Empirical approach to conversion as a process: Follow-up study revisiting the experiences of Iraqi refugees in Finland who have converted from Islam to Christianity

Although the current academic discussion on religious conversion predominantly considers conversion as a process, the number of empirical studies that explore the same converts in different points in time remains limited. Also, there is still little research on the asylum seekers’ conversions from Islam to Christianity following the so-called 2015 refugee crisis. This article provides a longitudinal perspective to religious conversion as well as the 2015 migration crisis through revisiting the experiences of Iraqi forced migrants in Finland, first interviewed in 2017–2018 and then six years later in 2023–2024. In addition to the interviews with the converts, I have also conducted fieldwork for several years and interviewed people working with converts to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon.  

The so-called 2015 migration crisis affected Finland alongside many other countries. In 2015, following turbulence in Middle East and North Africa, Finland received a record number of asylum seekers mainly from Muslim majority countries. The largest group were Iraqis who already constituted a significant community in Finland. Christian churches had an active role in helping these people; whereas some congregations focused on the material help, others also considered this as a mission opportunity and engaged in proselytism. Large numbers of Muslims converted to Christianity (while there are no official statistics, estimates vary from well over a thousand to several thousands). Because conversion can cause persecution and hence be a basis for granting international protection, there has been debate about the sincerity of the conversions. At the same time, religious conversion has occurred throughout history when people of different faith backgrounds interact in a new way, and the life situation of the asylum seekers also includes factors that make conversion more likely, such as a life crisis, fewer and weaker ties to previous social networks and a large amount of free time. Therefore, it can be assumed that these people are not a unified group but there is a variety of motives behind the conversions. In addition, conceptualizing conversion as a process assumes that a person’s relationship with religion can evolve in time, which also adds to the complexity of the motives. For example, someone who has originally familiarized themselves with a religion with instrumental motives might later on become interested in the faith itself, and accordingly being at some point deeply invested in the faith may be followed by doubts and disappointments. This temporal variety is present in the data collected for this study.   

Conversion has been defined in various ways in different faith traditions and academic contexts. In the case of the converted asylum seekers in Finland following the 2015 refugee crises, the converts have been defined by various actors in the Finnish society such as migration officials, religious communities, societal discourse, media and politicians, based on their understandings of conversion. With these people being defined from the outside, this article seeks to give a voice to the converts themselves by exploring what conversion means to them and how they themselves define their conversion. The study builds on decolonial epistemologies, and rather than testing an existing theory on religious conversion, which have mainly been developed in Western contexts, the study takes a data-driven approach and reflects what the case of these Iraqi refugee converts can teach the global academic discussion on religious conversion and the societal actors dealing with conversion. The study recognizes both Islam and Christianity as global religions originating from the Middle East that have existed in Iraq since their early years, while their history in Finland is far more recent. 

The data offer perspectives on the variety of religious conversion and show that conversion can signify different things to different individuals, as well as the same individuals at different times. Conversion studies have shown that while it is common for recent converts to see their old and new religions as deeply contrasted, in time the views tend to become more nuanced. This is empirically present also in my study. For example, in the first interview with one of my participants that was held soon after his conversion and migration to Finland, he described conversion as a life changing experience and Islam as being behind the societal problems in Iraq and Christianity as the religion of love and peace offering him a new family in Finland. However, in the second interview six years later he considered himself an atheist and described Christian communities in a disappointed manner and nostalgia towards the Muslim communities. In the later interview, the communal aspect of religion and conversion was highly present. On the other hand, some of the interviewees had become more confident in their Christian faith, and one had acquired a leading role in his religious community. One participant emphasized the importance of receiving a new identity through becoming a child of God in conversion. For another interviewee, faith was a personal matter giving solace and meaning in the midst of difficulties although he has become more distant with the religious communities. In my presentation, I will discuss these varieties in more detail.