solicits the religious views, identities, and behavior of European Muslims. Based on these variables, we explore the link between religious self-understandings and individuals’ relationships to their mosque, their political system and their wider society. This is an important test of the external validity of hypotheses grounded in specific localities—a wider view of trends currently subject to immense speculation.