Muslim Identity threshold: Emergence of a distinctive Australian muslim identity

This chapter argues that, while multiple identities exist, a Western Muslim identity necessitates a concomitant and harmonious identification with Islam and the identity of a given Western society (Australian, British, American, etc.). There is a fertile zone for the emergence of such an identity between the two extremes of isolationist puritanical and the assimilationist modernist identities. This will be illustrated in the case of Australia by answering four questions – Is it possible for a distinctive Muslim identity to emerge in a Western country? Are the conditions ripe enough for the emergence of such an identity? What is the social seedbed and likely Muslim identity profile? Finally, is there any evidence for the emergence of a distinctive Australian Muslim identity?