İslamofobi ile Başa Çıkma: Din ve Topluluğun İngilteredeki Müslüman Gençlerin Hayatlarındaki Rolünü İnceleme

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, İngiltere'deki Müslüman gençlerin okullarda yaşadığı zorluklarla başa çıkma stratejilerini araştırmaktır. Fakat İngiltere’de yaşayan Müslüman öğrencilere ilişkin fazla genelleme yapmak değildir. Bunun aksine, Müslüman çocukların ayrımcılık ve İslamofobi gibi stresli olaylarla mücadelede kendi yaşadıkları deneyimlerden yola çıkarak izlediği yolları incelemektir. İngiltere’deki Müslüman azınlık topluluklar kendilerine özgün kimliklerin dolayı günlük yaşamlarında birçok zorluklarla karşı karşıya gelmektedir. Din, maneviyat ve bir topluluğa ait olma, Müslüman topluluklar da dâhil olmak üzere azınlık topluluklarda yaşanan günlük zorluklarla başa çıkmada önemli rol oynamaktadır. Bu araştırmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden yarı yapılandırılmış mülakat yöntemini kullarak 15 ve 16 yaşındaki 14 İngiliz Müslüman öğrenci ile mülakat yapılmış ve üç temel başa çıkma yöntemi belirlenmiştir: Dinî bilinç, topluluk aidiyeti ve kaçınma. Namaz/dua ve manevi bağlılık ile tanımlanan dinî bilinç, psikolojik dayanıklılığı geliştirirken, topluluk aidiyeti ise Müslüman akranlar arasında sosyal destek ve birliği geliştirir. Sürekli var olan ayrımcılığın karşısında kaçınma ise pratik bir cevap olarak hizmet eder. Bu araştırma Müslüman gençliğin deneyimlerini kavramayı artırırken eğitim politikaları ve uygulamalarına da ışık tutar.

Keywords

• Din Eğitimi
• Başa çıkma mekanizması
• İslamofobi
• Ayrımcılık
• Müslüman gençler
• İngiliz Müslümanlar

Navigating Islamophobia: Examining the Role of Religion and Community in the Everyday Lives of Muslim Adolescents in England

Abstract

This study explores the coping strategies employed by Muslim adolescents in reaction to the challenges they face in schools across England. Rather than making broad generalizations about Muslim students in the UK, the study focuses on understanding how these young people navigate stressful experiences—particularly discrimination and Islamophobia—through their own lived experiences. Muslim minority communities in the UK frequently encounter difficulties related to their distinct identities on daily basis. In this context, religion, spirituality, and a sense of community often play a vital role in helping minority communities, including Muslims, cope with everyday challenges. Drawing on a qualitative research methodology, the study involved semi-structured interviews with 14 British Muslim students aged 15 to 16. The findings reveal three key coping mechanisms: religious consciousness, community belonging, and avoidance. Religious consciousness—expressed through prayer and spiritual engagement—supports psychological resilience. Community belonging provides a sense of solidarity and peer support, while avoidance functions as a practical strategy for managing ongoing experiences of discrimination. This research offers deeper insight into the lived experiences of Muslim youth and has important implications for educational policy and practice.

Keywords

• Religious Education
• Coping mechanisms
• Islamophobia
• Discirimation
• Muslim adolescents
• British Muslims

Supporting Institution

Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı

References

1. Adam, Z., & Ward, C. (2016). Stress, religious coping and wellbeing in acculturating Muslims. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 10(2), 3-26. https://quod.lib.umich. edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0010.201?view=text;rgn=main
2. Altıntaş, M. C. (2023). Change of Identities and Religiosities of Muslim Young People across Time and Space: Resilient Youth. Şırnak Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, (31), 22-46.
3. Archer, N. N. (2024). Exclusive: Kids referred to Prevent over pro-Palestine views. openDemocracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/prevent-counter-terrorism- palestine-gaza-students-schools-universities/
4. Borecka-Biernat, D. (2022). Avoidance Coping Strategy in Adolescents in a Social Conflict Situation with Respect to Cognitive Correlates. INSTED: Interdisciplinary Studies in Education & Society, 24(2 (92)), 85-101.
5. Cicognani, E. (2011). Coping strategies with minor stressors in adolescence: Relationships with social support, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(3), 559-578.
6. Cinici, M. (2024). A qualitative study on Problems of Young People and Ways of Religious Coping in Türkiye. İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi, (62), 1-18.
7. Cortvriend, A. (2020). Coping with vulnerability: The limbo created by the UK asylum system. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 9(3), 61–74.
8. Elahi, F., & Khan, O. (Eds.). (2017). Islamophobia: Still a challenge for us all. Runnymede. Retrieved April 20, 2025, from https://www.runnymedetrust.org/

9. Fischer, P., Ai, A. L., Aydin, N., Frey, D., & Haslam, S. A. (2010). The Relationship between Religious Identity and Preferred Coping Strategies: An Examination of the Relative Importance of Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Coping in Muslim and Christian Faiths. Review of General Psychology, 14(4), 365– 381. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021624
10. Forrest-Bank, S. S., & Dupper, D. R. (2016). A qualitative study of coping with religious minority status in public schools. Children and Youth Services Review, 61, 261-270.
11. Francis, L. J., & McKenna, U. (2017). The religious and social correlates of Muslim identity: An empirical enquiry into religification among male adolescents in the UK. Oxford Review of Education, 43(5), 550–565. https://doi.org/10.10 80/03054985.2017.1352351
12. Francis, L. J., & McKenna, U. (2018). The Experience of Victimisation among Muslim Adolescents in the UK: The Effect of Psychological and Religious Factors. Religions,9(8), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9080243
13. Gilliat-Ray, S. (2010). Muslims in Britain. Cambridge University Press.
14. Halstead, J. M. (2018). Islamic education in England. Handbook of Islamic Education. Ed. Holger Daun-Reza Arjmand, 855, 871.
15. Hargreaves, J. (2016). Risk and resilience in British Muslim communities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39(14), 2601–2620. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2016.1155720
16. Holahan, C., Moos, R., Holahan, C., Brennan, P., & Schutte, K. (2005). Stress Generation, Avoidance Coping, and Depressive Symptoms: A 10-Year Model— PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3035563/
17. Home Office. (2001). Building cohesive communities, report of the ministerial group on public order and community cohesion (The Denham Report) | European Website on Integration. https://migrant-integration.ec.europa. eu/library-document/building-cohesive-communities-report-ministerial- group-public-order-and-community_en
18. Home Office. (2023). Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023). GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
19. Hoque, A. (2015). British-Islamic Identity: Third-Generation Bangladeshis from East London—Goldsmiths Research Online. https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/ eprint/36838/
20. Iyer, S., Larcom, S., & She, P.-W. (2024). Do Religious People Cope Better in a Crisis? Evidence from the UK Pandemic Lockdowns. https://www.repository. cam.ac.uk/items/b0f61896-e7d4-43c7-bb6d-a01190872f9b
21. Karaba, F. (2024). ‘I Can Only Do My Best and Leave the Rest to God”: Religious/ Spiritual Coping Strategies of African Nurses in the UK. Journal of Business Ethics, 194(4), 789–808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05775-z
22. Karacan, D. (2023). Islamophobia and Values in Western Societies: An Analysis of the Impacts on Muslim Men of Islamophobic Attacks in the UK. Değerler Eğitimi Dergisi, 21(46), 425-449. https://doi.org/10.34234/ded.1366107
23. Karacan, D. (2024). How Do Muslim Men in The Uk Employ Religion as A Coping Method with Islamophobia? Çukurova Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi (ÇÜİFD), 24(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.30627/cuilah.1437973
24. Lockley-Scott, A. (2020). Exploring the imagined identities of Muslim pupils in the context of Prevent [Phd, University of Warwick]. http://webcat.warwick. ac.uk/record=b3520010~S15
25. Loewenthal, K. M., Cinnirella, M., Evdoka, G., & Murphy, P. (2001). Faith conquers all? Beliefs about the role of religious factors in coping with depression among different cultural-religious groups in the UK. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 74(3), 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1348/000711201160993
26. Lowis, M. J., Jewell, A. J., Jackson, M. I., & Merchant, R. (2011). Religious and Secular Coping Methods Used by Older Adults: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 23(4), 279–303. https://doi.org/10 .1080/15528030.2011.566543
27. Lynch, O. (2013). British Muslim youth: radicalisation, terrorism and the construction of the “other.” Critical Studies on Terrorism, 6(2), 241–261. https://doi. org/10.1080/17539153.2013.788863
28. Mac an Ghaill, M., & Haywood, C. (2015). British-born Pakistani and Bangladeshi youngmen: Exploring unstable concepts of Muslim, Islamophobia and racialization. Critical Sociology, 41(1), 97-114.
29. MCB (2007) Towards Greater Understanding: Meeting the needs of Muslim pupils in stateschools. London: The Muslim Council of Britain.
30. Moodley, T., Esterhuyse, K., & Beukes, R. (2012). The ways in which adolescents cope and their relationship to age, gender and specific religious variables. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22(1), 10-20.
31. Mohammed, Z. (2024). British Muslims deserve safety and belonging. War in Gaza has made us fear we’ll lose both. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian. com/commentisfree/2024/oct/07/british-muslims-safety-war-Gaza
32. Ní Raghallaigh, M. (2011). Religion in the lives of unaccompanied minors: An available and compelling coping resource. British Journal of Social Work, 41(3), 539–556.
33. ONS. (2021). Religion by housing, health, employment, and education, England and Wales—Office for National Statistics. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/ culturalidentity/religion/articles/religionbyhousinghealthemploymentandeducationenglandandwales/ census2021
34. Ozeto, N. T., & Allan, T. (2021). Investigating a relationship between perceived stress, religious coping, and religiosity in migrant Muslim women. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 15(1). https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ jmmh/article/id/265/
35. Pargament, K. I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press.
36. Paudyal, P., Tattan, M., & Cooper, M. J. (2021). Qualitative study on mental health and well-being of Syrian refugees and their coping mechanisms towards integration in the UK. BMJ Open, 11(8), e046065.
37. Saeed, T. (2017). Muslim Narratives of Schooling in Britain: From ‘Paki’ to the ‘Would-Be Terrorist’. In M. Mac An Ghaill & C. Haywood (Eds.), Muslim Students, Education and Neoliberalism (pp. 217–231). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56921-9_14
38. Scott, J. (2018). Experiences of coping in young unaccompanied refugees in the UK. http://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/20193
39. Seddon, M. S. (2014). The Last of the Lascars: Yemeni Muslims in Britain 1836- 2012. Kube Publishing Ltd.
40. Shain, F. (2017). Dangerous Radicals or Symbols of Crisis and Change: Re-theorising the Status of Muslim Boys as a Threat to the Social Order. In: Mac an Ghaill, M., Haywood, C. (eds) Muslim Students, Education and Neoliberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56921-9_2
41. Shah, S. (2017). Education of Muslim Students in Turbulent Times. In: Mac an Ghaill, M., Haywood, C. (eds) Muslim Students, Education and Neoliberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56921-9_4
42. Shah, S. (2019). “I Am a Muslim First …” Challenges of Muslimness and the UK State Schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18(3), 341–356. https://doi. org/10.1080/15700763.2017.1398335
43. Sodha, S. (2022). The Trojan Horse Affair: How Serial podcast got it so wrong. The Observer. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/ feb/20/the-trojan-horse-affair-how-serial-podcast-got-it-so-wrong
44. Sproston, K., & Bhui, K. (2002). In W. O’Connor & J. Nazroo (Eds.), Ethnic differences in the context and experience of psychiatric illness: A qualitative study. Stationary Office.
45. Stuart, J. (2014). A qualitative analysis of Muslim young adults’ adaptation experiences in New Zealand. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 8(2), 21-46.
46. Tastepe, M. S. (2023). Exploring the Islamic education needs of 11-to 16-year-old British Muslim students attending community, faith-based and Muslim supplementary schools in the UK: an empirical inquiry (Doctoral dissertation, University of Warwick).
47. TellMAMA. (2024). Tell MAMA recorded almost 5,000 anti-Muslim cases a year on from 7 October TELL MAMA. https://tellmamauk.org/tellmama- recorded-almost-5000-anti-muslim-cases-a-year-on-from-7-october/ The Runnymede
48. Trust. (1997). Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All. https://www. runnymedetrust.org//publications/islamophobia-a-challenge-for-us-all
49. Thomas, J., & Barbato, M. (2020). Positive Religious Coping and Mental Health among Christians and Muslims in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Religions, 11(10), 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100498
50. Zammuner, V. L. (2019). Adolescents’ coping strategies influence their psychosocial well being. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 36(3), 1-17.