Life Stages and Religious Renewal. Young Muslims Transitioning to Adulthood in Italy and Their Conception of Islam

Religion is often associated with the image of a path that accompanies and crosses the course of life and its different stages. The studies developed at the intersection between religion and biographical research have frequently focused on those changes in faith that open up new existential phases (e.g. research on conversion: Allievi, 2017) or looked at those life stages in which religion assumes a central role (e.g. research on faith in older people: Dalby, 2006). However, many other intersections remain under-researched, including that between faith and the increasingly complex and delayed entry into adulthood (Biggart & Walther, 2006).

With the aim of shedding light on the relationship between religion and transition to adulthood, the paper draws on the narratives of a group of young Muslims with migration backgrounds who are growing up in Italy. In particular, the paper explores how the transition to adulthood is associated with a renewal in the relationship with Islam and its moral values. The research is part of the ‘Growing old, feeling like citizens?’ project (Universities of Padua and Milan-Bicocca) which is based on 80 biographical interviews with young Muslim adults in Italy and 8 focus groups.

Based on the data collected and their analysis, the paper provides some interesting insights. First, it emerges a link between the representation of adulthood as a stage of maturity and the development of a more intense relationship with religion and its values. However, this relationship takes place in a minority context, with consequences for interviewees’ identity definition and their claim for a legitimate presence of Islam in the Italian landscape. Finally, the intersection between religion and adulthood is shaped by the previous biography of the young people interviewed, who often developed de-culturised readings of Islam during adolescence (Acocella, 2018) that persist into adulthood.