Introduction
In the Netherlands, conversion to Islam is a growing phenomenon. While statistics are absent, circumstantial evidence, for instance organizations started by, or aimed at, converts, and Facebook pages, blogs, websites, etc., suggest that the number of converts is increasing. As elsewhere, becoming Muslim is usually a processual change rather than a sudden event (Mossière, 2016; Uhlman, 2015; Vroon-Najem, 2014; McGinty 2006; Jensen, 2006), a slow transformation, characterized by positive social contacts with Muslims, a subsequent period of exploration and orientation, resulting in the experimental practice of Islamic tenets preceding the decision to convert. This process can be so gradual, that some participants in my research were unable to pinpoint the exact moment they became Muslim, and many of them experienced multiple “shahada-moments,” for instance, both when alone, and in a communal setting such as a mosque.
Saying the shahada, the testimony of faith, marks the entr...