“It’s the God factor”: A qualitative study of Syrian Muslims’ postwar religious meaning-making.

Abstract

Religious meaning-making may facilitate psychological adjustment to even the most extreme traumatic stressors, including war and forced displacement. Yet, few studies have examined the religious meaning-making trajectories of refugees and none from an Islamic perspective. This qualitative cross-sectional study investigated Syrian Muslims’ postwar meaning-making experiences, guided by Park’s (2010) meaning-making model. Thirty-three Syrian Muslim refugees living in Portugal were interviewed 8 years after the onset of the war. Thematic analysis was used to explore cognitive reappraisal processes informed by Islam. The recurrent nature of meaning-making throughout refugees’ displacement trajectories; religious struggles as a key determinant of religious meaning-making; meaning-making as dynamic trajectories with no clear end; place of settlement as a source of meaning; and the ability of Islam to withstand extreme challenges and provide a last-resort narrative, even for those individuals with severely eroded beliefs. Findings highlight the need for practitioners in host countries to incorporate faith and religious traditions in the provision of care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)