This article analyses the relation between Islam, politics and citizenship. It analyses three currents within Islam: Salafism, Islamism, and modernism. The central argument is that most modern Islamic currents do not have a concept of politics as an independent ‘field’ where compromises can be made concerning societal problems. The only current that provide the space for a pluriform, open political debate is Islamic modernism. Through its humanism and the centrality of the common good and not the text, modernism embraces not only the concept of politics as free space but also the concept of active citizenship.

Since it has become apparent that so many Western women have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State, there is a relentless stream of publications dealing with the motivations of these women to join the terrorist organization. Most of these publications, based on ‘open sources’, are focusing on the motives spread by the women via social media. These social media reports, however, only provide a distorted view of the women’s motives. This article is based upon ethnographic research focusing on 28 Belgian and Dutch families, whose daughters have left for Syria to join the armed struggle.
Although the existing literature shows that the feelings of exclusion in Western societies by Muslim women is seen as an important motive for their departure to Syria, the conversations with the families rarely supported this. Moreover, religion and ideology have played a minor role in the departure of their daughters from the perspective of the families, compared to what literature suggests. According to the families the departure of their daughters was mainly driven by romantic motives and the problems they were dealing with in their daily lives.