Muslims in Latin America
When the Americas were discovered by the Spaniards in the fifteenth century, they brought slaves from the north and west of Africa who introduced Islam in Latin America, staying in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and some Caribbean islands. In many cases, these Muslim slaves were forced to leave their religious beliefs or be executed instead. Thus, with the passing of time, Islam started fading away in Latin American countries.
At the end of the sixteenth century, after the liberation of slaves and the return of many of them to these lands, together with immigration from India and Pakistan, new concentrations of Muslims appeared. According to some documents, between the years 1850 and 1860 massive immigration of Arab Muslims to American lands took place. The majority came from Syria and Lebanon, and stayed in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. Some of these also stayed in Paraguay, together with immigrants from Palestine, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This immigration was very intense, and started decreasing in the 1950’s in these countries and in the 1970’s in Colombia, with future currents taking residence in Brazil and Venezuela.
These communities, just like in the U.S.A., integrated themselves to national activities, standing out for their hard work, respect and love for the country that sheltered them. Many of them grouped to create Islamic societies, centers, mosques, etc. in order to worship freely. Nowadays, in all Latin American countries, there are Muslim concentrations, immigrants and natives, who adopted Islam as their new faith. According to statistics, the number of Muslims in Latin America is over four million, with 700,000 in Argentina and more than 1.5 million in Brazil. Immigrants represent 50% of Muslims in the Islamic communities in Latin America, the rest being new Muslims of different nationalities, such as Mexicans, Spanish, Italians, Colombians, Argentinians, etc.
Just as in any other country where Muslims are a minority, Latin American Muslims also face some difficulties. These include lack of knowledge of the Islamic culture and religion, lack of formal teaching of the Arab language, lack of economic resources, and lack of Islamic material in Spanish. Many Muslims have assimilated so much into the cultures of their countries that they are not aware of basic Muslim rites like marriage, funeral, burial, etc. However, many groups maintained their identity and did everything possible to return to their religious origins. These groups worked hard in order to change that situation.
Today, many members of the Latin Muslim community participate in Islamic congresses around the world, young Latin Muslims study at universities in Arab countries, and many others maintain their Islamic religion and traditions and wish to increase their knowledge of it. The number of people embracing Islam is also growing day by day. In view of this situation, Muslim representatives of 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in the year 1997 in Buenos Aires, and achieved the formation of the “Islamic Association for Latin America.”
As a result, many tasks have been accomplished, such as the Spanish publication of many Islamic books and websites, mass distribution of Spanish material on Islam, recognition by government authorities (for example, in Argentina) of holy days for the Islamic community, including the Islamic new year, and Muslim representation by members of our community in their individual countries as governors, senators, representatives and other positions of importance.
At the same time, there is much that still needs to be attained. Muslims must cooperate in the building of mosques in the places where Islamic communities lack them; they must cooperate in the creation of a fund for humanitarian help to the old, the poor and the sick; they must unify the attitude of all Muslims in subjects like marriage, funerals, burials, etc., and must encourage the mosques to hold various activities, so that they can perform their true roles and not only that of a place to pray and commemorate events.
Finally, Muslims in Latin America must continue to reach out to their neighbors to show them the beauty of Islam and remain committed to being productive citizens in their respective countries.
Adapted from a speech delivered by Muhammad Yusuf Hallar at a recent Islamic Organization for Latin America conference.
Muhammad Yusuf Hallar is the Secretary General of the Islamic Organization for Latin America, Director of the Office of Islamic Culture- Argentina, member of the Constituent Islamic Council of the Muslim World League (Makkah), and a member of Expert Committee on Minority Rights- Islamic Conference (OIC). In 2009, he was named one of 500 Most Influential Muslims of the World by a report published by The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
Muslim astronomers and mariners guided Columbus
It is a known fact that Muslim Europeans of the Middle Ages were far more advanced than their non-Muslim counterparts, thanks to the Golden Ages of Spain and Sicily under Muslim rule. Yet, many people forget that Muslim astronomers and mariners played an important role in the discovery of the New World – for instance, the astronomical tools and maps which Columbus used had been perfected by Muslims. In fact, Muslims had made contact with the New World even before Columbus! [Click here to learn about Islam in Spain and Sicily.]
In his survey of the Muslims in Latin America, Ahsani writes in the Journal of the Institute of Minority Affairs (1984), “Muslim navigators from Spain and Africa had developed contacts with Mexico and other parts of Central and South America well before Columbus.” For evidence, he cites, “Along the coast of South America Arab coins have been found dating back to 800 AD.”
Furthermore, Vasco de Gama consulted with Muslim astronomer Ahmad bin Majid, and a map depicting the Western hemisphere, discovered in 1929 and created by navigator and cartographer Piri Muhyi’ al-Din Re’is (d. 1554), suggests that it could only have been made through first-hand experience in the Americas. To clinch the issue, Ahsani writes that Portuguese and Spanish discovery missions “were led by Muslim mariners – Moriscos.”
877-Why-Islam visits the oldest masjid in Brazil and all of Latin America. This masjid was built in 1929 and is the center of many activities in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Watch this video to get glimpses of this amazing architecture. Witness how your rewards multiple, Masha Allah. Please continue your support at https://icnanj.wufoo.com/forms/donation-for-877whyislam-dawah-project/.
The very first Christian to see the Americas converted to Islam
By a rare paradox of history, the first Christian to see the American land, Rodrigo de Triana, or Rodrigo de Lepe, on his return to Spain became a Muslim, abandoning his Christian allegiance “because Columbus did not give him credit, nor the King any recompense, for his having seen—before any other man in the crew—light in the Indies.”[1]
Columbus’ 1492 expedition coincided with the fall of Granada, the very last Muslim stronghold in Spain. This led to some very harsh times for Spanish Muslims, culminating in the Spanish Inquisition. This turn of events encouraged many displaced Muslims to go to the New World in the hopes of freely exercising their religion once again.
Such circumstances actually remind one of the cruelties some early Muslims endured at the hand of Meccan pagans; in order to escape ruthless persecution, a small number of Muslims had sought refuge in Christian Ethiopia. [Click here to read about Jafar ibn Abi Talib’s encounter with the King of Ethiopia.] Their patience and perseverance eventually paid off when they were able to return to the Muslim community of Madina. Similarly, the tortured Spanish Muslims were able to find a haven for themselves in the Americas.
In fact, freedom of religion is one of the hallmarks of Islam. The Qur’an states, “There’s no compulsion in religion.” (2:256) Muslim empires over time – from Abbasids in Baghdad to the Umayyads in Cordoba to the Ottomans in Istanbul – have awarded their citizens the right to practice their religion, be it Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism. By extension, Muslims also cherish the right to freely exercise their own religion. No wonder they chose to be pioneers to a land very few had seen. [Read more: Muhammad’s Charter of Freedom of Religion to St. Catherine’s Monastery]
Ahsani writes, “Muslim artisans … brought their art to the New World. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they came to the colonies without their families and their descendants – Mestizos – born of local women, preserved their art in Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.”
An interesting proof of this comes from the fact that, in response, Spain created a “whole body of laws and regulations” (Bazan) in order to keep Muslims from inhabiting the New World. However, the Queen was unsuccessful in curbing this flow of migration, so much so that an increasing number of Muslims and Jews continued to settle in Latin America in the similar hopes of freely practicing their faiths. In 1539, Spain announced the prohibition of the “transfer to the West Indies of sons or grandsons of persons” of Muslim or Jewish ancestry. Charles V further “ordered the expulsion” of Muslims living in the Americas in 1543.
Muslim discovery and habitation of the Americas
The above details clearly confirm that Muslims played a significant role in the “discovery” and habitation of the Americas. Yet the single-most important proof of Muslim existence in the Americas comes in the form of slaves who were transported from Africa. Unfortunately, most of these slaves encountered a fate similar to the Spanish Muslims. They were forced to convert to Christianity:
Baptism thus became a moral obligation of the masters toward their slaves…As a consequence, the newly arrived Africans were converted on a large scale. The Jesuit Pedro Claver, who officiated in Cartagena, Colombia, in the first half of the seventeenth century, reportedly baptized more than three hundred thousand Africans and was canonized for this good work… Conversions—at least superficial ones—were thus achieved through harsh punishment…the non-Catholic Europeans were allowed to continue their rites in the privacy of their homes, but the slaves’ religions became illegal. After the Muslim revolt of 1835, the Brazilian masters had six months to baptize their slaves and give them some religious education, after which they were liable to a fine for each non-Christian slave they owned.[2]
The gravity and long-term impact of this predicament becomes evident when Diouf elaborates that, “With a documented presence of five hundred years, Islam was, after Catholicism, the second monotheist religion introduced into post-Columbian America. It preceded Lutheranism, Methodism, Baptism, Calvinism, Santeria, Mandible, and Voodoo to name a few … but, not one community currently practices Islam as passed on by preceding African generations.”
Just like Spain and Sicily, Latin America was successful in wiping out Muslims from its lands. However, with time, it was reborn as a result of waves of Muslim migrants in the recent past who have, like their predecessors, chosen to call this continent their home.
[1] Rafael Guevara Bazan, “Some Notes for a History of the Relations Between Latin America, the Arabs and Islam.” The Muslim World 61 (1971): 284-92.
[2] Sylviane A. Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. New York: New York UP, 1998.
Muslims explored South America long before Columbus “discovered” the Americas and Islam was the second monotheistic religion introduced in post-Columbian America after Catholicism.
Despite these facts, Islam has had a tragic past in Latin America and only recently have Muslims begun to reclaim their identity and their heritage. Latin Americans have come to know Islam largely through the behaviors of their Muslim neighbors: prayer, fasting, abstention of pork and alcohol. Muslims often face a variety of issues as minorities in South America: concerns regarding modesty in dress, political participation, practicing their religion, and civic involvement.
Today, Latin America has a vibrant Muslim minority which is committed to practice their religion, to increase awareness among fellow Muslims of authentic Islam, and to establish a niche for themselves in their adopted homelands as productive citizens devoted to the betterment of their countries.
Historical Legacy
Muslims in Latin America
Muslims first sailed to North America in 889 CE. This clip also touches mentions more than one million African Muslims who were brought as slaves. Explained by Imam Khalid Griggs.
Marriage, post-9/11 curiosity, and a shared interest in issues such as immigration are key reasons.
By Amy Green | September 28, 2006
ORLANDO, FLA. – With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn’t look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she’s from, often they are surprised that it’s not the Middle East but Colombia.
That’s because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in modesty. “When I was in my country I never fit in the society. Here in Islam I feel like I fit with everything they believe,” she says.
Garcia is one of a growing number of Hispanics across the US who have found common ground in a faith and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage. From professionals to students to homemakers, they are drawn to the Muslim faith through marriage, curiosity and a shared interest in issues such as immigration.
The population of Hispanic Muslims has increased 30 percent to some 200,000 since 1999, estimates Ali Khan, national director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago. Many attribute the trend to a growing interest in Islam since the 2001 terrorist attacks and also to a collision between two burgeoning minority groups. They note that Muslims ruled Spain centuries ago, leaving an imprint on Spanish food, music, and language.
“Many Hispanics … who are becoming Muslim, would say they are embracing their heritage, a heritage that was denied to them in a sense,” says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky.
The trend has spawned Latino Islamic organizations such as the Latino American Dawah Organization, established in 1997 by Hispanic converts in New York City. Today the organization is nationwide.
The growth in the Hispanic Muslim population is especially prevalent in New York, Florida, California, and Texas, where Hispanic communities are largest. In Orlando, the area’s largest mosque, which serves some 700 worshipers each week, is located in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. A few years ago it was rare to hear Spanish spoken at the mosque, says Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.
Today there is a growing demand for books in Spanish, including the Koran, and requests for appearances on Spanish-language radio stations, Mr. Musri says. The mosque offers a Spanish-language education program in Islam for women on Saturdays. “I could easily see in the next few years a mosque that will have Spanish services and a Hispanic imam who will be leading the service,” he says.
The two groups tend to be family-oriented, religious, and historically conservative politically, Dr. Bagby says. Many who convert are second- and third-generation Hispanic Americans.
The two groups also share an interest in social issues such as immigration, poverty, and healthcare. Earlier this year Muslims joined Hispanics in marches nationwide protesting immigration-reform proposals they felt were unfair.
In South Central Los Angeles, a group of Muslim UCLA students a decade ago established a medical clinic in this underserved area. Today the nonreligious University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic treats some 16,000 patients, mostly Hispanic, who see it as a safe place to seek care without fear for their illegal status, says Mansur Khan, vice chairman of the board and one of the founders.
Although the clinic doesn’t seek Muslim converts, Dr. Khan sees Hispanics taking an interest in his faith because it focuses on family, he says. One volunteer nurse founded a Latino Islamic organization in the area. Another Hispanic woman told Khan she felt drawn to the faith because of the head covering Muslim women wear. It reminded her of the Virgin Mary.
The trend is a sign that Islam is becoming more Americanized and more indigenous to the country, Bagby says. As Republican positions on issues such as immigration push Muslim Hispanics and blacks in a less conservative direction, Islam could move in the same direction. Muslim Hispanic and black involvement in American politics could demonstrate to Muslims worldwide the virtues of democracy, eventually softening fundamentalists. He believes the Osama bin Ladens of the world are a small minority, and that most fundamentalists are moving toward engagement with the West.
“The more Hispanics and other Americans [who] become Muslim, the stronger and wider the bridge between the Muslim community and the general larger American community,” Bagby says. “Their words and approach have some weight because they are a source of pride for Muslims throughout the world.”
Garcia left Colombia to study international business in the US. Always religious, she considered becoming a nun when she was younger. But her Catholic faith raised questions for her. She wondered about eating pork when the Bible forbids it, and about praying to Mary and the saints and not directly to God.
In the US she befriended Muslims and eventually converted to Islam. Her family in Colombia was supportive. Today she says her prayers in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and she eats Halal food in keeping with Islamic beliefs.
“It’s the best thing that happened to me,” says Garcia in soft, broken English. “I never expected to have so many blessings and be in peace like I am now.”
