Conversion Motifs Among British Converts to Islam

Abstract

Lofland and Skonovd's (1981) conversion motifs were assessed in the conversion biographies of 70 British-born converts to Islam. Intellectual, experimental, and affectional motifs were reported by about 67% of those interviewed, the mystical motif appeared in about 14%, and the coercive and revivalist motifs almost never. The normative convert to Islam was male, non-Sufi, and not married to a Muslim at the time of conversion and reported intellectual and experimental conversion motifs. Rambo's (1993) suggestions about the motifs present in the encapsulation of converts to world-affirming and world-rejecting religious groups were partially supported. This biographical method of assessing conversion motifs is suggested as a feasible, reliable, and valid way of producing shorthand conversion histories, retaining some of the individuality of each conversion account, and enabling quantitative analysis and conclusions about normative conversion careers to be made.

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