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Vol. 5 No. 2 (2020)
Muslim Citizenship in the West

Articles

The Iftar at the Train Station: An Auto-ethnography of Muslim Cultural Citizenship in Australia

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v5i2.271

Published 27.09.2020

  • Rizwan Sahib
Rizwan Sahib
PhD Candidate, Western Sydney University, Australia

Abstract

This autoethnographic study explores how I am a citizen culturally speaking; that is, my Muslim identity and religious customs are positively recognised by my non-Muslim Australian work-colleague. In our interactions at my workplace—a train station—my colleague’s actions towards me made me feel included within Australian society. I also claimed recognition of my cultural identity and custom by including my work colleague in my Eid celebration. I interpret my colleague’s actions and my own as examples of cultural citizenship. This finding lends weight to the results of previous research that illustrate a positive trend vis-à-vis Muslims and Australian citizenship.

Keywords

Muslims, Cultural citizenship, Australia, Multiculturalism, Autoethnography

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