God in the eyes of a refugee : emic perspectives on religion and resettlement of Syrian Muslims in North East Scotland

Abstract

This ethnographic study prioritises the emic perspectives of Syrian Muslim refugees resettled to North East Scotland by means of conversations about God. Beginning with a model borrowed from the monastic tradition that has an approach towards the other of "dilatato corde," an expanded heart, it explores the implications of employing a model of inter-religious dialogue that inverts existing power dynamics and brings to therefore a peripheral voice. The purpose of this study is to challenge paradigms of exclusion, by learning directly from those who have been uprooted by war and resettled as refugees in Scotland, and to understand theological perspectives of those at the margins. The narrative approach in Part II of the thesis interweaves the voices of refugees with fieldwork observations and existing literature that verifies the themes. Echoing the theological meta-narrative that emerged in conversation with the informants, Chapter Three considers the experience of resettlement through the prism of “estrangement” (al-ghurba), Chapter Four focuses on the concept of “homeland” (al-waṭan) from a position of exile, and Chapter Five seeks an understanding of “God” (allāh) as seen through the eyes of the refugee. The study provides a written record of the life narratives, at a particular moment in time, of a people whose voices are not readily heard, offers insights into the inner world of a small number of Muslim refugees, and illustrates the extent to which Islam, and religion more generally, has an influence in, and implications for, the field of refugee resettlement.