ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the concepts of power and resistance and examines how non-Islamiosity defines, authorises and creates ideas of living a full, pleasurable and meaningful life, which then entice some devout Shi'a. Muslim agency is thus defined by the ability to continue to live a devout life in the West in spite of the pressures of Western secularism. Concession' is an attempt to theoretically capture an important nuance of devout diasporic Muslim experience which is both constituted by and diagnostic of the power of non-Islamiosity. Mayanthi Fernando is concerned with the emergence of secular Muslim women in the French public sphere, politically active women who have denounced their Islamic backgrounds in favour of a liberal, laïque citizenship and subjectivity. Muslims such as Maryam feel that Iranian community provides them with no unprejudiced channels through which to voice their concerns. Thus, in recent years they have experienced increasing stigmatisation, ridicule, exclusion and sometimes very harsh antagonism within Iranian settings.