DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2020.5.34083

Abstract: This article analyzes how the young ethnic Muslims of 2nd and 3rd generations who were born in Germany, as well as Muslim students studying in Germany, spend their spare time. The author used such methods as field ethnographic observation and unstructured interview with the respondents. The pool of respondents was formed via snowball sampling. Studying the pastime of Muslim youth, the author was able to trace the degree of their integration into German society. Since multiple sociocultural needs are usually fulfilled during the spare time, examination of the leisure of youth allows determining moral and spiritual image of a person. This article is first to analyze leisure time of ethnic Muslims residing in Germany based on the field material acquired by the author, which defines the scientific novelty of this research. The conclusion is made that usually ethnic Muslims of 2nd and 3rd generations (young people without higher education) spend their spare time on the Internet, doing sport or entertaining activities. Young Muslims studying in the universities prefer intellectual leisure activities: reading, visiting museums and exhibitions. The priorities of young Muslims of the 2nd and 3rd generation resemble a slow paced level life, keeping it easy, with no ambition in getting higher education. For Muslim students or Muslims who already received higher education, the priority in pastime include spiritual and cultural development, accumulation of investments and landing a highly-skilled job with decent salary.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2020.3.32181

Abstract: Currently, more and more people in the world are changing their religious identity. The study is devoted to Germans who converted to Islam, the so-called Convertites. The subject of consideration in the article is the implementation of religious practices - the use of "halal" products and the observance of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan by German converts after religious conversion. The purpose of the article is to analyze the change in food traditions and food culture among "Muslim Germans". The author pays special attention to the transformation of food habits, how the transition to a new food culture (rejection of pork and alcohol) takes place, what experiences and difficulties the convert experiences during the transition The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the question of newly converted Germans, for the first time in Russian historiography, is considered on the field material collected by the author, on the territory of Germany. The author comes to the following conclusions: With religious alternation, a convert may not perform religious practices, consume products prohibited in Islam (alcohol, pork), and not observe fasting. During religious conversion, the convertit will strictly observe all the rules prescribed in the Koran. He will observe fasting and not eat non-halal foods. A change in the food culture can be accompanied by personal experiences, be gradual or instantaneous.