Conversion to Islam: Case Study of Women in a Small Community in Guadalajara

The study of religious conversion in general has created a vision of conversion as a negative phenomenon. Studies of religious conversion are relatively new as the recent wave of study of this phenomenon began only in the 1950s. Moreover, the study of Muslim conversion in the West is even more limited and recent. From the studies of Muslim conversion in the West, the paucity of research is even more visible when dealing with Muslim converts in Latin American and Mexico specifically. Taking into consideration the characteristics of the country and its population, this study of 10 Mexican women that converted to Islam were interviewed through a questionnaire that took into consideration situations, experiences, behaviors and beliefs before, during and after conversion. Emphasis was given to the religious inadequacies of their past beliefs and how those matched with what Islam had to offer for them; the ways they found the religion of Islam in Mexico, and if morality was a factor in their conversion. Results showed that most of these women had distanced themselves from their previous religion due to disagreements with, in this case, Catholic precepts, some of which had a direct impact on their Muslim conversion. These disagreements among others were the belief that Jesus was not God and that Jesus was not crucified. Attractive principles within Islam included the absence of an hierarchical system as in the Catholic Church, the respect for women, and the moral and ethical precepts of Islam towards which they were already inclined. Their primary exposure to Islam was by Internet and through contact with Muslims in social media.