Real Muslim Caves: Exploring an Emerging Religious Youth Subculture Among Young Canadian Muslims

This paper focuses on the religious identities of second-generation immigrant Muslim youth living in Canada. The intergenerational divide between first and second-generation immigrants is obvious in the recent development of Muslim Canadian youth clubs, which are founded, and run by youths themselves. In many cases Islamic centers are not well suited to address the religious and other needs of second-generation Muslims in Canada. Religious activities in the youth clubs are different from the religious centers of their parents, exposing this divide in the Muslim community as never before. This paper examines how youth clubs offer a protective environment for Muslim youth and argues that a distinct “religious youth subculture” is emerging among second-generation Muslim youth in Canada.