Proselytes of a New Nation

Proselytes of a New Nation analyzes questions such as: Why did many Muslims convert to Greek Orthodoxy? What did conversion mean to the converts? What were their economic, social, and professional profiles? And how did conversion affect the converts' relationships with Muslim relatives in Greece and the Ottoman Empire?

Stefanos Katsikas maintains that in the era of nationalism-when Sharia law and the Ottoman legal system could keep converts from inheriting family property; when converts were regarded as either "traitors" or "heroes"-conversion more drastically affected the social fabric of communities and more often led to violence and conflict.