Negotiating Belonging in Marginalized Muslim Spiritual Communities: Digital Practices of Inclusion among Young Yoruba Muslims in Southwestern Nigeria

This presentation examines how young Yoruba Muslims in Southwestern Nigeria negotiate belonging within marginalized spiritual communities through emerging digital practices. It explores how online study circles, micro-communities, and spiritual mentorship platforms cultivate inclusion while simultaneously exposing tensions around authority, authenticity, and communal identity. By analysing these hybrid spaces of participation, the study highlights both the possibilities and the paradoxes of digital belonging, showing how young Muslims navigate recognition, exclusion, and spiritual agency. The presentation contributes an African perspective to wider conversations on inclusion, marginality, and the evolving forms of spiritual community in contemporary societies.