Muslims in the diaspora : the Somali communities of London and Toronto / Rima Berns McGown.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Explores the balancing act of living as a Muslim in the west. It is a comparison of the Somali communities in London, England and Toronto, and is based on a series of in-depth interviews with over 80 Somali women, men and teenagers in those cities.

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CHOICE Review

In the aftermath of Somalia's civil war, which began in 1988, about one million Somalis (out of an estimated population of six million) became refugees. A number of these refugees managed to make their way to the West; by 1995, there were roughly 30,000 Somali immigrants in Toronto and 40,000 in London. McGown's book compares the processes and mechanisms involved in the integration of the Muslim Somalis in these two cities. Using in-depth interviews of more than 80 Somalis (men, women, and schoolchildren), McGown's research focuses on the way that diaspora Somalis are forging a new identity based on a strong consciousness of themselves as Muslims in a non-Muslim society. In their efforts to reconcile their Muslim beliefs and practices with those of the West and to create for themselves a "Muslim space," the Somalis, like other Muslims in Western countries, find themselves challenging the received understandings of their religion. The book illustrates how in their efforts to be "good Muslims" in a non-Muslim society, the Somalis are redefining traditional notions of Islamic orthodoxy and contributing to the evolution of Islam in a global setting. Upper-division undergraduates and above. A. Rassam; CUNY Queens College