From a periphery to the Muslim centre. Raising children in religion in the experiences of Polish women converts to Islam

This article explores the experiences of Polish mothers who have converted to Islam and are raising their children in the faith. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 Polish converts, we analyse how maternal and religious identities are co-constructed through everyday practices of child-rearing. Using the spatial metaphor of centre and periphery, we demonstrate how convert mothers navigate their position of limited inclusion within Islam and move towards an imagined religious centre. In this context, raising children in Islam serves both as a reinforcement of the mothers’ own religious identity and as a means of fulfilling culturally and religiously mandated maternal duties. We discuss the challenges identified by women aiming to transmit Islam to their children in a non-Muslim environment, the efforts they make to embody the ideal of a pious Muslim mother in everyday life, and their strategic use of the idea of ‘pure Islam’.