"NON-MUSLIM WOMEN MARRIED TO MUSLIM MEN: THEIR JOURNEY TOWARDS CULTURAL ASSIMILATION"

This is a qualitative case study of Non-Muslim women married to Muslim men in Brgy. Lamba, Banga, So. Cot. It sought to describe the said non-Muslim women in terms of their family background, their experiences in the process of taking cultural practices and beliefs of their husbands and of their challenges encountered in their way to assimilate to their husbands' culture.

Three Muslim women who were married to Muslim men were taken as research participants. In-Depth interview Guide was used in gathering data from women who, upon seeking their Free-prior informed consent, were interviewed each at their homes in Lamba, Banga, South Cotabato. In analyzing data, interview transcripts were written from which themes were culled out and built sequentially to provide stories to answer study questions.

Findings revealed that the women fell in love with their now-husbands in the midst of some problems with their families of orientation. Stories of quite problematic parents with vices, and a search for sense of affiliation led the women to get married to their husbands with whom they fall in love. Being born into families with deeply rooted Christian beliefs, the women did not have an easy way embracing their Muslim husbands' religion and other cultural beliefs and practices. However, their desire to build a secure and happy family for their children motivated them to eventually become one with their husbands whose families also became accepting and supportive of them. Challenges such as stigma coming from their families and previous religious groups on their way to assimilation into their husbands' culture were there, but their eventual appreciation of the Muslim values and practices have made them fully embrace it by heart.