Quebec – Zaytoun News
Anthropologist Géraldine Musyier has conducted a study on youth converting to Islam in Quebec, culminating in a visual project titled “Young Muslims in Five Stories” (Jeunes et musulmans en cinq histoires). The project aims to understand these young people’s motivations and experiences while challenging common Western stereotypes about Islam.
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the University of Montreal’s Office of Research, Development, and Evaluation, the research collected data between 2014 and 2019. It included interviews with around 50 youth, along with qualitative observations in classrooms, cafés, and university Islamic associations. In an interview with Radio Canada International, Musyier noted that she met more than 140 young converts during the study.
The project builds on Musyier’s earlier 2006 research on women converting to Islam in France and Quebec. Noticing that many were under 30, she focused her new study on youth. She highlighted that these young converts, who often encountered negative perceptions of Islam in their countries of origin, found Quebec a more welcoming environment for religious freedom, though the 2017 attack on the Quebec City mosque affected their perceptions.
The study revealed two main trends. First, Islam offers resources for personal growth and self-development, exemplified by the character Julie in the visual project. Second, conversion is sometimes used as a form of protest and resistance against social norms and discrimination, as shown by Noor, who embraced Islam to explore a minority identity and engage politically.
There are no official statistics on the number of converts in Quebec, but Musyier estimates several thousand. According to the Quebec Converts to Islam Association, a support network for young converts, they often face family rejection or social isolation and are sometimes labeled “extremists,” even by members of the local Muslim community.
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