Islam as a New Urban Identity? Young Female Muslims Creating a Religious Youth Culture in Berlin

THE LANDSCAPE OF EUROPEAN cities has, since the 1960s, been influenced by immigration from former colonies or through working-contracts between European and non-European countries. In the last decade, Islam has become increasingly present in European societies through the global (negative) media focus, increased use of the veil (hijab) among young Muslims, and by replacement of the earlier provisory backyard mosques of the 1970s with purpose-built mosques of the late 1990s. Although the urban context is usually associated as a place where people turn away from religion and where religious communities fulfill few social roles, ¹ the last decade has seen a return of religion within the urban space. Today, several youths from the second and third generation of migrants ² in European cities are turning to Islam in a quest for authenticity, an individual identity, and as part of their group orientation. In Germany, the increased visual religious identification of youth with migrant backgrounds has caused surprise, stupefaction and excitement in a society largely believing that being German and Muslim is an oxymoron.