Identity crisis of Jordanian BMB (believer from Muslim background) women at the beginning phase of new faiths

Islam is not only a religion, but the foundational root of all Muslims’ lives in all areas of life. A Muslim finds the meaning of life and her/his primary identities from Islam. When a Muslim converts to Christianity or any other religion, she/he faces a great deal of confusion regarding oneself and dilemmas about one’s circumstances. Hence, although some Muslims have an interest in and respond to the Good News of the Gospel, many of them leave this newfound faith in a short time without specific reasons.

In contrast to the general assumption that many new converts or seekers leave their new faith because of persecution or pressure from family members or communities, the author seeks to show that the major reason the leave is they face identity confusion primarily inside of themselves. Jordan is a traditional Islamic country. Jordanian women also format their identities upon Islamic values under gender-oriented social and religious influences. This research is about the identity crises new women believers face when they come from an Islamic background in the Jordanian context. It studies how Jordanian Muslim women have built on their women’s identity and what kind of identity crises they go through. It consists of a total of six chapters.

The first chapter deals with my autobiographical background for research, observations regarding believers from Muslim backgrounds (BMB) in Jordan, and theoretical research about conversion, Islamic religious traditions and identity. The second chapter studies the identity of women in Christianity and Islam, as defined by the Bible and Qur’an, respectively. The third chapter deals with the life and identity of Jordanian women. It searches a general context of Islamic backgrounds of Jordan, Jordanian understanding and relationship with Christians in their history and society and women’s identity under these socio-cultural influences. The fourth chapter includes interviews with Muslim women, BMB women and Christian women workers who are involved in ministries to BMB women. The fifth chapter is findings and analysis on the research. It figures out the challenges of women and reasons of identity crisis of BMB women in the conversion process. The final chapter gives integrative summaries and suggestions for further study.

When a Muslim woman converts to Christianity, she experiences that her existing Muslim identity interferes in the formation of the new identity of being a Christian, so she faces an identity crisis between her old Muslim identity and her new Christian identity. Hence she is challenged by the discontinuity of the past in the process of creating her new identity. It includes not only the religious dimension, but also socio-cultural dimensions.

Kim, Sam. 2013. “Identity Crisis of Jordanian BMB (Believer from Muslim Background) Women at the Beginning Phase of New Faith.” Ph.D., United States — Kentucky: Asbury Theological Seminary.