Identity Transformation by Artists Transferring to Musawarah Discussion Community

This research is aimed at exploring the identity transformation undergone by artists who “hijrah” or make a transfer of lifestyle within a Young Person’s Discussion Community called Musawarah. This community is based on a lifestyle that is “Sakinah Mawaddah Warohmah” meaning a Place /condition of Peace/ serenity, all Encompassing Love and Spiritually Blessed. The group consists of 19 males and 6 females originating from the middle class who have made a conscious decision to change their lifestyle. The theoretical perspective used for this research is a phenomenological approach based on in depth interviews while the research method used is a qualitative research method consisting of data collection and in depth interviews. The research results found that the artists in the Musawarah Discussion Group went through 6 phases in making the decision to transfer including pre-transfer, stimulation, selfisolation, self-doubt, transfer and post-transfer. Research results indicate that the concept held by the artists was one of Conversion-Reversion. The meaning of “hijrah” in this case does not mean that these artists take on an entirely new identity but that they have returned to the situation they were in prior to becoming artists with all its popularity and glamour and have become more religious than they were before. The identity transformation of these transferring artists is an unfinished or ongoing transfer towards awareness of their self existence as a total personality who has returned or moved away from bad things to that which is good.