Nasrin Akter

The Religious Lives of Immigrant Muslim Women in Canada: the Case of Bangladeshi Women in St. John's, Newfoundland Nasrin Akter

This qualitative research study reveals how Bangladeshi immigrant Muslim women adjust their religious practices in order to integrate themselves in their new context in St. John's, Newfoundland, and analyzes the meanings they attribute to these adjustments. There are five principle findings based on research with six female participants. Firstly, this study corroborates the widely-recognized idea that immigration often results in women's greater empowerment, independence, and egalitarianism in relation to the gendered division of labour and decision-making power (male/female, couple/parents). Secondly, this study also explores why female immigrants tend to experience an increase in religious capital and a sense of ecumenism. I explore other impacts of the transnational socialization that Bangladeshi immigrant women experience in St. John's, such as an increased awareness and knowledge about Islam, and the restoration of religious practices in an effort to form a universal Islamic community.