Cultural Maintenance and Muslim Rites of Passage Practices in Sweden and the UK

Cultural maintenance of immigrants has been a contentious and polarising subject in the West. While Sweden and the United Kingdom has a similar percentage of Muslims, both nations approach cultural maintenance of Muslims from a differing perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this comparative study is to examine the similarities and differences of minority Muslim communities’ cultural practices in Sweden and the United Kingdom regarding rites of passage, specifically focusing on birth, circumcision, marriage, and death rituals, and the response of the majority populations. The research analyses how sharī'ah traditional practices are modified and adapted within two Western European contexts, each with distinctive demographic compositions, legal frameworks, and historical relationships with Muslim populations. Through comparative analysis of religio-cultural practices, the research demonstrates that cultural maintenance operates as resistance against assimilative pressures while simultaneously adapting to legal constraints and social contexts of host societies. Various aspects of the rites of passage are first defined by taqlīd, and then compared to practices. Key findings include: the impact of animal welfare legislation on sacrificial customs (ʿaqīqah), varying regulatory approaches to male circumcision, differing marriage age requirements and recognition policies, and adaptations in Islamic burial practices within Western cemetery systems. The study identifies three principal factors influencing cultural negotiation within Muslim diasporas: the normative influence of host society culture, legal framework constraints that shape religious practice interpretation, and generational adaptation processes among second- and third-generation Muslims. These factors result in a dynamic religio-cultural realignment that maintains core Islamic identity while incorporating contextual modifications.