Upon the examination of the social sciences literature, it can be seen that
the identity is addressed as a phenomenon that can be built as a result
of social processes and interactions. The religious life and immigration
process stand out as significant components in the building of the identity.
The purpose of this study is to determine the identity perceptions
of the Sandžak immigrants in Pendik and the effects of the immigration
process and religious life on these perceptions. For this study where
phenomenological pattern, one of the qualitative research methods, was
used; interviews have been done with 30 Sandžak immigrations living
in Pendik. The data of the interviews; have been examined and analyzed
within the topics of immigration process, daily life, identity and religion.
As a result of the study, we can say that the Sandžak immigrants living in
Pendik established social relationships among themselves due to reasons
like the language problem, being stigmatized, etc. that they went through
during their first years, and that they appear as an introvert group.
This situation has led to the development of an immigrant habitus
among the Sandžak immigrants in Pendik. According to it, immigrants
manifest similar attitudes about many topics. We can see this common
attitude in daily life, in their perceptions of identity and religious matters.
The main components of the immigrant identity in Pendik is ‘being
Turkish, Bosnian, Sandžak immigrant and Muslim’. Not only a certain
hierarchy can be mentioned among them, they are also interchangeable.
We can talk about three typologies among the Sandžak immigrants in
Pendik in terms of their point of view on religion and religious life. The
participants in the first typology have a more conventional relationship
with religion. As for the participants in the second and third typology,
the vast majority among the participants in terms of number, we can say
that they have a more secular point of view on religion.
Keywords: Sandžak Immigrants; Pendik; Identity; Religion; Migration