Marta Khadiya, presidenta de la Asociación de Musulmanes Latinos de EEUU (LALMA)
Entrevistas - 24/03/2007 14:53 | Redacción Webislam Musulmanes latinos¿Cuál es la situación de la comunidad latina musulmana en EEUU y en particular en California?
California está considerado como un “estado liberal” en EEUU. La población es la más diversa étnicamente del país. Nos parecemos tanto unos a otros que es difícil saber quién es latino excepto cuando comenzamos a hablar en español.
La situación de los latinos musulmanes en California no es diferente del resto de la comunidad musulmana de EEUU. Participamos junto con los otros musulmanes en las festividades. Aunque en el sur de California existen más de 75 centros islámicos y mezquitas, los musulmanes latinos no poseen un centro propio, así que acuden a todos esos centros. No existen estadísticas acerca del número de latinos musulmanes en el estado.
Existe libertad religiosa, pero después de los ataques del 11 de septiembre de 2001, la actitud hacia los musulmanes en general cambió a peor debido a los medios de comunicación y a la imagen estereotipada de los musulmanes.
¿Es difícil hoy ser musulmán en EEUU?
No es difícil ser musulmán en California ni en EEUU. Depende de la forma en la que los musulmanes se presentan a sí mismos. Si una mujer lleva niqab con ropas negras u otra ropa de Oriente Medio, se convertirá fácilmente en objeto de discriminación e incluso de hostigamiento. Será difícil para ella encontrar un trabajo.
La misma actitud será mostrada hacia un hombre musulmán si decide llevar un turbante u otras ropas típicas de Oriente Medio. Existen, sin embargo, empleadores que sienten simpatía hacia los musulmanes. Así por ejemplo, en el hospital donde trabajo existen algunas musulmanas que llevan pañuelo con ropas occidentales.
Algunos artículos recientes en la prensa norteamericana han hablado acerca de las mujeres latinas que se convierten al Islam. ¿Existen muchos casos de mujeres latinas que abrazan el Islam ahora?
La mayoría de los musulmanes latinos son mujeres. Este fenómeno es debido al hecho de que los hombres inmigrantes musulmanes buscan a mujeres latinas para contraer matrimonio. La mayoría de estas mujeres contraen matrimonio antes de convertirse al Islam. Con el tiempo y el buen ejemplo del marido, ellas abrazarán el Islam. Los varones musulmanes encuentran que las latinas comparten con ellos muchas similitudes de tipo social y cultural. Las mujeres latinas se preocupan del cuidado y atención hacia los padres y ancianos y dan mucha importancia a los vínculos familiares. Las familias hispanas inculcan a sus hijos la importancia del honor y las buenas maneras. Los latinos son también personas hospitalarias.
¿Cuánta población hispanohablante hay en Los Angeles?
Según el censo de 2000, más del 12% de la población norteamericana es latina. Además, la Oficina del Censo informa de que el español es el idioma primario del 42% de la población de Los Angeles. La ciudad de Santa Ana, en el sur de California, posee la mayor proporción de población de habla hispana de EEUU, un 74%, seguida por El Paso (Texas), con el 69%, y Miami, Florida, con el 66%. El hablar español dentro de la familia es una práctica común en la mayoría de los hogares hispanos.
¿Cuáles son las actividades de su organización, LALMA?
Nosotros llevamos a cabo numerosas actividades en idioma español, tales como clases dominicales de tafsir coránico, hadiz, introducción al idioma árabe, la historia islámica, la Historia de Al Andalus, la biografía del Profeta Muhammad etc.
Otras actividades incluyen presentaciones del libro “Introducción al Islam”, participación en las ferias del libro latino, seminarios de introducción al Islam en colaboración con varios grupos locales, interacción con las actividades de la Asociación de Estudiantes Musulmanes (MSA), interacción con las actividades de los grupos latinos y otros que representan a las minorías en las universidades etc. También suministramos servicios sociales a la comunidad latina no musulmana, incluyendo asesoramiento a los adolescentes.
¿Qué piensas acerca del diálogo interreligioso?
LALMA inició un diálogo interreligioso con la archidiócesis de Los Angeles hace algunos años. Existía una tremenda confusión en las congregaciones católicas tras el 11-S. Éstas han pedido información en idioma español sobre el Islam.
Desde entonces, hemos continuado nuestro diálogo con la comunidad católica, y hace dos años entramos en contacto también con la Iglesia Metodista Unida.
He de señalar que hemos sido muy bien recibidos en cada una de las ocasiones en las que nos hemos reunido. Su actitud nos indica que podemos comunicar el mensaje del Islam de una forma clara y simple sin realizar proselitismo
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Latino Muslims seek answers
Latino Muslims seek answers: Daily Review Online
Latino Muslims seek answers
Group meets in Hayward to discuss how to reconcile two cultures
By Martin Ricard, STAFF WRITER
HAYWARD — On a sunny afternoon, a dozen people file into the teaching room at Zaytuna Institute, a Muslim teaching center in downtown Hayward. But they have not showed up to learn about the Prophet Muhammad, Islam or the Arabic language. They are gathered to enjoy fellowship with one another and discuss what it means to be a Latino Muslim in the Bay Area.
Murabit Benavidez, a lanky Mexican-American wearing a long gray tunic, said he has been pondering the duality since college, but most recently since he returned from studying in Syria. He grew up in Fremont immersed in Latino culture but, lately, he has been trying to reconcile the two cultures since he converted to Islam seven years ago.
"Am I still a Chicano?" he asked. "We have this Islamic identity and, being Latino, we have this Catholic background. I'm not Christian anymore, but am I still Latino? We're redefining what Latino is."
A small group of Latino Muslims — mostly college students and young professionals coming from Silicon Valley — have been meeting recently at Zaytuna to support one another in their new conversion and educate one another on their Latino connections to Islamic culture.
For those such as Benavidez' brother, Justin, who have fully embraced both cultures, Islamic culture always has been a part of Latino identity but has not always been recognized.
"You can find a lot of similarities within the two cultures. Take the language, for example," said Justin, 32, who cited a passage in Carlos Fuentes' "The Buried Mirror," which says that one-quarter of all Spanish words are of Arab origin.
For others, who have not yet found that balance, it has been like making a spiritual jump into their new identities.
"We're kind of breaking that paradigm," he said. "And this is like laying the groundwork, making history as we go along. It's part of the journey."
Latino Muslim groups have been sprouting up all over the country, attempting to find cultural balance in their lives — in some instances, choosing religion over cultural roots. But this fledgling group says its identity will be focused on finding connections with Islamic Spain, which until the 15th century was ruled by Muslims but has since influenced other civilizations, especially those in Latin America, Benavidez said.
There are an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 Latino Muslims in the U.S. and about 1,000 reside in Southern California. There are no statistics available for the Bay Area.
The group has identified about 100 Latino Muslims in the Bay Area and has been meeting under a generic name. But Justin Benavidez said they hope to become a nonprofit and will change the name.
Until last week, they were meeting at Muhajireen Masjid, a local mosque mainly made up of Afghan immigrant congregants.
But renovations on the building have caused the group to search for a new meeting place. Thus, Zaytuna.
Walter Gomez, 29, whose roots are in El Salvador, said Zaytuna has been a perfect fit, not only for its intellectual focus but also for its adherence to the core values of Islam which, in essence, takes on the culture of the place it goes.
The word "zaytuna" — Arabic for olive tree — also has meaning for Gomez as well. It is a reference to aceituna or aceite, both mean oil in Spanish, and the light of God, a well-known and highly-interpreted passage in the Koran.
The Sunday gatherings bring from two to 20 people, Gomez said, and the group even hopes to attract non-Muslims.
"For us, it's not about the numbers," he said. "Just coming together."
On Sunday, Justin Benavidez was ending his lecture on how, toward the end of Islamic rule in Spain, many Spanish leaders believed their past with Muslims prevented the country from becoming as great as other European powers. Now, he said, Spain is beginning to reclaim and embrace that past.
Through the group's gatherings, he hopes to see all Latino Muslims in the Bay Area fully immersed in a quest to forge a new identity that embraces both their Latino and Muslim cultures — but also one that sheds the labeling by the outside world that often perpetuates a chasm between both cultures.
"It's important for us to have a link to something," he said in an interview. "We have a history, and we can trace it through Spain."
Martin Ricard is a general assignment reporter who can be reached at (510) 293-2480 or mricard@dailyreviewonline.com
posted by Latino Muslim of the Bay Area at 11:55 AM
Latino Muslims seek answers
Group meets in Hayward to discuss how to reconcile two cultures
By Martin Ricard, STAFF WRITER
HAYWARD — On a sunny afternoon, a dozen people file into the teaching room at Zaytuna Institute, a Muslim teaching center in downtown Hayward. But they have not showed up to learn about the Prophet Muhammad, Islam or the Arabic language. They are gathered to enjoy fellowship with one another and discuss what it means to be a Latino Muslim in the Bay Area.
Murabit Benavidez, a lanky Mexican-American wearing a long gray tunic, said he has been pondering the duality since college, but most recently since he returned from studying in Syria. He grew up in Fremont immersed in Latino culture but, lately, he has been trying to reconcile the two cultures since he converted to Islam seven years ago.
"Am I still a Chicano?" he asked. "We have this Islamic identity and, being Latino, we have this Catholic background. I'm not Christian anymore, but am I still Latino? We're redefining what Latino is."
A small group of Latino Muslims — mostly college students and young professionals coming from Silicon Valley — have been meeting recently at Zaytuna to support one another in their new conversion and educate one another on their Latino connections to Islamic culture.
For those such as Benavidez' brother, Justin, who have fully embraced both cultures, Islamic culture always has been a part of Latino identity but has not always been recognized.
"You can find a lot of similarities within the two cultures. Take the language, for example," said Justin, 32, who cited a passage in Carlos Fuentes' "The Buried Mirror," which says that one-quarter of all Spanish words are of Arab origin.
For others, who have not yet found that balance, it has been like making a spiritual jump into their new identities.
"We're kind of breaking that paradigm," he said. "And this is like laying the groundwork, making history as we go along. It's part of the journey."
Latino Muslim groups have been sprouting up all over the country, attempting to find cultural balance in their lives — in some instances, choosing religion over cultural roots. But this fledgling group says its identity will be focused on finding connections with Islamic Spain, which until the 15th century was ruled by Muslims but has since influenced other civilizations, especially those in Latin America, Benavidez said.
There are an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 Latino Muslims in the U.S. and about 1,000 reside in Southern California. There are no statistics available for the Bay Area.
The group has identified about 100 Latino Muslims in the Bay Area and has been meeting under a generic name. But Justin Benavidez said they hope to become a nonprofit and will change the name.
Until last week, they were meeting at Muhajireen Masjid, a local mosque mainly made up of Afghan immigrant congregants.
But renovations on the building have caused the group to search for a new meeting place. Thus, Zaytuna.
Walter Gomez, 29, whose roots are in El Salvador, said Zaytuna has been a perfect fit, not only for its intellectual focus but also for its adherence to the core values of Islam which, in essence, takes on the culture of the place it goes.
The word "zaytuna" — Arabic for olive tree — also has meaning for Gomez as well. It is a reference to aceituna or aceite, both mean oil in Spanish, and the light of God, a well-known and highly-interpreted passage in the Koran.
The Sunday gatherings bring from two to 20 people, Gomez said, and the group even hopes to attract non-Muslims.
"For us, it's not about the numbers," he said. "Just coming together."
On Sunday, Justin Benavidez was ending his lecture on how, toward the end of Islamic rule in Spain, many Spanish leaders believed their past with Muslims prevented the country from becoming as great as other European powers. Now, he said, Spain is beginning to reclaim and embrace that past.
Through the group's gatherings, he hopes to see all Latino Muslims in the Bay Area fully immersed in a quest to forge a new identity that embraces both their Latino and Muslim cultures — but also one that sheds the labeling by the outside world that often perpetuates a chasm between both cultures.
"It's important for us to have a link to something," he said in an interview. "We have a history, and we can trace it through Spain."
Martin Ricard is a general assignment reporter who can be reached at (510) 293-2480 or mricard@dailyreviewonline.com
posted by Latino Muslim of the Bay Area at 11:55 AM
I am doing this for Allah- God.
'I am doing this for God'
By Carmen Sesin
On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, NJ, and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women.
Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighbourhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops.
Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.
"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, 'Why is she wearing that, it's so hot.'"
But, she said, "I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing."
And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.
"You know how guys [say], 'Hey Mami, come over here?' I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are still curious, but it's much less," she explained. "They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body."
Perada is not alone as a Hispanic woman converting to Islam.
The exact number of Latino Muslims is difficult to determine, because the US Census Bureau does not collect information about religion.
However, according to estimates conducted by national Islamic organisations such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) there are approximately 40,000 Latino Muslims in the United States.
Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female.
But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos converting to Islam tilts slightly in favour of women - with 60 per cent women to 40 per cent men.
Juan Galvan, the head of LADO in Texas and the co-author of a report "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," explained that those numbers are unscientific, but based on the results of a voluntary survey that has been conducted on the LADO website since 2001.
"From observation and experience those numbers are correct," Galvan said.
"From my personal experience, there are definitely more Latina Muslims than Latino men," he added.
Galvan explained that there "just seem to be more" Latina Muslims at the various events he attends through his work with LADO.
At the Islamic Education Center of North Hudson, 300 of the people who attend the mosque are converts, and 80 per cent are Latino converts.
In addition, out of the Latino converts, 60 per cent are women, according to Nylka Vargas, who works at the mosque with the Educational Outreach Program.
Peter Awn, an Islamic studies professor at Columbia University, says there is no doubt that the number of Latinos converting to Islam is growing.
Louis Cristillo, an anthropologist who focuses on Islamic education at Columbia University, points out there are several indicators that reflect the growing trend of Latinos converting to Islam.
For example, there are a number of regional and national organisations that cater to Latino Muslims, and there are even support groups that can be found online specifically for Latino converts – in particular "Hispanicmuslims.com", as well the LADO organization at "latinodawah.org".
In fact, Latino Muslims in this country had been celebrating the annual Hispanic Muslim Day with different activities throughout the day.
Converting to Islam can be shocking for families who are largely Catholic and harbour stereotypes of Muslims, specifically concerning women.
Perada says her mother, who is Colombian, accepted her decision to convert, because she never really pushed her into Catholicism.
However, her father, who is of Italian origin, has had a tough time dealing with it.
"Sometimes he says things about the way I dress," said Perada adding, "He'll say, 'Why do you have to dress that way. I'm Christian. I don't walk around with a cross in my hand.' He always complains to my mom about it, but with me he just keeps it to himself. But I know for him it is very hard," Perada said.
Vargas, 30, from the Islamic Education Center, is of Ecuadorian and Peruvian descent.
She says her family is already accustomed to the idea of her being Muslim, since it has already been ten years since she converted.
But she recalls the days in which her family was dealing with the initial shock of her new faith.
"When I started being more visible, that's when things started getting weird. My sisters couldn't understand why I would cover myself. They thought I was being oppressed or brainwashed," said Vargas.
She admits it was difficult at first to adjust to certain customs, such as wearing the hijab or a headscarf and having to pray five times a day.
"First it felt kind of weird to be covered, but after a while it [the headscarf] becomes your hair. I refer to my hijab as my hair," she said.
Like other ethnic groups, Latinos convert for a variety of reasons. Some, says Cristillo, grew up in inner-city areas ravaged by poverty, drugs and prostitution, and were attracted in part by the fact that some Islamic communities were very active in cleaning up the neighbourhoods.
Vargas, meanwhile, says she questioned many things about the Catholic faith in which she was raised and felt an emptiness in Christianity.
Galvan, from LADO, pointed out that many people come to Islam through people that they know, "friends, co-workers, classmates, or husbands."
Professor Awn said that many Latinas find there is a greater sense of economic and social stability in Islam and that it also represents "a return to traditional values."
In that regard, Awn does not think Islam is any more patriarchal than other traditional religions, but recognised that "the younger generation is looking for a more progressive form of Islam."
And Perada does not feel that her adherence to the Muslim faith restricts her freedoms as a woman.
"If I get married, I know I am going to work, but I am going to be there for my kids, too," said Perada, dismissing any notions that Islam would prevent her from living the life of any other modern woman.
Posted by Q at 3:10 PM
By Carmen Sesin
On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, NJ, and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women.
Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighbourhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops.
Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.
"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, 'Why is she wearing that, it's so hot.'"
But, she said, "I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing."
And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.
"You know how guys [say], 'Hey Mami, come over here?' I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are still curious, but it's much less," she explained. "They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body."
Perada is not alone as a Hispanic woman converting to Islam.
The exact number of Latino Muslims is difficult to determine, because the US Census Bureau does not collect information about religion.
However, according to estimates conducted by national Islamic organisations such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) there are approximately 40,000 Latino Muslims in the United States.
Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female.
But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos converting to Islam tilts slightly in favour of women - with 60 per cent women to 40 per cent men.
Juan Galvan, the head of LADO in Texas and the co-author of a report "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," explained that those numbers are unscientific, but based on the results of a voluntary survey that has been conducted on the LADO website since 2001.
"From observation and experience those numbers are correct," Galvan said.
"From my personal experience, there are definitely more Latina Muslims than Latino men," he added.
Galvan explained that there "just seem to be more" Latina Muslims at the various events he attends through his work with LADO.
At the Islamic Education Center of North Hudson, 300 of the people who attend the mosque are converts, and 80 per cent are Latino converts.
In addition, out of the Latino converts, 60 per cent are women, according to Nylka Vargas, who works at the mosque with the Educational Outreach Program.
Peter Awn, an Islamic studies professor at Columbia University, says there is no doubt that the number of Latinos converting to Islam is growing.
Louis Cristillo, an anthropologist who focuses on Islamic education at Columbia University, points out there are several indicators that reflect the growing trend of Latinos converting to Islam.
For example, there are a number of regional and national organisations that cater to Latino Muslims, and there are even support groups that can be found online specifically for Latino converts – in particular "Hispanicmuslims.com", as well the LADO organization at "latinodawah.org".
In fact, Latino Muslims in this country had been celebrating the annual Hispanic Muslim Day with different activities throughout the day.
Converting to Islam can be shocking for families who are largely Catholic and harbour stereotypes of Muslims, specifically concerning women.
Perada says her mother, who is Colombian, accepted her decision to convert, because she never really pushed her into Catholicism.
However, her father, who is of Italian origin, has had a tough time dealing with it.
"Sometimes he says things about the way I dress," said Perada adding, "He'll say, 'Why do you have to dress that way. I'm Christian. I don't walk around with a cross in my hand.' He always complains to my mom about it, but with me he just keeps it to himself. But I know for him it is very hard," Perada said.
Vargas, 30, from the Islamic Education Center, is of Ecuadorian and Peruvian descent.
She says her family is already accustomed to the idea of her being Muslim, since it has already been ten years since she converted.
But she recalls the days in which her family was dealing with the initial shock of her new faith.
"When I started being more visible, that's when things started getting weird. My sisters couldn't understand why I would cover myself. They thought I was being oppressed or brainwashed," said Vargas.
She admits it was difficult at first to adjust to certain customs, such as wearing the hijab or a headscarf and having to pray five times a day.
"First it felt kind of weird to be covered, but after a while it [the headscarf] becomes your hair. I refer to my hijab as my hair," she said.
Like other ethnic groups, Latinos convert for a variety of reasons. Some, says Cristillo, grew up in inner-city areas ravaged by poverty, drugs and prostitution, and were attracted in part by the fact that some Islamic communities were very active in cleaning up the neighbourhoods.
Vargas, meanwhile, says she questioned many things about the Catholic faith in which she was raised and felt an emptiness in Christianity.
Galvan, from LADO, pointed out that many people come to Islam through people that they know, "friends, co-workers, classmates, or husbands."
Professor Awn said that many Latinas find there is a greater sense of economic and social stability in Islam and that it also represents "a return to traditional values."
In that regard, Awn does not think Islam is any more patriarchal than other traditional religions, but recognised that "the younger generation is looking for a more progressive form of Islam."
And Perada does not feel that her adherence to the Muslim faith restricts her freedoms as a woman.
"If I get married, I know I am going to work, but I am going to be there for my kids, too," said Perada, dismissing any notions that Islam would prevent her from living the life of any other modern woman.
Posted by Q at 3:10 PM
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Introduction to islam.. MSA.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Conversion Panel.
I would like to share the some interesting stories from the Conversion Panel that I attended this evening. First of all let me acknowledge my fellow MSA members who did a really great job. The panels for this program were Nuruddeen Lewis who converted to Islam 5 years ago, Coby Mayers, Meriam Ventura and Lana Lohaq Yazir from Louisiana.
The program started with Sister Maryam Ventura gave her speech. She was originally from Dominican Republic and was a Muslim since 14 years ago. She shared her experiences about how she was raised in a traditional Hispanic Catholic Conservative family. She was the only child of her family. So what turned her to Islam? She said that it was thru reading and questioning herself about religions. She read about many religions, from Buddha, Judaism, Hindu and etc. One day, she asked about herself, "I should read about the story of the Arab's Prophet too." Well, she bought a book written by a Muslim journalist and she found that the Arab's prophet who was the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was so human. He was just an ordinary person. Unlike other religions who often had some paranormals and magic things, but the way of life of Prophet Muhammad was just simple. So from that she started to read the Quran, and then studied the Quran. She found many sentences in Quran that made her so fascinated and alhamdulillah, she accepted Islam.
Then, it was Sister Lana Lohaq Yazir's (please correct my spellings, anyone?) turn. She's from Louisiana and converted to Islam 19 years ago. She was raised in a Methodist family, and she said that when she went to Sunday School at Church, she always asked the Sunday school teachers about science questions but somehow her teachers did not want to answer. Then when she went to college, she was not interested to know about any other religions. Suddenly, her sister converted to Islam. She was so upset and hurt with her sister and would like to meet with the group or people who taught her sister about Islam. Her plan was to go in there and tell them how wrong their religion is. She did some readings to find questions about Islam and went to ask questions to them and they managed to answered those questions. Then she tried to find more and more questions by doing more and more readings and went to ask that people about Islam. They answered her questions and she felt so amazed. Then she read the Quran, found a lot of sentences related to science questions. From then she read and study more and more about Quran and Islam and finally she converted to Islam.
Next, brother Coby Meyers, how grew up in Kentucky. He was raised in Southern Baptist town. One day, he got a job with a Muslim employer. He observed about his employer's behavior as a Muslim, his employer prayed, fasting and etc. So he became attracted with this religion. He attended the Friday prayer and was amazed how united Muslims were when they wanted to pray. He never saw like that before. Then, he wanted to be more religious in his religion. He went to Church often and heard a lot of sermons. One day, a sermon by a Pastor made him changed forever. The pastor said in his sermon, "Buddhists worship Buddha, Muslims worship Muhammad and those suckers are dead." He did not understand why the pastor had to say that and start to learn more and more about Islam. He started to learn about Quran, and he knew that Islam is the truth. Alhamdulillah, then he turned to Islam.
Last one, my big-brother Nuruddeen Lewis. (Hey you improved a lot from the last presentation!) He started by asking the audiences "Why Islam?" He said that "Islam found me." When he pursued his study in college, he took a course about humanity and there was a topic about religions. There was a field trip to churches, synagogues, and mosques. When they visited the mosque, the imam told them briefly about Islam. He was amazed with a lot of similarities of Islam and Christianity. Then he decided to learn more about Islam because of these similarities. One day he asked directly to a group of Muslims of a question that made all the difference. He asked why Muslims don't believe about Jesus as a son of God? Then one of the Muslims answered his questions by referred to Bible and he was so surprised! He thought that he should have more understandings about Bible than the Muslim. So he went back and looked in the Bible and the answered from the Muslim was exactly true. Then he started to study about Quran and somehow he found that the Quran contains all but the true things and really convinced about the Quran as the word from God. Finally, he became a Muslim.
MasyaAllah what a journey from my fellow brothers and sisters! I really fascinated with their journey to Islam. Deep in my heart, I am so proud with my religion, with my akidah and I will not afraid to defend it!
23:05 Posted in Introduction to Islam
http://amarrazali.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/03/19/conversion-panel.html
Conversion Panel.
I would like to share the some interesting stories from the Conversion Panel that I attended this evening. First of all let me acknowledge my fellow MSA members who did a really great job. The panels for this program were Nuruddeen Lewis who converted to Islam 5 years ago, Coby Mayers, Meriam Ventura and Lana Lohaq Yazir from Louisiana.
The program started with Sister Maryam Ventura gave her speech. She was originally from Dominican Republic and was a Muslim since 14 years ago. She shared her experiences about how she was raised in a traditional Hispanic Catholic Conservative family. She was the only child of her family. So what turned her to Islam? She said that it was thru reading and questioning herself about religions. She read about many religions, from Buddha, Judaism, Hindu and etc. One day, she asked about herself, "I should read about the story of the Arab's Prophet too." Well, she bought a book written by a Muslim journalist and she found that the Arab's prophet who was the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was so human. He was just an ordinary person. Unlike other religions who often had some paranormals and magic things, but the way of life of Prophet Muhammad was just simple. So from that she started to read the Quran, and then studied the Quran. She found many sentences in Quran that made her so fascinated and alhamdulillah, she accepted Islam.
Then, it was Sister Lana Lohaq Yazir's (please correct my spellings, anyone?) turn. She's from Louisiana and converted to Islam 19 years ago. She was raised in a Methodist family, and she said that when she went to Sunday School at Church, she always asked the Sunday school teachers about science questions but somehow her teachers did not want to answer. Then when she went to college, she was not interested to know about any other religions. Suddenly, her sister converted to Islam. She was so upset and hurt with her sister and would like to meet with the group or people who taught her sister about Islam. Her plan was to go in there and tell them how wrong their religion is. She did some readings to find questions about Islam and went to ask questions to them and they managed to answered those questions. Then she tried to find more and more questions by doing more and more readings and went to ask that people about Islam. They answered her questions and she felt so amazed. Then she read the Quran, found a lot of sentences related to science questions. From then she read and study more and more about Quran and Islam and finally she converted to Islam.
Next, brother Coby Meyers, how grew up in Kentucky. He was raised in Southern Baptist town. One day, he got a job with a Muslim employer. He observed about his employer's behavior as a Muslim, his employer prayed, fasting and etc. So he became attracted with this religion. He attended the Friday prayer and was amazed how united Muslims were when they wanted to pray. He never saw like that before. Then, he wanted to be more religious in his religion. He went to Church often and heard a lot of sermons. One day, a sermon by a Pastor made him changed forever. The pastor said in his sermon, "Buddhists worship Buddha, Muslims worship Muhammad and those suckers are dead." He did not understand why the pastor had to say that and start to learn more and more about Islam. He started to learn about Quran, and he knew that Islam is the truth. Alhamdulillah, then he turned to Islam.
Last one, my big-brother Nuruddeen Lewis. (Hey you improved a lot from the last presentation!) He started by asking the audiences "Why Islam?" He said that "Islam found me." When he pursued his study in college, he took a course about humanity and there was a topic about religions. There was a field trip to churches, synagogues, and mosques. When they visited the mosque, the imam told them briefly about Islam. He was amazed with a lot of similarities of Islam and Christianity. Then he decided to learn more about Islam because of these similarities. One day he asked directly to a group of Muslims of a question that made all the difference. He asked why Muslims don't believe about Jesus as a son of God? Then one of the Muslims answered his questions by referred to Bible and he was so surprised! He thought that he should have more understandings about Bible than the Muslim. So he went back and looked in the Bible and the answered from the Muslim was exactly true. Then he started to study about Quran and somehow he found that the Quran contains all but the true things and really convinced about the Quran as the word from God. Finally, he became a Muslim.
MasyaAllah what a journey from my fellow brothers and sisters! I really fascinated with their journey to Islam. Deep in my heart, I am so proud with my religion, with my akidah and I will not afraid to defend it!
23:05 Posted in Introduction to Islam
http://amarrazali.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/03/19/conversion-panel.html
Inquisitions and Muslims Genocide in Andalusia
Publication time: 20 March 2007, 20:49
Allah the exalted says in the Holy Quran what means : (By the heaven holding the big stars (1). And by the Promised Day (the Day of Resurrection) (2); And by the witnessing day (Friday), and by the witnessed day (3); Cursed were the people of the ditch (the story of the Boy and the King) (4). Fire supplied (abundantly) with fuel (5), When they sat by it (fire) (6), and they witnessed what they were doing against the believers (i.e. burning them) (7). They had nothing against them, except that they believed in Allah, the All-Mighty, worthy of all Praise! (8) Who, to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! And Allah is Witness over everything (9). Verily, those who put into trial the believing men and believing women (by torturing them and burning them), and then do not turn in repentance, (to Allah), will have the torment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the burning Fire (10)). Buruj Chapter
Allah the exalted says in the Holy Quran what means: (How can there be a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger for the polytheists (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) except those with whom you made a covenant near Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah)? So long, as they are true to you, stand you true to them. Verily, Allah loves the pious (7). How (can there be such a covenant with them) that when you are overpowered by them, they regard not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant with you? With (good words from) their mouths they please you, but their hearts are averse to you, and most of them are rebellious, disobedient to Allah (8). They have purchased with the verses of Allah a little gain, and they hindered men from His Way; evil indeed is that which they used to do (9). With regard to a believer, they respect not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant! It is they who are the transgressors (10)(. AL-Tauba Chapter. )
On the authority of Khabbab bin Al-Art may Allah be pleased with him said: We complained to Allah's Apostle (about our state) while he was leaning against his sheet cloak in the shade of the Ka'ba. We said, "Will you ask Allah to help us? Will you invoke Allah for us?" He said, "Among those who were before you a (believer) used to be seized and, a pit used to be dug for him and then he used to be placed in it. Then a saw used to be brought and put on his head which would be split into two halves. His flesh might be combed with iron combs and removed from his bones, yet, all that did not cause him to revert from his religion. By Allah! This religion (Islam) will be completed (and triumph) till a rider (traveler) goes from San'a' (the capital of Yemen) to Hadramout fearing nobody except Allah and the wolf lest it should trouble his sheep, but you are impatient." Narrated by Bukhar.
Granada, Muslims' last stronghold in Spain, fell in the year (897 A.H=1492 A.D); this was an ominous sign of the religious and social downfall of the Andalusia nation, and the dispersal of its intellectual and literary legacy. Muslims tragedy there was one of the worst tragedies in history; this period witnessed barbaric and brutal acts done by inquisitions to strip Spain of the traces of Islam and Muslims, and to annihilate their heritage that flourished in this country for about eight centuries.
Lots of Muslims in Andalusia immigrated to North Africa After the fall of their kingdom, saving their religion and freedom from the tyranny of Christians in Spain. Spain revertedto its old religion while the rest of Muslims were forced either to become Christians or leave the country. This intolerant Christian spirit led to the pursuit, oppression and terror of defenseless Muslims ending up in executing a nation and a religion over Spain's soil.
Inquisition counsel or the holy counsel, supported by the throne and church, was active committing flagrant abuses against Moors (Christians Muslims); dozens of resolutions were issued standing between these Muslims and their religion, language, habits, and culture. Cardinal Caminiti burnt tens of thousands of Islam and sharia books; in 22 Rabi' Awwal 917 Hijri/ 20 June 1511, a royal decree was issued obligating all residents who became Christians to hand over all Arabic books they have, then royal orders and decrees followed preventing speaking Arabic and ended up in forcing Christianity on Muslims. Because of their love for their land and the fear of poverty, lots of Muslims accepted Christianity as an escape, while others preferred to die to see the dear homeland becoming a cradle for disbelieve, many others escaped with their religion; various endings were written for one tragedy-It is the departure of Islam from Andalusia.
Fernando the fifth, king of Spain, died on (17 Thi Al-Hijja 921 H.A= 23 January 1516 A.D) and entrusted his grandson Charles the fifth with the task of protecting Catholicism, the church, and choosing conscientious inquisitors to work in a just and firm way in serving God, strengthening the catholic religion, and eradicating the cult of Muhammad.
Fernando kept on torturing and oppressing Muslims left in Spain for about twenty years after the fall of Andalusia. His instrument was inquisitions that were established by a papal decree in (Ramadan 888 H.A= October 1483 A.D). He appointed "Tomas Di Turkimida" general inquisitor, and put a constitution for these new inquisitions and a number of regulations and resolutions.
Most of the worst ways of torture known in the Middle Ages were used in these inquisitions and thousands died under torture; these inquisitions rarely pronounced anyone innocent ; death and barbaric torture were the victims' destiny; some victims were even burned in a celebration attended by the king and bishops; people burnt were in multitude , sometimes tens of people, and Fernando the fifth adored attending these celebrations and praised the bishops inquisitors each time such a celebration was organized. This counsel spread, since establishment, a feeling of fear and dread in people's hearts; some of these Moors escaped. Strangely ,The Catholic Church refused the belief of the rest despite their loyalty to the religion they were forced to embrace because it wasn't convinced of the apparent Christianizing of Muslims but was aiming at annihilating them.
Moors had a feeling of reassurance after the death of Fernando and felt the wind of hope again; they hoped that the era of Charles V would be better than his ancestor. The new king showed- in the beginning- some leniency and tolerance towards Muslims and Moors, the inquisitions were somewhat more moderate in pursuing them and stopped intruding on them in Aragon thanks to efforts of the nobles and lords for whom Muslims worked in their estates. This moderate policy lasted only several years, and then the intolerant policy was back in the royal court and the church and had its triumph in issuing a decree in (16 Jamada Al-Aula 931 A.H= 12 March 1524 A.D) forcing Christianity on every Muslim, expelling who refuses to revert to Christianity out of Spain, Those who refused to go out were to be slaves ; according to this decree , Moslems Mosques also became churches .
When the Moors saw this extremism of Spain, they asked for the help of Charles V, and sent a delegation to Madrid in order to explain their complaints; Charles V deputed a great court of deputies, bishops, leaders, and investigators headed by the general investigator to look into the Muslims complaint and decide whether Christianity that was forced on Muslims is correct and binding i.e. anyone opposing it must be sentenced to death.The court, after long debates, issued its resolution that Christianizing Muslims was correct without any fault because these Moors rushed to accept it to avoid what was even worse, so they were free in accepting it.
As a result, a royal decree was issued forcing all Muslims who were forced to adopt Christianity to stay in Spain as Christians, and to Christianize all their children; if they renounced Christianity their properties were to be confiscated and they were sentenced to death. The decree also ordered the authorities to transform all the remaining mosques into churches immediately.
The destiny of these Muslims was to live in horrible days with the inquisitions' terror; lists of prohibition came successively containing strange things such as: prohibiting circumcision, prohibiting standing facing the kiblah, banning taking a bath, and forbidding wearing Arab clothes.
One of the torturing tools was combing the body with iron combs.
When Granada inquisition found some violations of these lists, it materialized its threat indeed and burned two dissenters in (Shawal 936 A.H/ May 1529 A.D) in a religious ceremony.
The decrees of this emperor were the worst on Muslims, and it didn't take long until revolution broke out in most of the areas inhabited by them in Saragossa, Valencia, and other areas. Muslims were determined to die for the sake of religion and freedom, but the Spanish possessed weapons and ammunition so they were able to suppress these local revolutions except for Valencia that contained great numbers of Muslims, about 27 thousand families; they could not subside them because their city was on the sea and connected with Muslims in Morocco.
Muslims in Valencia showed fierce resistance to Christianizing decrees; huge numbers of them took shelter in (Bni Wazer) suburb which made the government send a big force with cannons against them and made the Muslims finally surrender and submit; the emperor sent them safety declaration provided that they convert to Christianity, and the penalty of slavery was modified to the fine; Andalusians kept their right to wear their traditional clothes by paying the emperor a huge sum of money.
The appeasement policy of Charles V was an attempt to calm things down in southern Andalusia so that he can turn to the disturbance in Germany and Holland after Martin Luther and his religious treatise to reform the church and the spread of Protestantism appeared. He needed to focus all his attention and the inquisitions' attention to the "heretics" in north Europe. Besides, for the inquisitions to do their job, this means that all andalusians should be burnt because the church knew that their conversion to Christianity was worthless. In addition, most of the andalusian farmers were working for the nobles or the church and their interest was in keeping those farmers and not killing them.
Emperor Charles V, when issuing his decree of Christianizing Muslims, promised to make them equal with Christians in rights and duties, but this equality was never realized. Those who turned into Christianity felt that they were still under suspicion and oppression; lots of taxes, that Christians didn't pay, were imposed on them, and life became harder and harder for them until they became like slaves. When authorities felt that the Moors intended to immigrate, a decree was issued in the year (948 A.H, 1514 A.D) preventing them from changing their houses or going to Valencia which was their favorite destination. Then another decree came preventing them from emigrating from these coastal cities except with a royal authorization in exchange for heavy fees. Inquisition watched over the emigration activity and suppressed it fiercely.
This severity didn't prevent the emperor from showing moderation from time to time; in (950 A.H, 1543 A.D) he issued an amnesty for some Christianized Muslims fulfilling the wish of Toledo archbishop, and allowed them to marry their sons and daughters to pure Christians and that the dowries they paid for the treasury won't be confiscated because of the sins they committed.
Thus, the Spanish policy -during the reign of emperor Charles V (922 A.H, 1516 A.D until 963 A.H, 1555 A.D)- varied towards the Moors from severity to some aspects of leniency; but these Muslims were exhausted, chased and killed, the church inquisitions found them a favorite field for their intolerance and terrorism.
Andalusia's nation was, during this sad martyrdom that was forced on it, trying everything to keep its religion and tradition; the Moors, even though they entered Christianity, were secretly attached to Islam, and lots of them were practicing the Islamic rites secretly and kept their Arabic language. But the Spanish policy realized the importance of the language in supporting the national spirit, that's why Emperor Charles V issued in (932 A.H, 1526 A.D) the first law prohibiting Moors from speaking Arabic. This law was not strictly applied because Moors paid him (100) thousand Ducat to allow them to speak Arabic. Then Emperor Philip II issued in (964 A.H, 1566 A.D) a new law prohibiting speaking Arabic and was strictly carried out; Guarani was enforced as a language for speaking and dealings. Moors found in Guarani an outlet for their reflections and literature; they wrote this language secretly in the Arabic letters which led through time to the invention of a new language "Alkhamiado" which is Spanish alteration of the word "A'ajami (foreign)".
This language remained a buried secret for two centuries and they were able to keep their Islamic faith; some scholars wrote in this language books explaining what a Muslim should do and belief to keep his Islam; they also explained the Koran in it and the autobiography of the prophet peace be upon him. One of the most famous writers in this language was a scholar called "Aberalo boy"; he wrote books interpreting the Holy Koran and summarizing the Sunna; of the most famous poets was Muhammad Rabdan who composed lots of poems and religious songs. This is how the Moors protected themselves by the "caution" principle and resisted the Christianizing attempts and their missionary, education, and terrorism ways did not succeed in the full Christianizing of these Moors , so the decision of expel came after all these failures.
The Moors attempts to have external effective support from the Ottoman State or the Mamluk State in Egypt failed despite the raiding and piracy attacks done by ottomans, Algerians, and Andalusians on the Spanish shores and ships, and despite supporting the Moors rebels.
Inquisitions continued fighting these Muslims all during the sixteenth century which indicated that the deep-rooted influence of Islam in the hearts remained despite the horrible ordeals and the passage of time. It might be useful to mention that a Spanish man called "Bidia" headed to Makka to do hajj in (1222 A.H, 1807 A.D) i.e. after 329 years of starting the inquisitions.
One of the torture ways used by inquisitions' monks was to burn their victims alive and roast them like cattle. Four centuries After the fall of Andalusia, Napoleon sent his military expedition to Spain and issued a decree in 1808 A.D canceling the inquisitions in the Spanish kingdom.
Let's hear this story told by one of the French army officers who entered Spain after the French revolution. Colonel Limutski- one of the French military expedition officers in Spain- wrote: "in 1809, I was military attaché in the French army fighting is Spain; my squad was among the squads that occupied (Madrid). Napoleon had issued a decree in 1808 canceling inquisitions in the Spanish kingdom, but it wasn't carried out because of the current state and the political mess.
A certain class of monks leaders of the canceled inquisition insisted on torturing each French they caught in revenge for the decree and to cast terror in the French hearts so that they leave the country to the monks.
While I was walking at night down one of Madrid's streets that wasn't so crowded, two gunmen attacked me and wanted to kill me, so I defended my self fiercely. The thing that saved me from getting killed was the coming of one of our army brigade whose task was to roam the city. They were a group of cavalrymen carrying lamps and spending the night keeping order, the two murderers ran away as soon as they saw the group. It was clear from their clothes that they were of the inquisitions soldiers, so I hastened to (Marshal Slut) Madrid's martial governor and told him the story. He said that those evils are definitely responsible for the killings of our soldiers every night; they must be punished and the Emperor's decree of canceling their inquisitions must be carried out. He ordered me to take one thousand soldiers and four cannons to attack the inquisitions monastery to catch those devils monks.
Jesuits fired at us and we entered by force; he continues saying: "I ordered my soldiers to capture all the priests and their soldier guards in order to bring them before a court-martial. We then started looking around the halls, rocking chairs, Persian carpets, pictures, and large offices. The floors of these rooms were made of polished waxed wood, a nice fragrance filled the rooms and made the whole court similar to the one in the majestic palaces inhabited be kings who spent their lives in luxury and entertainment. We later knew that these fragrances came from candles put in front of the monks' pictures. Those candles apparently were mixed with rose water"
"Our efforts were almost in vain trying to find the torturing rooms; we checked the monastery and all its corridors and cellars yet found nothing referring to the inquisitions. So we decided to leave the monastery while feeling desperate. The monks were- during the inspection- swearing and assuring the falsehood of all what was said about their monastery ; their leader started to confirm his innocence and the innocence of his followers with a low voice lowering his head and almost in tears. I ordered the soldiers to get ready to leave the monastery, but lieutenant "De Lul" asked me to wait saying: may the colonel allow me to tell him that our mission is not done yet?!! I said: we've searched the whole monastery and didn't discover any thing suspicious, so what do you want lieutenant?!... He said: I want to inspect the floor of these rooms; my heart is misgiving something ; there must be some secret beneath it. "
Here, the monks looked at us anxiously, so I allowed the officer to inspect and he ordered the soldiers to lift the fine carpets off the floors then ordered them to abundantly pour water on the floor of each room separately. We were watching the water, and in one of the rooms, the water disappeared into the floor. Officer "De Lul" clapped his hands with joy and said here is the door, look! We looked and the door was uncovered , it was part of the room's floor opened in a cunning way with a small ring put near the leg of the monastery's head desk.
The soldiers started to break the door with the stocks of their rifles; the monks faces turned yellow.
The door opened and we saw a stair leading down, so I quickly took a big candle that's about a meter long and was lighting the picture of one of the inquisitions former heads. When I started to descend, a Jesuit monk put his hand on my shoulder intrusively and said: son, don't hold this candle with your hand that is stained with fighting blood, it is a holy candle.
I told him: your candle stained with innocents' blood is not worthy to be touched by my hand; we will see who is the filthy and the bloodthirsty murderer, you or I.
I descended the stairs followed by all the officers and soldiers with their swords unsheathed. When we reached the end of the stairs, we arrived to a big scary hall which was the courtroom and in the middle there was a pillar made of marble with a huge iron ring and chains attached to it to shackle the indicted.
In front of this pillar, there was a terrace where the head of the inquisition and the judges would sit on to judge innocents. Then we went to the rooms of torture and the rooms of shredding the human bodies, these rooms extended over a big space under the floor.
I saw in these rooms things that irritated me and made me feel disgusted and tremblly for the rest of my life.On of the torturing means that were used by inquisitions was to cut the organs with sharp tools.We saw small rooms in the size of the human body, some were vertical and some horizontal; the prisoner in the vertical room would remain standing on his feet during his imprisonment until he dies, and the prisoner in the horizontal room would lie in it until he dies. The corpses would stay in these tight prisons until they decay and the flesh falls of the bone and get eaten by worms. To discharge the stinky odors emitted from the corpses, they opened a small window to the open space.
We found in these rooms skeletons which were still in chains. Prisoners were men and women whose ages ranging from 14 to 70; we were able to save some of them alive; we broke their shackles while they were at the point of death. Some of them went crazy because of the heavy torture; all the prisoners were naked, our soldiers had to take off their clothes in order to cover some of the prisoners.
We took the prisoners out into light gradually so that they don't lose their sight; they were crying out of joy kissing the soldiers' hands and feet for saving them from the horrible torture and bringing them back to life; it was a heartbreaking scene.
We moved then to other rooms and saw bloodcurdling things; we found horrific tools used in torture, some were for breaking the bones and crushing the human body, they started with crushing the bones of the legs then the chest, head, and hands gradually until the whole body is smashed; from the other side of the machine, the smashed bones would come out, and blood mixed with minced meat, that's what they did to the poor innocent prisoners. Then we found a box in the size of the human head, the head of the person whom they want to torture would be put in this box after shackling his hands and legs so that he can't move; on the top of the box, there is a hole dripping drops of cold water on the head of the poor prisoner regularly, a drop each minute; many prisoners went crazy because of this kind of torture, and the tortured stays on this condition until he dies.
Another torturing tool is a casket with sharp knives fastened to it.
The beautiful lady casket, young men are thrown into it then it closes on them
They would threw the tortured young man in this casket then close its door with its knives and daggers, when it closes, it tears the body of the tortured to pieces.
We also found tools looking like hooks; these hooks would be thrust into the tongue of the tortured then pulled out with the tongue so that it gets cut piece after piece; there were also hooks that would be thrust into the breasts of women and pulled out violently until the breasts are cut off or severed by knives.
We found whips made of thorny iron that were used to hit the tortured naked prisoners until their bones get fragmented and their flesh dispersed.The news reached Madrid and thousands rushed to see the torturing tools; they griped the head of Jesuits and put him in the machine that breaks the bones, his bones were crushed and smashed; then they took his secretary and gave him away to the beautiful lady and closed its door, he was torn inside it. They took out the two corpses and did the same to the whole gang and monks. In half an hour, the public finished the lives of thirteen monks then started to plunder the monastery.
By Feras Nour Al-Halk
Allah the exalted says in the Holy Quran what means : (By the heaven holding the big stars (1). And by the Promised Day (the Day of Resurrection) (2); And by the witnessing day (Friday), and by the witnessed day (3); Cursed were the people of the ditch (the story of the Boy and the King) (4). Fire supplied (abundantly) with fuel (5), When they sat by it (fire) (6), and they witnessed what they were doing against the believers (i.e. burning them) (7). They had nothing against them, except that they believed in Allah, the All-Mighty, worthy of all Praise! (8) Who, to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! And Allah is Witness over everything (9). Verily, those who put into trial the believing men and believing women (by torturing them and burning them), and then do not turn in repentance, (to Allah), will have the torment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the burning Fire (10)). Buruj Chapter
Allah the exalted says in the Holy Quran what means: (How can there be a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger for the polytheists (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) except those with whom you made a covenant near Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah)? So long, as they are true to you, stand you true to them. Verily, Allah loves the pious (7). How (can there be such a covenant with them) that when you are overpowered by them, they regard not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant with you? With (good words from) their mouths they please you, but their hearts are averse to you, and most of them are rebellious, disobedient to Allah (8). They have purchased with the verses of Allah a little gain, and they hindered men from His Way; evil indeed is that which they used to do (9). With regard to a believer, they respect not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant! It is they who are the transgressors (10)(. AL-Tauba Chapter. )
On the authority of Khabbab bin Al-Art may Allah be pleased with him said: We complained to Allah's Apostle (about our state) while he was leaning against his sheet cloak in the shade of the Ka'ba. We said, "Will you ask Allah to help us? Will you invoke Allah for us?" He said, "Among those who were before you a (believer) used to be seized and, a pit used to be dug for him and then he used to be placed in it. Then a saw used to be brought and put on his head which would be split into two halves. His flesh might be combed with iron combs and removed from his bones, yet, all that did not cause him to revert from his religion. By Allah! This religion (Islam) will be completed (and triumph) till a rider (traveler) goes from San'a' (the capital of Yemen) to Hadramout fearing nobody except Allah and the wolf lest it should trouble his sheep, but you are impatient." Narrated by Bukhar.
Granada, Muslims' last stronghold in Spain, fell in the year (897 A.H=1492 A.D); this was an ominous sign of the religious and social downfall of the Andalusia nation, and the dispersal of its intellectual and literary legacy. Muslims tragedy there was one of the worst tragedies in history; this period witnessed barbaric and brutal acts done by inquisitions to strip Spain of the traces of Islam and Muslims, and to annihilate their heritage that flourished in this country for about eight centuries.
Lots of Muslims in Andalusia immigrated to North Africa After the fall of their kingdom, saving their religion and freedom from the tyranny of Christians in Spain. Spain revertedto its old religion while the rest of Muslims were forced either to become Christians or leave the country. This intolerant Christian spirit led to the pursuit, oppression and terror of defenseless Muslims ending up in executing a nation and a religion over Spain's soil.
Inquisition counsel or the holy counsel, supported by the throne and church, was active committing flagrant abuses against Moors (Christians Muslims); dozens of resolutions were issued standing between these Muslims and their religion, language, habits, and culture. Cardinal Caminiti burnt tens of thousands of Islam and sharia books; in 22 Rabi' Awwal 917 Hijri/ 20 June 1511, a royal decree was issued obligating all residents who became Christians to hand over all Arabic books they have, then royal orders and decrees followed preventing speaking Arabic and ended up in forcing Christianity on Muslims. Because of their love for their land and the fear of poverty, lots of Muslims accepted Christianity as an escape, while others preferred to die to see the dear homeland becoming a cradle for disbelieve, many others escaped with their religion; various endings were written for one tragedy-It is the departure of Islam from Andalusia.
Fernando the fifth, king of Spain, died on (17 Thi Al-Hijja 921 H.A= 23 January 1516 A.D) and entrusted his grandson Charles the fifth with the task of protecting Catholicism, the church, and choosing conscientious inquisitors to work in a just and firm way in serving God, strengthening the catholic religion, and eradicating the cult of Muhammad.
Fernando kept on torturing and oppressing Muslims left in Spain for about twenty years after the fall of Andalusia. His instrument was inquisitions that were established by a papal decree in (Ramadan 888 H.A= October 1483 A.D). He appointed "Tomas Di Turkimida" general inquisitor, and put a constitution for these new inquisitions and a number of regulations and resolutions.
Most of the worst ways of torture known in the Middle Ages were used in these inquisitions and thousands died under torture; these inquisitions rarely pronounced anyone innocent ; death and barbaric torture were the victims' destiny; some victims were even burned in a celebration attended by the king and bishops; people burnt were in multitude , sometimes tens of people, and Fernando the fifth adored attending these celebrations and praised the bishops inquisitors each time such a celebration was organized. This counsel spread, since establishment, a feeling of fear and dread in people's hearts; some of these Moors escaped. Strangely ,The Catholic Church refused the belief of the rest despite their loyalty to the religion they were forced to embrace because it wasn't convinced of the apparent Christianizing of Muslims but was aiming at annihilating them.
Moors had a feeling of reassurance after the death of Fernando and felt the wind of hope again; they hoped that the era of Charles V would be better than his ancestor. The new king showed- in the beginning- some leniency and tolerance towards Muslims and Moors, the inquisitions were somewhat more moderate in pursuing them and stopped intruding on them in Aragon thanks to efforts of the nobles and lords for whom Muslims worked in their estates. This moderate policy lasted only several years, and then the intolerant policy was back in the royal court and the church and had its triumph in issuing a decree in (16 Jamada Al-Aula 931 A.H= 12 March 1524 A.D) forcing Christianity on every Muslim, expelling who refuses to revert to Christianity out of Spain, Those who refused to go out were to be slaves ; according to this decree , Moslems Mosques also became churches .
When the Moors saw this extremism of Spain, they asked for the help of Charles V, and sent a delegation to Madrid in order to explain their complaints; Charles V deputed a great court of deputies, bishops, leaders, and investigators headed by the general investigator to look into the Muslims complaint and decide whether Christianity that was forced on Muslims is correct and binding i.e. anyone opposing it must be sentenced to death.The court, after long debates, issued its resolution that Christianizing Muslims was correct without any fault because these Moors rushed to accept it to avoid what was even worse, so they were free in accepting it.
As a result, a royal decree was issued forcing all Muslims who were forced to adopt Christianity to stay in Spain as Christians, and to Christianize all their children; if they renounced Christianity their properties were to be confiscated and they were sentenced to death. The decree also ordered the authorities to transform all the remaining mosques into churches immediately.
The destiny of these Muslims was to live in horrible days with the inquisitions' terror; lists of prohibition came successively containing strange things such as: prohibiting circumcision, prohibiting standing facing the kiblah, banning taking a bath, and forbidding wearing Arab clothes.
One of the torturing tools was combing the body with iron combs.
When Granada inquisition found some violations of these lists, it materialized its threat indeed and burned two dissenters in (Shawal 936 A.H/ May 1529 A.D) in a religious ceremony.
The decrees of this emperor were the worst on Muslims, and it didn't take long until revolution broke out in most of the areas inhabited by them in Saragossa, Valencia, and other areas. Muslims were determined to die for the sake of religion and freedom, but the Spanish possessed weapons and ammunition so they were able to suppress these local revolutions except for Valencia that contained great numbers of Muslims, about 27 thousand families; they could not subside them because their city was on the sea and connected with Muslims in Morocco.
Muslims in Valencia showed fierce resistance to Christianizing decrees; huge numbers of them took shelter in (Bni Wazer) suburb which made the government send a big force with cannons against them and made the Muslims finally surrender and submit; the emperor sent them safety declaration provided that they convert to Christianity, and the penalty of slavery was modified to the fine; Andalusians kept their right to wear their traditional clothes by paying the emperor a huge sum of money.
The appeasement policy of Charles V was an attempt to calm things down in southern Andalusia so that he can turn to the disturbance in Germany and Holland after Martin Luther and his religious treatise to reform the church and the spread of Protestantism appeared. He needed to focus all his attention and the inquisitions' attention to the "heretics" in north Europe. Besides, for the inquisitions to do their job, this means that all andalusians should be burnt because the church knew that their conversion to Christianity was worthless. In addition, most of the andalusian farmers were working for the nobles or the church and their interest was in keeping those farmers and not killing them.
Emperor Charles V, when issuing his decree of Christianizing Muslims, promised to make them equal with Christians in rights and duties, but this equality was never realized. Those who turned into Christianity felt that they were still under suspicion and oppression; lots of taxes, that Christians didn't pay, were imposed on them, and life became harder and harder for them until they became like slaves. When authorities felt that the Moors intended to immigrate, a decree was issued in the year (948 A.H, 1514 A.D) preventing them from changing their houses or going to Valencia which was their favorite destination. Then another decree came preventing them from emigrating from these coastal cities except with a royal authorization in exchange for heavy fees. Inquisition watched over the emigration activity and suppressed it fiercely.
This severity didn't prevent the emperor from showing moderation from time to time; in (950 A.H, 1543 A.D) he issued an amnesty for some Christianized Muslims fulfilling the wish of Toledo archbishop, and allowed them to marry their sons and daughters to pure Christians and that the dowries they paid for the treasury won't be confiscated because of the sins they committed.
Thus, the Spanish policy -during the reign of emperor Charles V (922 A.H, 1516 A.D until 963 A.H, 1555 A.D)- varied towards the Moors from severity to some aspects of leniency; but these Muslims were exhausted, chased and killed, the church inquisitions found them a favorite field for their intolerance and terrorism.
Andalusia's nation was, during this sad martyrdom that was forced on it, trying everything to keep its religion and tradition; the Moors, even though they entered Christianity, were secretly attached to Islam, and lots of them were practicing the Islamic rites secretly and kept their Arabic language. But the Spanish policy realized the importance of the language in supporting the national spirit, that's why Emperor Charles V issued in (932 A.H, 1526 A.D) the first law prohibiting Moors from speaking Arabic. This law was not strictly applied because Moors paid him (100) thousand Ducat to allow them to speak Arabic. Then Emperor Philip II issued in (964 A.H, 1566 A.D) a new law prohibiting speaking Arabic and was strictly carried out; Guarani was enforced as a language for speaking and dealings. Moors found in Guarani an outlet for their reflections and literature; they wrote this language secretly in the Arabic letters which led through time to the invention of a new language "Alkhamiado" which is Spanish alteration of the word "A'ajami (foreign)".
This language remained a buried secret for two centuries and they were able to keep their Islamic faith; some scholars wrote in this language books explaining what a Muslim should do and belief to keep his Islam; they also explained the Koran in it and the autobiography of the prophet peace be upon him. One of the most famous writers in this language was a scholar called "Aberalo boy"; he wrote books interpreting the Holy Koran and summarizing the Sunna; of the most famous poets was Muhammad Rabdan who composed lots of poems and religious songs. This is how the Moors protected themselves by the "caution" principle and resisted the Christianizing attempts and their missionary, education, and terrorism ways did not succeed in the full Christianizing of these Moors , so the decision of expel came after all these failures.
The Moors attempts to have external effective support from the Ottoman State or the Mamluk State in Egypt failed despite the raiding and piracy attacks done by ottomans, Algerians, and Andalusians on the Spanish shores and ships, and despite supporting the Moors rebels.
Inquisitions continued fighting these Muslims all during the sixteenth century which indicated that the deep-rooted influence of Islam in the hearts remained despite the horrible ordeals and the passage of time. It might be useful to mention that a Spanish man called "Bidia" headed to Makka to do hajj in (1222 A.H, 1807 A.D) i.e. after 329 years of starting the inquisitions.
One of the torture ways used by inquisitions' monks was to burn their victims alive and roast them like cattle. Four centuries After the fall of Andalusia, Napoleon sent his military expedition to Spain and issued a decree in 1808 A.D canceling the inquisitions in the Spanish kingdom.
Let's hear this story told by one of the French army officers who entered Spain after the French revolution. Colonel Limutski- one of the French military expedition officers in Spain- wrote: "in 1809, I was military attaché in the French army fighting is Spain; my squad was among the squads that occupied (Madrid). Napoleon had issued a decree in 1808 canceling inquisitions in the Spanish kingdom, but it wasn't carried out because of the current state and the political mess.
A certain class of monks leaders of the canceled inquisition insisted on torturing each French they caught in revenge for the decree and to cast terror in the French hearts so that they leave the country to the monks.
While I was walking at night down one of Madrid's streets that wasn't so crowded, two gunmen attacked me and wanted to kill me, so I defended my self fiercely. The thing that saved me from getting killed was the coming of one of our army brigade whose task was to roam the city. They were a group of cavalrymen carrying lamps and spending the night keeping order, the two murderers ran away as soon as they saw the group. It was clear from their clothes that they were of the inquisitions soldiers, so I hastened to (Marshal Slut) Madrid's martial governor and told him the story. He said that those evils are definitely responsible for the killings of our soldiers every night; they must be punished and the Emperor's decree of canceling their inquisitions must be carried out. He ordered me to take one thousand soldiers and four cannons to attack the inquisitions monastery to catch those devils monks.
Jesuits fired at us and we entered by force; he continues saying: "I ordered my soldiers to capture all the priests and their soldier guards in order to bring them before a court-martial. We then started looking around the halls, rocking chairs, Persian carpets, pictures, and large offices. The floors of these rooms were made of polished waxed wood, a nice fragrance filled the rooms and made the whole court similar to the one in the majestic palaces inhabited be kings who spent their lives in luxury and entertainment. We later knew that these fragrances came from candles put in front of the monks' pictures. Those candles apparently were mixed with rose water"
"Our efforts were almost in vain trying to find the torturing rooms; we checked the monastery and all its corridors and cellars yet found nothing referring to the inquisitions. So we decided to leave the monastery while feeling desperate. The monks were- during the inspection- swearing and assuring the falsehood of all what was said about their monastery ; their leader started to confirm his innocence and the innocence of his followers with a low voice lowering his head and almost in tears. I ordered the soldiers to get ready to leave the monastery, but lieutenant "De Lul" asked me to wait saying: may the colonel allow me to tell him that our mission is not done yet?!! I said: we've searched the whole monastery and didn't discover any thing suspicious, so what do you want lieutenant?!... He said: I want to inspect the floor of these rooms; my heart is misgiving something ; there must be some secret beneath it. "
Here, the monks looked at us anxiously, so I allowed the officer to inspect and he ordered the soldiers to lift the fine carpets off the floors then ordered them to abundantly pour water on the floor of each room separately. We were watching the water, and in one of the rooms, the water disappeared into the floor. Officer "De Lul" clapped his hands with joy and said here is the door, look! We looked and the door was uncovered , it was part of the room's floor opened in a cunning way with a small ring put near the leg of the monastery's head desk.
The soldiers started to break the door with the stocks of their rifles; the monks faces turned yellow.
The door opened and we saw a stair leading down, so I quickly took a big candle that's about a meter long and was lighting the picture of one of the inquisitions former heads. When I started to descend, a Jesuit monk put his hand on my shoulder intrusively and said: son, don't hold this candle with your hand that is stained with fighting blood, it is a holy candle.
I told him: your candle stained with innocents' blood is not worthy to be touched by my hand; we will see who is the filthy and the bloodthirsty murderer, you or I.
I descended the stairs followed by all the officers and soldiers with their swords unsheathed. When we reached the end of the stairs, we arrived to a big scary hall which was the courtroom and in the middle there was a pillar made of marble with a huge iron ring and chains attached to it to shackle the indicted.
In front of this pillar, there was a terrace where the head of the inquisition and the judges would sit on to judge innocents. Then we went to the rooms of torture and the rooms of shredding the human bodies, these rooms extended over a big space under the floor.
I saw in these rooms things that irritated me and made me feel disgusted and tremblly for the rest of my life.On of the torturing means that were used by inquisitions was to cut the organs with sharp tools.We saw small rooms in the size of the human body, some were vertical and some horizontal; the prisoner in the vertical room would remain standing on his feet during his imprisonment until he dies, and the prisoner in the horizontal room would lie in it until he dies. The corpses would stay in these tight prisons until they decay and the flesh falls of the bone and get eaten by worms. To discharge the stinky odors emitted from the corpses, they opened a small window to the open space.
We found in these rooms skeletons which were still in chains. Prisoners were men and women whose ages ranging from 14 to 70; we were able to save some of them alive; we broke their shackles while they were at the point of death. Some of them went crazy because of the heavy torture; all the prisoners were naked, our soldiers had to take off their clothes in order to cover some of the prisoners.
We took the prisoners out into light gradually so that they don't lose their sight; they were crying out of joy kissing the soldiers' hands and feet for saving them from the horrible torture and bringing them back to life; it was a heartbreaking scene.
We moved then to other rooms and saw bloodcurdling things; we found horrific tools used in torture, some were for breaking the bones and crushing the human body, they started with crushing the bones of the legs then the chest, head, and hands gradually until the whole body is smashed; from the other side of the machine, the smashed bones would come out, and blood mixed with minced meat, that's what they did to the poor innocent prisoners. Then we found a box in the size of the human head, the head of the person whom they want to torture would be put in this box after shackling his hands and legs so that he can't move; on the top of the box, there is a hole dripping drops of cold water on the head of the poor prisoner regularly, a drop each minute; many prisoners went crazy because of this kind of torture, and the tortured stays on this condition until he dies.
Another torturing tool is a casket with sharp knives fastened to it.
The beautiful lady casket, young men are thrown into it then it closes on them
They would threw the tortured young man in this casket then close its door with its knives and daggers, when it closes, it tears the body of the tortured to pieces.
We also found tools looking like hooks; these hooks would be thrust into the tongue of the tortured then pulled out with the tongue so that it gets cut piece after piece; there were also hooks that would be thrust into the breasts of women and pulled out violently until the breasts are cut off or severed by knives.
We found whips made of thorny iron that were used to hit the tortured naked prisoners until their bones get fragmented and their flesh dispersed.The news reached Madrid and thousands rushed to see the torturing tools; they griped the head of Jesuits and put him in the machine that breaks the bones, his bones were crushed and smashed; then they took his secretary and gave him away to the beautiful lady and closed its door, he was torn inside it. They took out the two corpses and did the same to the whole gang and monks. In half an hour, the public finished the lives of thirteen monks then started to plunder the monastery.
By Feras Nour Al-Halk
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Muslim conception of Jesus may surprise you
YOU THINK YOU KNOW
http://media. www.lsureveille. com/media/ storage/paper868 /news/2007/ 03/13/Opinion/
want to expand a little on what Muslims believe about
Jesus; it's one of the fundamental concepts in Islam.
First, to Muslims, he is one of the greatest of all
prophets in Islam. Had the scriptures he brought not
been changed and altered, we would still follow those
scriptures today. The same applies to the Torah.
"He (Jesus) said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He
has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet; And
He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has
enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat, as long as I
live. And dutiful to my mother, and made me not
arrogant, unblest. And Salam (peace) be upon me the
day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall
be raised alive!" Qur'an (19: 30-33)
Muslims believe Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary, is
only a human being. He is a human being with a high
status, but like we revere the prophet Muhammad and
consider him a human being, the same applies to the
other prophets. Muslims do not give people higher
ranks than they deserve.
Muslims believe he came with the same message that all
the other prophets came with: to worship God alone and
to not prescribe anything to God in worship; i.e. a
son, daughter, intermediaries, etc.
Allah tells us in the Qur'an what Jesus said to his
people, which is also very similar to things found in
the Old Testament.
"(Jesus said): "And verily Allah is my Lord and your
Lord. So worship Him (Alone). That is the Straight
Path." (Qur'an 19:36)
http://media. www.lsureveille. com/media/ storage/paper868 /news/2007/ 03/13/Opinion/
want to expand a little on what Muslims believe about
Jesus; it's one of the fundamental concepts in Islam.
First, to Muslims, he is one of the greatest of all
prophets in Islam. Had the scriptures he brought not
been changed and altered, we would still follow those
scriptures today. The same applies to the Torah.
"He (Jesus) said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He
has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet; And
He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has
enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat, as long as I
live. And dutiful to my mother, and made me not
arrogant, unblest. And Salam (peace) be upon me the
day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall
be raised alive!" Qur'an (19: 30-33)
Muslims believe Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary, is
only a human being. He is a human being with a high
status, but like we revere the prophet Muhammad and
consider him a human being, the same applies to the
other prophets. Muslims do not give people higher
ranks than they deserve.
Muslims believe he came with the same message that all
the other prophets came with: to worship God alone and
to not prescribe anything to God in worship; i.e. a
son, daughter, intermediaries, etc.
Allah tells us in the Qur'an what Jesus said to his
people, which is also very similar to things found in
the Old Testament.
"(Jesus said): "And verily Allah is my Lord and your
Lord. So worship Him (Alone). That is the Straight
Path." (Qur'an 19:36)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Islam gains Hispanic converts/new trend in Fl?
Islam gains Hispanic converts Ramadan rite expands with new trend in Florida
By Lisa Bolivar
Special Correspondent
Posted September 30 2005
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-nw30ramadansep30,0,29610\
24.story
This year's Ramadan celebration will be extra special for members of a Margate mosque who will observe the holiday in a brand new building instead of inside the
cramped storefront they used to call home.
Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen's spacious new building is just behind the old storefront off Sample Road, where Margate touches Coral Springs, but this mosque will
allow more families to gather for the traditional fast-breaking meal, called an iftar, said Bibi Khan of Margate.
"Because the space we were in was so small and congested, now more people can join us in more space," she said.
Ramadan, which begins around Oct. 4, depending on when the new moon is sighted, is a monthlong holiday in which Muslims abstain from food, drink, and any
worldly pleasures from sunup to sundown. The holiday is part of five requirements, or pillars, of the Islamic faith. The other four pillars are the shahaddah, or the witnessing, where a believer declares three times that there is one God and
Muhammad is the messenger of God; the performing of five daily prayers; paying the "poor due" or zakat, which amounts to about 2.5 percent of a person's
monetary worth; and performing a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia once in a lifetime, if it can be afforded.
Melissa Matos is among some area Muslims who will be celebrating the season for the first time.
When she speaks of celebrating her first Ramadan, the 20-year-old clasps her hands excitedly and smile spreads from ear-to-ear.
Matos, who took the shahaddah in order to become a Muslim in April, has started down a path toward a new way of life, a new circle of friends and a tradition
that, she said, she knows will teach her to be a better person.
"What I am looking forward to for the month is letting go of a lot of things I do," said Matos, who lives in Miramar. "I am going to be more sensitive to things I
didn't notice before, like hunger; I am looking forward to what it is going to do for my sensitivity."
Matos represents a growing number of Latin women who are taking the shahaddah and donning the traditional hair covering, called a hijab.
Altaf Ali, executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Pembroke Pines, said Islam is gaining an increasing number of Hispanic
converts.
"More so in California, but in Florida it's a new trend. …Yes, there are several Hispanic Muslims that have been in Florida for some time now, but in regards
to the conversion rate within the last few years, I've seen an increasing rate in Hispanics converting to Islam," said Ali, a native of Guyana. "I think the
Hispanic culture itself is very rich in terms of family values, and that is something that is very prominent in the religion of Islam.
"Family values play an integral role in the formation of a Muslim community. Because of those family values, there is a lot of other norms that are consistent
within the Hispanic community and Islam; for instance, respect for elders, married life and rearing children, these are some of the traditions Hispanics have in
common with Islam."
Matos began learning about the faith, and what she found spoke to her heart.
"Its simplicity and its universality, it's for every culture, for every time, every country, it's for everyone," she said.
Zeleina Bakhsh, Bibi Khan's sister, grew up in Guyana and moved to South Florida with her family. Bakhsh also likes to celebrate the diversity of her faith,
especially at this time of year.
"Islam is about unity, and we have that here among the brothers and sisters," she said, speaking of the fellowship at the Margate mosque. "It makes you feel
very emotional in that month. We read a lot of Quran, we do dikhir (reciting the names of God) and Allah is giving you a chance to beg for forgiveness if you have
made a sin."
Matos said she is looking forward to learning the lessons of the season.
"It's a time when Muslims get to basically learn sensitivity to others," she said. "During that time (of early Islam) when the people lived you had large
class divisions, the very, very rich and very, very poor and it was a way to get people to understand what it is to be poor."
Ali said Ramadan also offers an opportunity for starting another year on a better footing.
"What I think is very significant this year is that taking into consideration all that has happened within the Muslims who live in America and the … challenges
that we faced, the month of Ramadan once again boosts our morale and it increased our self-esteem," he said.
"And once again we apply forgiveness toward those who have wronged us in many ways; the negative publicity and the injustices passed upon us.
"This is a time when we say it's another year, it's a time of forgiveness, a time of reflection and giving, and we reflect on the good things we've accomplished
in our country, and what this country has given us, and we appreciate that. It takes us away from the constant battle of proving what we are," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Latino women finding a place in Islam ‘I am doing this for God,’ one convert says
By Carmen Sesin
Reporter NBC News
Updated: 4:15 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9352969/
UNION CITY, N.J. — On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, N.J., and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women.
Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops.
Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.
"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, ‘Why is she wearing that, it’s so hot.’”
But, she said, “I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing.”
And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.
“You know how guys [say], ‘Hey Mami, come over here?’ I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are
still curious, but it’s much less,” she explained.
“They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body.”
Growing number of converts?
Perada is not alone as a Hispanic women converting to Islam.
The exact number of Latino Muslims is difficult to determine, because the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect information about religion. However, according
to estimates conducted by national Islamic organizations such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North
America (ISNA) there are approximately 40,000 Latino Muslims in the United States.
Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female. But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted
by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos
converting to Islam tilts slightly in favor of women — with 60 percent women to 40 percent men.
Juan Galvan, the head of LADO in Texas and the co-author of a report "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," explained that those
numbers are unscientific, but based on the results of a voluntary survey that has been conducted on the LADO website since 2001.
“From observation and experience those numbers are correct,” Galvan said. “From my personal experience, there are definitely more Latina Muslims than Latino
men.” Galvan explained said that there “just seem to be more” Latina Muslims at the various events he attends through his work with LADO.
At the Islamic Education Center of North Hudson, 300 of the people who attend the mosque are converts, and 80 percent are Latino converts. In addition, out of
the Latino converts, 60 percent are women, according to Nylka Vargas, who works at the mosque with the Educational Outreach Program.
Overall growth Peter Awn, an Islamic studies professor at Columbia University, says there is no doubt that the number of Latinos converting to Islam is growing.
Louis Cristillo, an anthropologist who focuses on Islamic education at Columbia University, points out there are several indicators that reflect the growing
trend of Latinos converting to Islam.
For example, there are a number of regional and national organizations that cater to Latino Muslims, and there are even support groups that can be found on-line specifically for Latino converts — in particular Hispanicmuslims.com, as well the LADO organization at latinodawah.org.
In fact, last weekend, Latino Muslims in this country celebrated the third annual Hispanic Muslim Day with different activities throughout the day.
For women, particular challenges Converting to Islam can be shocking for families who
are largely Catholic and harbor stereotypes of Muslims, specifically concerning women.
Perada says her mother, who is Colombian, accepted her decision to convert because she never really pushed her into Catholicism. However, her father, who is of
Italian origin, has had a tough time dealing with it.
“Sometimes he says things about the way I dress,” said Perada. “He’ll say, ‘Why do you have to dress that way. I’m Christian. I don’t walk around with a cross
in my hand.'
“He always complains to my mom about it, but with me he just keeps it to himself. But I know for him it is very hard,” Perada added.
Vargas, 30, from the Islamic Education Center, is of Ecuadorian and Peruvian descent. She says her family is already accustomed to the idea of her being Muslim,
since it has already been ten years since she converted. But she recalls the days in which her family was dealing with the initial shock of her new faith.
“When I started being more visible, that’s when things started getting weird. My sisters couldn’t understand why I would cover myself. They thought I was being
oppressed or brainwashed,” said Vargas.
She admits it was difficult at first to adjust to certain customs, such as wearing the hijab or a headscarf and having to pray five times a day.
“First it felt kind of weird to be covered, but after a while it [the headscarf] becomes your hair. I refer to my hijab as my hair.”
‘A return to traditional values’ Like other ethnic groups, Latinos convert for a
variety of reasons.
Some, says Cristillo, grew up in inner-city areas ravaged by poverty, drugs and prostitution, and were attracted in part by the fact that some Islamic
communities were very active in cleaning up the neighborhoods.
Vargas, meanwhile, says she questioned many things about the Catholic faith in which she was raised and felt an emptiness in Christianity.
Galvan, from LADO, pointed out that many people come to Islam through people that they know, "friends, co-workers, classmates, boyfriends or husbands.”
Professor Awn said that many Latinas find there is a greater sense of economic and social stability in Islam and that it also represents “a return to traditional values.”
In that regard, Awn does not think Islam is any more patriarchal than other traditional religions, but recognized that “the younger generation is looking for
a more progressive form of Islam."
And Perada does not feel that her adherence to the Muslim faith restricts her freedoms as a woman.
“If I get married, I know I am going to work, but I am going to be there for my kids, too,” said Perada, dismissing any notions that Islam would prevent her
from living the life of any other modern woman.
Carmen Sesin is an assignment editor on the NBC News Foreing desk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Hispanic Muslims at:
http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/
By Lisa Bolivar
Special Correspondent
Posted September 30 2005
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-nw30ramadansep30,0,29610\
24.story
This year's Ramadan celebration will be extra special for members of a Margate mosque who will observe the holiday in a brand new building instead of inside the
cramped storefront they used to call home.
Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen's spacious new building is just behind the old storefront off Sample Road, where Margate touches Coral Springs, but this mosque will
allow more families to gather for the traditional fast-breaking meal, called an iftar, said Bibi Khan of Margate.
"Because the space we were in was so small and congested, now more people can join us in more space," she said.
Ramadan, which begins around Oct. 4, depending on when the new moon is sighted, is a monthlong holiday in which Muslims abstain from food, drink, and any
worldly pleasures from sunup to sundown. The holiday is part of five requirements, or pillars, of the Islamic faith. The other four pillars are the shahaddah, or the witnessing, where a believer declares three times that there is one God and
Muhammad is the messenger of God; the performing of five daily prayers; paying the "poor due" or zakat, which amounts to about 2.5 percent of a person's
monetary worth; and performing a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia once in a lifetime, if it can be afforded.
Melissa Matos is among some area Muslims who will be celebrating the season for the first time.
When she speaks of celebrating her first Ramadan, the 20-year-old clasps her hands excitedly and smile spreads from ear-to-ear.
Matos, who took the shahaddah in order to become a Muslim in April, has started down a path toward a new way of life, a new circle of friends and a tradition
that, she said, she knows will teach her to be a better person.
"What I am looking forward to for the month is letting go of a lot of things I do," said Matos, who lives in Miramar. "I am going to be more sensitive to things I
didn't notice before, like hunger; I am looking forward to what it is going to do for my sensitivity."
Matos represents a growing number of Latin women who are taking the shahaddah and donning the traditional hair covering, called a hijab.
Altaf Ali, executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Pembroke Pines, said Islam is gaining an increasing number of Hispanic
converts.
"More so in California, but in Florida it's a new trend. …Yes, there are several Hispanic Muslims that have been in Florida for some time now, but in regards
to the conversion rate within the last few years, I've seen an increasing rate in Hispanics converting to Islam," said Ali, a native of Guyana. "I think the
Hispanic culture itself is very rich in terms of family values, and that is something that is very prominent in the religion of Islam.
"Family values play an integral role in the formation of a Muslim community. Because of those family values, there is a lot of other norms that are consistent
within the Hispanic community and Islam; for instance, respect for elders, married life and rearing children, these are some of the traditions Hispanics have in
common with Islam."
Matos began learning about the faith, and what she found spoke to her heart.
"Its simplicity and its universality, it's for every culture, for every time, every country, it's for everyone," she said.
Zeleina Bakhsh, Bibi Khan's sister, grew up in Guyana and moved to South Florida with her family. Bakhsh also likes to celebrate the diversity of her faith,
especially at this time of year.
"Islam is about unity, and we have that here among the brothers and sisters," she said, speaking of the fellowship at the Margate mosque. "It makes you feel
very emotional in that month. We read a lot of Quran, we do dikhir (reciting the names of God) and Allah is giving you a chance to beg for forgiveness if you have
made a sin."
Matos said she is looking forward to learning the lessons of the season.
"It's a time when Muslims get to basically learn sensitivity to others," she said. "During that time (of early Islam) when the people lived you had large
class divisions, the very, very rich and very, very poor and it was a way to get people to understand what it is to be poor."
Ali said Ramadan also offers an opportunity for starting another year on a better footing.
"What I think is very significant this year is that taking into consideration all that has happened within the Muslims who live in America and the … challenges
that we faced, the month of Ramadan once again boosts our morale and it increased our self-esteem," he said.
"And once again we apply forgiveness toward those who have wronged us in many ways; the negative publicity and the injustices passed upon us.
"This is a time when we say it's another year, it's a time of forgiveness, a time of reflection and giving, and we reflect on the good things we've accomplished
in our country, and what this country has given us, and we appreciate that. It takes us away from the constant battle of proving what we are," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Latino women finding a place in Islam ‘I am doing this for God,’ one convert says
By Carmen Sesin
Reporter NBC News
Updated: 4:15 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9352969/
UNION CITY, N.J. — On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, N.J., and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women.
Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops.
Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.
"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, ‘Why is she wearing that, it’s so hot.’”
But, she said, “I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing.”
And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.
“You know how guys [say], ‘Hey Mami, come over here?’ I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are
still curious, but it’s much less,” she explained.
“They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body.”
Growing number of converts?
Perada is not alone as a Hispanic women converting to Islam.
The exact number of Latino Muslims is difficult to determine, because the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect information about religion. However, according
to estimates conducted by national Islamic organizations such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North
America (ISNA) there are approximately 40,000 Latino Muslims in the United States.
Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female. But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted
by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos
converting to Islam tilts slightly in favor of women — with 60 percent women to 40 percent men.
Juan Galvan, the head of LADO in Texas and the co-author of a report "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," explained that those
numbers are unscientific, but based on the results of a voluntary survey that has been conducted on the LADO website since 2001.
“From observation and experience those numbers are correct,” Galvan said. “From my personal experience, there are definitely more Latina Muslims than Latino
men.” Galvan explained said that there “just seem to be more” Latina Muslims at the various events he attends through his work with LADO.
At the Islamic Education Center of North Hudson, 300 of the people who attend the mosque are converts, and 80 percent are Latino converts. In addition, out of
the Latino converts, 60 percent are women, according to Nylka Vargas, who works at the mosque with the Educational Outreach Program.
Overall growth Peter Awn, an Islamic studies professor at Columbia University, says there is no doubt that the number of Latinos converting to Islam is growing.
Louis Cristillo, an anthropologist who focuses on Islamic education at Columbia University, points out there are several indicators that reflect the growing
trend of Latinos converting to Islam.
For example, there are a number of regional and national organizations that cater to Latino Muslims, and there are even support groups that can be found on-line specifically for Latino converts — in particular Hispanicmuslims.com, as well the LADO organization at latinodawah.org.
In fact, last weekend, Latino Muslims in this country celebrated the third annual Hispanic Muslim Day with different activities throughout the day.
For women, particular challenges Converting to Islam can be shocking for families who
are largely Catholic and harbor stereotypes of Muslims, specifically concerning women.
Perada says her mother, who is Colombian, accepted her decision to convert because she never really pushed her into Catholicism. However, her father, who is of
Italian origin, has had a tough time dealing with it.
“Sometimes he says things about the way I dress,” said Perada. “He’ll say, ‘Why do you have to dress that way. I’m Christian. I don’t walk around with a cross
in my hand.'
“He always complains to my mom about it, but with me he just keeps it to himself. But I know for him it is very hard,” Perada added.
Vargas, 30, from the Islamic Education Center, is of Ecuadorian and Peruvian descent. She says her family is already accustomed to the idea of her being Muslim,
since it has already been ten years since she converted. But she recalls the days in which her family was dealing with the initial shock of her new faith.
“When I started being more visible, that’s when things started getting weird. My sisters couldn’t understand why I would cover myself. They thought I was being
oppressed or brainwashed,” said Vargas.
She admits it was difficult at first to adjust to certain customs, such as wearing the hijab or a headscarf and having to pray five times a day.
“First it felt kind of weird to be covered, but after a while it [the headscarf] becomes your hair. I refer to my hijab as my hair.”
‘A return to traditional values’ Like other ethnic groups, Latinos convert for a
variety of reasons.
Some, says Cristillo, grew up in inner-city areas ravaged by poverty, drugs and prostitution, and were attracted in part by the fact that some Islamic
communities were very active in cleaning up the neighborhoods.
Vargas, meanwhile, says she questioned many things about the Catholic faith in which she was raised and felt an emptiness in Christianity.
Galvan, from LADO, pointed out that many people come to Islam through people that they know, "friends, co-workers, classmates, boyfriends or husbands.”
Professor Awn said that many Latinas find there is a greater sense of economic and social stability in Islam and that it also represents “a return to traditional values.”
In that regard, Awn does not think Islam is any more patriarchal than other traditional religions, but recognized that “the younger generation is looking for
a more progressive form of Islam."
And Perada does not feel that her adherence to the Muslim faith restricts her freedoms as a woman.
“If I get married, I know I am going to work, but I am going to be there for my kids, too,” said Perada, dismissing any notions that Islam would prevent her
from living the life of any other modern woman.
Carmen Sesin is an assignment editor on the NBC News Foreing desk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Hispanic Muslims at:
http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
http://www.usislam.org/sitemap.htm
Latino Converts
Abd ul Noor, The answer came from Allah.
Abdul-Walee Gomez , The Road to My Home
Ali, Mexican American, Reading the Quran was like a wake up call
Elizabeth Valencia, The True Guidance
Ericka, My Journey To Islam
Juan Jose Galvan, A Mexican-American finds Allah in Texas.
Khadija Margarid, A Portuguese Woman Discovers Islam
Khadijah Rivera, My Hispanic Muslim Legacy
Monica, How I became a Muslim
Muhammad Bin Abdullah Caraballo, The Great Love for Jesus Christ Led Me to Islam
Raheel Rojas My first reading of the Qur'an
Richard Cramdon, HOW I CONVERTED TO ISLAM
Shafiq, From Juan to Shafiq.
Shariffa Carlo, Trained to destroy Islam
Steven J Hernandez, Before Reverting to Islam, I became active in the schools Muslim student Association!
Tariq Vasquez, Finally I took my Shahadah!
Latino Links
http://www.centroislamico.org.ec/documentos.htm (CENTRO ISLÁMICO DEL ECUADOR)
http://www.latinodawah.org/ (LADO) Latino American Dawah Organization
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LADO/ (LADO Yahoogroup)
http://www.latinodawah.org/library/spanish/elislam-book.html (LADO)
http://www.hispanicmuslims.com/ (Hispanis Muslims)
http://www.islaminspanish.com/ (Islam In Spanish, it has Audio, video, Libros, books)
http://www.jubailnet.com/Jesus-Islam.htm (A great article by Muhammad Bin Abdullah Caraballo)
http://www.islam-guide.com/es/ (Una Breve Guía Ilustrada para entender el Islam)
http://www.centroislamico.org.ec/documentos.htm (LITERATURA ISLÁMICA)
http://www.musulmanesnuevos.tk/ (Musulmanes Nuevos)
http://usuarios.lycos.es/nurislam/whattheysay.html (Nur Islam )
http://www.islamvenezuela.8m.com/ (Islam Venezuela)
http://www.harunyahya.com/es/index.php (Harun Yahya - UNA INVITACION A LA VERDAD)
http://www.centroislamicoboliviano.org/centrohistorico.htm (El Centro Islámico Boliviano)
http://www.geocities.com/islamchile/ (Islam Chile)
http://www.geocities.com/islamicchat/ (Muslim Sisters in Brazil)
http://www.muhajabah.com/latinos.htm Links for Latino Muslims
http://www.primexample.com/ A great website for Latino Dawah in English and Spanish
http://www.intratext.com/X/ESL0024.htm (Translation of the Quran by Spanish-speaking Muslims)
http://www.muhajabah.com/latinos.htm (Spanish-language site about Islam for Latinas)
http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/ (Islam in Latin America and Latino Muslims)
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/quran/spanish.asp (Review of Three Spanish Translations of the Quran)
Abd ul Noor, The answer came from Allah.
Abdul-Walee Gomez , The Road to My Home
Ali, Mexican American, Reading the Quran was like a wake up call
Elizabeth Valencia, The True Guidance
Ericka, My Journey To Islam
Juan Jose Galvan, A Mexican-American finds Allah in Texas.
Khadija Margarid, A Portuguese Woman Discovers Islam
Khadijah Rivera, My Hispanic Muslim Legacy
Monica, How I became a Muslim
Muhammad Bin Abdullah Caraballo, The Great Love for Jesus Christ Led Me to Islam
Raheel Rojas My first reading of the Qur'an
Richard Cramdon, HOW I CONVERTED TO ISLAM
Shafiq, From Juan to Shafiq.
Shariffa Carlo, Trained to destroy Islam
Steven J Hernandez, Before Reverting to Islam, I became active in the schools Muslim student Association!
Tariq Vasquez, Finally I took my Shahadah!
Latino Links
http://www.centroislamico.org.ec/documentos.htm (CENTRO ISLÁMICO DEL ECUADOR)
http://www.latinodawah.org/ (LADO) Latino American Dawah Organization
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LADO/ (LADO Yahoogroup)
http://www.latinodawah.org/library/spanish/elislam-book.html (LADO)
http://www.hispanicmuslims.com/ (Hispanis Muslims)
http://www.islaminspanish.com/ (Islam In Spanish, it has Audio, video, Libros, books)
http://www.jubailnet.com/Jesus-Islam.htm (A great article by Muhammad Bin Abdullah Caraballo)
http://www.islam-guide.com/es/ (Una Breve Guía Ilustrada para entender el Islam)
http://www.centroislamico.org.ec/documentos.htm (LITERATURA ISLÁMICA)
http://www.musulmanesnuevos.tk/ (Musulmanes Nuevos)
http://usuarios.lycos.es/nurislam/whattheysay.html (Nur Islam )
http://www.islamvenezuela.8m.com/ (Islam Venezuela)
http://www.harunyahya.com/es/index.php (Harun Yahya - UNA INVITACION A LA VERDAD)
http://www.centroislamicoboliviano.org/centrohistorico.htm (El Centro Islámico Boliviano)
http://www.geocities.com/islamchile/ (Islam Chile)
http://www.geocities.com/islamicchat/ (Muslim Sisters in Brazil)
http://www.muhajabah.com/latinos.htm Links for Latino Muslims
http://www.primexample.com/ A great website for Latino Dawah in English and Spanish
http://www.intratext.com/X/ESL0024.htm (Translation of the Quran by Spanish-speaking Muslims)
http://www.muhajabah.com/latinos.htm (Spanish-language site about Islam for Latinas)
http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/ (Islam in Latin America and Latino Muslims)
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/quran/spanish.asp (Review of Three Spanish Translations of the Quran)
Monday, March 12, 2007
My name is jasmine. Puerto Rican Muslimah
From a Islamic Forum introduction;
Salaams my name is Jasmine. I am 19 years old and a hispanic from Puerto rico, dominican, and ecudorian. i've been muslim for about three years now.i attend college in queens. my major is nursing. i love helping people and taking good care of them when they are sick. my aunt (who is muslim for about 10 years now) had converted me when i was 16 years old. she has always told me about the religion and how great allah is and i wanted to convert. my family are strong catholics. i never liked the muslim religion. i had been through two religions (catholic and christian)and my heart and soul was never happy. however when i became muslim, my heart and soul felt overwelmed and i felt as if i belonged to allah. my family to this day disagrees with the religion.i have been kicked out of my house alot and had been living with friends because of my religion choice. my mom has never looked at me the same and my dad disowns me. my family in general doesnt understand the religion and disagrees also. but that hasnt stop me from believeing in allah. alot of my friends has stop hanging out with me because there were embrass of me because i wear the hijab. ever since ive became muslim, my friends and family have left out of my life. then i had met another muslim and that has changed my life forever. he was a palestinian brother who lived in a very strict muslim family (oh so they say) he had told me that his family was muslim and they are very religious....well boy was he wrong. when his family found out i was a hispanic muslim, they were upset and mad because they didnt like spanish people. they had told me that i was going to take off my hijab in three months, that i am a wild women, and i only want to marry muslim men for money. omg has that hurt me! to hear muslim brothers and sisters talk like that has made me question not only their culture but the religion. they told me that they are always going to be better muslims then me because they are arabic and they were bron raised muslim. HOWEVER...none of the women were hijabs or pray five times a day. the men eat pork, drink, and go out to clubs and date...even the women. they would call me horrible names and try to convice me to take off my hijab. that experience was the worst experience of my life. it had brought tears to my eyes that muslims are like that. but i had never given up because my love for allah is the greatest. i had never llet anyone changed my view or me because i am a muslim sister who loves allah and would never give it up for no one. then when i started college.....i never knew that there are so many sister that were hispanic and that were going through the same as me. and meeting sisters who accepted me for who i was...not my race. alhamuallah it was amazing! i think this website is so wonderful and im happy to be here alhamduallah
Habiti for ALLAH..
Salaams my name is Jasmine. I am 19 years old and a hispanic from Puerto rico, dominican, and ecudorian. i've been muslim for about three years now.i attend college in queens. my major is nursing. i love helping people and taking good care of them when they are sick. my aunt (who is muslim for about 10 years now) had converted me when i was 16 years old. she has always told me about the religion and how great allah is and i wanted to convert. my family are strong catholics. i never liked the muslim religion. i had been through two religions (catholic and christian)and my heart and soul was never happy. however when i became muslim, my heart and soul felt overwelmed and i felt as if i belonged to allah. my family to this day disagrees with the religion.i have been kicked out of my house alot and had been living with friends because of my religion choice. my mom has never looked at me the same and my dad disowns me. my family in general doesnt understand the religion and disagrees also. but that hasnt stop me from believeing in allah. alot of my friends has stop hanging out with me because there were embrass of me because i wear the hijab. ever since ive became muslim, my friends and family have left out of my life. then i had met another muslim and that has changed my life forever. he was a palestinian brother who lived in a very strict muslim family (oh so they say) he had told me that his family was muslim and they are very religious....well boy was he wrong. when his family found out i was a hispanic muslim, they were upset and mad because they didnt like spanish people. they had told me that i was going to take off my hijab in three months, that i am a wild women, and i only want to marry muslim men for money. omg has that hurt me! to hear muslim brothers and sisters talk like that has made me question not only their culture but the religion. they told me that they are always going to be better muslims then me because they are arabic and they were bron raised muslim. HOWEVER...none of the women were hijabs or pray five times a day. the men eat pork, drink, and go out to clubs and date...even the women. they would call me horrible names and try to convice me to take off my hijab. that experience was the worst experience of my life. it had brought tears to my eyes that muslims are like that. but i had never given up because my love for allah is the greatest. i had never llet anyone changed my view or me because i am a muslim sister who loves allah and would never give it up for no one. then when i started college.....i never knew that there are so many sister that were hispanic and that were going through the same as me. and meeting sisters who accepted me for who i was...not my race. alhamuallah it was amazing! i think this website is so wonderful and im happy to be here alhamduallah
Habiti for ALLAH..
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Spain's Islamic legacy
Mar 8, 2007 at 12:20 PM
In Islamic Spain, the high civilization of the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus was first continued, then exceeded, as both eastern and homegrown scholars and artists found welcoming and openhanded patrons in al-Andalus. One example is the ninth-century scholar ‘Abbas ibn Firnas, who experimented with flight some 600 years before Leonardo da Vinci and constructed a planetarium in which the planets actually revolved.
he Medieval Christians of Spain had a legend that Roderick, the last king of the Visigoths, was responsible for unleashing the Arab invasion of the Iberian Peninsula because, in defiance of his plighted word, he unlocked the gates of an enchanted palace he had sworn not to tamper with. As far as the West was concerned, the Arab invasion did unlock an enchanted palace. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Vandals, Huns and Visigoths had pillaged and burned their way through the Iberian Peninsula, establishing ephemeral kingdoms which lasted only as long as loot poured in, and were then destroyed in their turn. Then, without warning, in the year 711, came the Arabs—to settle, fall in love with the land and create the first civilization Europe had known since the Roman legions gave up the unequal fight against the barbarian hordes.
Spain first prospered under the rule of the Umayyads, who established a dynasty there after they had lost the caliphate in the East to the Abbasids. At first, the culture of the Umayyad court at Córdoba was wholly derivative. Fashions, both in literature and dress, were imitiative of those current in the Abbasids’ newly founded capital of Baghdad. Scholars from the more sophisticated lands to the east were always assured of a warm reception at the court of Córdoba, where their colleagues would listen avidly for news of what was being discussed in the capital, what people were wearing, what songs were being sung, and—above all—what books were being read.
slamic culture was pre-eminently a culture of the book. The introduction of paper from China in 751 gave an impetus to learning and an excitement about ideas which the world had never before known. Books became more available than they had been even in Rome, and incomparably cheaper than they were in the Latin West, where they continued to be written on expensive parchment. In the 12th century, a man sold 120 acres of land in order to buy a single Book of Hours. In the ninth century, the library of the monastery of St. Gall was the largest in Europe, boasting 36 volumes. At the same time, that of Córdoba contained 500,000. The cultural lag between East and West in the Middle Ages can be attributed partly to the fact that the Arabs had paper, while the Latin West did not.
It took much more than paper to create an intellectual and scientific culture like that of Islamic Spain, of course. Islam, with its tolerance and encouragement of both secular and religious learning, created the necessary climate for the exchange of ideas. The court of Córdoba, like that of Baghdad, was open to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, and one prominent bishop complained that young Christian men were devoting themselves to the study of Arabic, rather than Latin—a reflection of the fact that Arabic, in a surprisingly short time, had become the international language of science, as English has today.
Islamic culture in Spain began to flourish in earnest during the reign of ‘Abd al-Rahman II of Córdoba, as Arabic spread increasingly among his non-Muslim subjects, especially in the cities, leading to a great flowering of intellectual activity of all kinds.
In a courtly society, the tastes and predilections of the ruler set the tone for society at large, and ‘Abd al-Rahman II, passionately interested in both the religious and the secular sciences, was determined to show the world that his court was in no way inferior to the court of the caliphs at Baghdad. To this end, therefore, he actively recruited scholars by offering handsome inducements to overcome their initial reluctance to live in what many in the lands of the East considered the provinces. As a result, many scholars, poets, philosophers, historians and musicians migrated to al-Andalus, and established the basis of the intellectual tradition and educational system which made Spain so outstanding for the next 400 years.
Another result was that an infrastructure of public and private libraries, mosques, hospitals and research institutions rapidly grew up and famous scholars in the East, hearing of these amenities, flocked to the West. They in turn attracted students of their own; in the Islamic world it was not at all unusual for a student to travel thousands of miles to study at the feet of a famous professor.
One of the earliest of these scholars was ‘Abbas ibn Firnas, who died in the year 888 and who, had he lived in the Florence of the Medici, would have been a “Renaissance man.” He came to Córdoba to teach music, then a branch of mathematical theory, but—not a man to limit himself to a single field of study—soon became interested in the mechanics of flight. He constructed a pair of wings, made out of feathers in a wooden frame, and attempted to fly—anticipating Leonardo da Vinci by some 600 years.
Luckily, ‘Abbas survived, and, undiscouraged, turned his mind to the construction of a planetarium in which the planets actually revolved—it would be extremely interesting to know the details of the gearing mechanism. It also simulated such celestial phenomena as thunder and lightning and was, of course, a wild success. Next ‘Abbas turned to the mathematical problems involved in the regularity of the facets of certain crystals and evolved a formula for manufacturing artificial crystals.
t must be remembered that a knowledge of the achievements of men like ‘Abbas has come to us purely by chance. It has been estimated that today there are 250,000 Arabic manuscripts in western and eastern libraries, including private collections. Yet in the 10th century, private libraries existed which contained as many as 500,000 books. Literally millions of books must have perished, and with them the achievements of a great many scholars and scientists whose books, had they survived, might have changed the course of history. As it is, even now, only a tiny proportion of existing Arabic scientific texts has been studied, and it will take years to form a more exact idea of the contributions of Muslim scientists to the history of ideas.
One of the fields most assiduously cultivated in Spain was natural science. Although Andalusian scholars did not make contributions as fundamental as those made by their colleagues in the East, those that they did make had more effect on the later development of science and technology, for it was through Spain and the scholars of al-Andalus that these ideas reached the West.
No school of translators comparable to the House of Wisdom of al-Ma’mun existed in Spain, and Andalusian scholars seem not to have interested themselves in the natural sciences until the translations of the House of Wisdom reached them.
Interest in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine was always lively, however, because of their obvious utility—mathematics for commercial purposes, computation of the rather complicated Islamic laws of inheritance, and as a basis for measuring distances. Astronomy was useful for determining the times of prayer and adjusting the calendar, and the study of medicine needed no apology. The introduction of the new Aristotelian ideas, however, even in Arab dress, aroused a certain amount of suspicion in the conservative West, and it was some time before public opinion would accept that Aristotelian logic did not conflict with the revelation of Islam.
Part of the suspicion with which certain of the ideas emanating from the scholars of the Abbasid court were viewed was due to an inadequate distinction between sciences and pseudo-sciences. This was a distinction which the Muslims made at a much earlier date than western scholars, who, even during the Renaissance, tended to confound astronomy with astrology, chemistry with alchemy. Ibn Hazm, a leading Andalusian scholar of the 11th century and staunchly conservative, was very outspoken on this point. People who advocated the efficacy of talismans, magic, alchemy, and astrology he calls shameless liars. This rational approach did much to make Islam preeminent in the natural sciences.
The study of mathematics and astronomy went hand in hand. Al-Khwarizmi’s famous book entitled The Calculation of Integration and Equation reached al-Andalus at an early date, and became the foundation of much later speculation. In it, Al-Khwarizmi dealt with equations, algebraic multiplication and division, measurement of surfaces and other questions. Al-Khwarizmi was the first to introduce the use of what he called “Indian” and we call “Arabic” numerals. The exact method of transmission of these numerals—and the place-value idea which they embodied—is not known, but the symbols used to represent the numbers had slightly different forms in eastern and western Islam, and the forms of our numerals are derived from those used in al-Andalus. The work of al-Khwarizmi, which now only survives in a 12th-century Latin translation made in Spain, together with a translation of Euclid’s Elements, became the two foundations of subsequent mathematical developments in al-Andalus.
he first original mathematician and astronomer of al-Andalus was the 10th century’s Maslama al-Majriti. He had been preceded by competent scientists—men like Ibn Abi ‘Ubaida of Valencia, who in the ninth century was a leading astronomer, and the emigré from Baghdad, Ibn Taimiyyah, who was both a well-known physician and an astronomer—but al-Majriti was in a class by himself. He wrote a number of works on mathematics and astronomy, studied and elaborated the Arabic translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest and enlarged and corrected the astronomical tables of al-Khwarizmi himself. He compiled conversion tables, in which the dates of the Persian calendar were related to hijri dates, so that for the first time the events of Persia’s past could be dated with precision.
Al-Zarqali, known to the Latin West as Arzachel, was another leading mathematician and astronomer who flourished in Córdoba in the 11th century. He combined theoretical knowledge with technical skills, and excelled at the construction of precision instruments for astronomical use. He built a waterclock capable of determining the hours of the day and night and indicating the days of the lunar month. He contributed to the compilation of the famous Toledan Tables, a highly accurate compilation of astronomical data. His Book of Tables, written in the form of an almanac (almanac is an Arabic word meaning “climate,” originally indicating the stations of the moon) contains tables which allow one to find on what day the Coptic, Roman, lunar and Persian months begin; others give the position of the various planets at any given time; still others allow prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. He also compiled valuable tables of latitude and longitude; many of his works were translated, both into Spanish and into Latin.
Still another luminary was al-Bitruji (the Latin scholars of the Middle Ages called him Alpetragius), who developed a new theory of stellar movement and wrote the Book of Form in which it is detailed.
The influence of these astronom- ical works was immense. Today, for example, the constellations still bear the names given them by Muslim astronomers—Acrab (from ‘aqrab, “scorpion”), Altair (from al-ta’ir, “the flyer”), Deneb (from dhanb, “tail”), Pherkard (from farqad, “calf”)—and words such as zenith, nadir and azimuth, all still in use today, recall the works of the Muslim scholars of al-Andalus.
ut the Muslim science par excellence was the study of medicine. Interest in medicine goes back to the very earliest times. The Prophet himself stated that there was a remedy for every illness, and was aware that some diseases were contagious.
The great contribution of the Arabs was to put the study of medicine on a scientific footing and eliminate superstition and harmful folk-practices. Medicine was considered a highly technical calling, and one which required long study and training. Elaborate codes were formulated to regulate the professional conduct of doctors. It was not enough to have a mastery of one’s subject in order to practice medicine. Certain moral qualities were mandatory. Ibn Hazm said that a doctor should be kind, understanding, friendly, good, able to endure insults and adverse criticism; he must keep his hair short, and his fingernails as well; he must wear clean, white clothes and behave with dignity.
Before doctors could practice, they had to pass an examination, and if they passed they had to take the Hippocratic oath, which, if neglected, could lead to dismissal.
Hospitals were similarly organized. The large one built in Córdoba was provided with running water and baths, and had different sections for the treatment of various diseases, each of which was headed by a specialist. Hospitals were required to be open 24 hours a day to handle emergency cases, and could not turn any patient away.
Muslim physicians made many important additions to the body of medical knowledge which they inherited from the Greeks. Ibn al-Nafis, for example, discovered the lesser circulation of the blood hundreds of years before Harvey, and ideas of quarantine sprang from an empirical notion of contagion.
Another example is Ibn Juljul, who was born in Córdoba in 943, became a leading physician by the age of 24 (he began his studies of medicine at 14) and compiled a commentary on the De Materia Medica of Dioscorides and a special treatise on drugs found in al-Andalus. In his Categories of Physicians, composed at the request of one of the Umayyad princes, he also presents a history of the medical profession from the time of Aesculapius to his own day.
During the 10th century, al-Andalus produced a large number of excellent physicians. Several went to Baghdad, where they studied Greek medical works under the famous translators Thabit ibn Qurra and Thabit ibn Sinan. On their return, they were lodged in the government palace complex at Madinat al-Zahra. One of these men, Ahmad ibn Harran, was placed in charge of a dispensary which provided free medical care and food to poor patients.
Ibn Shuhaid, also known as a popular doctor, wrote a fundamental work on the use of drugs. He—like many of his contemporaries—recommended drugs only if the patient did not respond to dietary treatment, and said that if they must be used, simple drugs should be employed in all cases but the most serious.
Al-Zahrawi, who died in 1013, was the most famous surgeon of the Middle Ages. He was court physician of al-Hakam II, and his great work, the Tasrif, was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona and became a leading medical text in European universities in the later Middle Ages. The section on surgery contains a number of illustrations of surgical instruments of elegant, functional design and great precision. It describes lithotrites, amputations, ophthalmic and dental surgery and the treatment of wounds and fractures.
Ibn Zuhr, known as Avenzoar, who died in 1162, was born in Seville and earned a great reputation throughout North Africa and Spain. He described abscesses and mediastinal tumors for the first time, and made original experiments in therapeutics. One of his works, the Taysir, was translated into Latin in 1280 and became a standard work.
n outgrowth of the interest in medicine was the study of botany. The most famous Andalusian botanist was Ibn Baitar, who wrote a famous book called Collection of Simple Drugs and Food. It is an alphabetically arranged compendium of medicinal plants of all sorts, most of which were native to Spain and North Africa, which he had spent a lifetime gathering. Where possible, he gives the Berber, Arabic, and sometimes Romance names of the plant, so that for linguists his work is of special interest. In each article, he gives information about the preparation of the drug and its administration, purpose and dosage.
The last of the great Andalusian physicians was Ibn al-Khatib, who was also a noted historian, poet, and statesman. Among his other works, he wrote an important work on the theory of contagion: “The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the afflicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmitting is effected through garments, vessels, and earrings.”
Ibn al-Khatib was the last representative of the Andalusian medical tradition. Soon after his death, the energies of the Muslims of al-Andalus were wholly absorbed in the long, costly struggle against the Christian reconquista.
nother field that interested the scholars of al-Andalus was geography, and many of the finest Muslim works in this field were produced there. Economic and political considerations played some part in the development of this field of study, but it was above all their all-consuming curiosity about the world and its inhabitants that motivated the scholars who devoted themselves to the description of the earth and its inhabitants. The first steps had been taken in the East, when “books of routes,” as they were called, were compiled for the use of the postmasters of the early Abbasid caliphs. Soon, reports on faraway lands, their commercial products and major physical features were compiled for the information of the caliph and his ministers. Advances in astronomy and mathematics made the plotting of this information on maps feasible, and soon cartography became an important discipline in its own right.
Al-Khwarizmi, who did so much to advance the science of mathematics, was also one of the earliest scientific descriptive geographers. Basing his work on information made available through the Arabic translation of Ptolemy, al-Khwarizmi wrote a book called The Form of the Earth, which included maps of the heavens and of the earth. In al-Andalus, this work was carried forward by Ibn Muhammad al-Razi, who died in 936, and who wrote a basic geography of al-Andalus for administrative purposes. Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Warraq, a contemporary of al-Razi, wrote a similar work describing the topography of North Africa. The wide-ranging commercial relations of al-Andalus allowed the collection, from returning merchants, of a great deal of detailed information about regions as far north as the Baltic. Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub, for example, who traveled widely in Europe and the Balkans in the late ninth century—he must have been a brave man indeed—left itineraries of his travels.
Two men who wrote in the 11th century collected much of the information assembled by their predecessors and put it into convenient form. One of them, al-Bakri, is particularly interesting. Born in Saltes in 1014, al-Bakri was the son of the governor of the province of Huelva and Saltes. Al-Bakri himself was an important minister at the court in Seville and undertook several diplomatic missions. An accomplished scholar as well as litérateur, he wrote works on history, botany and geography as well as poetry and literary essays. One of his two important geographical works is devoted to the geography of the Arabian Peninsula, with particular attention to the elucidation of its place names. It is arranged alphabetically, and lists the names of villages, towns, wadis and monuments which he culled from the hadith and histories. His other major work has not survived in its entirety, but it was an encyclopedic treatment of the entire world.
l-Bakri arranged his material by country—preceding each entry by a short historical introduction—and describes the people, customs, climate, geographical features and the major cities, with anecdotes about them. He says of the inhabitants of Galicia, for example: “They are treacherous, dirty and bathe once or twice a year, even then with cold water; they never wash their clothes until they are worn out because they claim that the dirt accumulated as the result of their sweat softens their body.” Perhaps the most famous geographer of the time was al-Idrisi, “the Strabo of the Arabs.” Born in 1100 and educated in Córdoba, al-Idrisi traveled widely, visiting Spain, North Africa and Anatolia, until he eventually settled in Sicily. There he was employed by the Norman king Roger ii to write a systematic geography of the world, which is still extant, and is usually known as The Book of Roger.
In it, al-Idrisi describes the world systematically, following the Greek division of it into seven “climes,” each divided into 10 sections. Each of the climes is mapped—and the maps are highly accurate for the time in which they were compiled. He gives the distances between major cities and describes the customs, people, products and climate of the entire known world. He even records the voyage of a Moroccan navigator who was blown off course in the Atlantic, sailed for 30 days, and returned to tell of a fertile land to the west inhabited by naked savages.
The information contained in The Book of Roger was engraved on a silver planisphere, which was one of the wonders of the age.
Al-Andalus also produced the authors of two of the most interesting travel books ever written. Each exists in good English translation. The first is by Ibn Jubair, secretary to the governor of Granada who, in 1183, made the Hajj, and wrote a book about his journey, called simply Travels. The book is in the form of a diary, and gives a detailed account of the eastern Mediterranean world at the height of the Crusades. It is written in clear, elegant style, and is filled with the perceptive, intelligent comments of a tolerant—and often witty—man.
The most famous of all the Andalusian travelers was Ibn Battuta —the greatest tourist of his age, and perhaps of any. He went to North Africa, Syria, Makkah, Medina and Iraq. He went to Yemen, sailed down the Nile, the Red Sea, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea. He went to the Crimea and to Constantinople. He went to Afghanistan, India and China. He died in Granada at the age of 73.
t is impossible to do justice to all the scholars of al-Andalus who devoted themselves to the study of history and linguistic sciences. These were the prime “social sciences” cultivated by the Arabs, and both were brought to a high level of art in al-Andalus. For example, Ibn al-Khatib, whose theory of contagious diseases we have touched on already, was the author of the finest history of Granada that has come down to us.
Ibn al-Khatib was born in 1313, near Granada, and followed the traditional educational curriculum of his time—he studied grammar, poetry, natural sciences and Islamic law, as well, of course, as the Qur’an. His father, an important official, was killed by the Christians in 1340. The ruler of Granada invited the son to occupy the post of secretary in the department of correspondence. He soon became the confidant of the ruler and gained a position of great power.
Despite his busy political career, Ibn al-Khatib found time to write more than 50 books on travel, medicine, poetry, music, history, politics and theology.
The achievements of Ibn al-Khatib were rivaled only by those of his near contemporary Ibn Khaldun, the first historian to seek to develop and explicate the general laws which govern the rise and decline of civilizations. His huge, seven-volume history is entitled The Book of Examples and Collection from Early and Later Information Concerning the Days of Arabs, Non-Arabs and Berbers. The first volume, entitled Introduction, gives a profound and detailed analysis of Islamic society and indeed of human society in general, for he constantly refers to other cultures for comparative purposes. He gives a sophisticated analysis of how human society evolved from nomadism to urban centers, and how and why these urban centers decay and finally succumb to less developed invaders. Many of the profoundly disturbing questions raised by Ibn Khaldun have still not received the attention they should from all thinking people. Certainly, anyone interested in the problems of the rise and fall of civilizations, the decay of cities, or the complex relationship between technologically advanced societies and traditional ones should read Ibn Khaldun’s Introduction.
nother great area of Andalusian intellectual activity was philosophy, but it is impossible to do more than glance at this difficult and specialized study. From the ninth century, Andalusian scholars, like those in Baghdad, had to deal with the theological problems posed by the introduction of Greek philosophy into a context of Islam. How could reason be reconciled with revelation? This was the central question.
Photo: Tor Eigeland
Ibn Hazm was one of the first to deal with this problem. He supported certain Aristotelian concepts with enthusiasm and rejected others. For example, he wrote a large and detailed commentary on Aristotle’s Posterior Analects, that abstruse work on logic. Interestingly, Ibn Hazm appears to have had no trouble relating logic to Islam—in fact, he gives illustrative examples of how it can be used in solving legal problems, drawn from the body of Islamic law. Nothing better illustrates the ability of Islam to assimilate foreign ideas and acclimatize them than Ibn Hazm’s words in the introduction to his work: “Let it be known that he who reads this book of ours will find that the usefulness of this kind of work is not limited to one single discipline but includes the Qur’an, hadith and legal decisions concerning what is permissible and what is not, and what is obligatory and what is lawful.”
Ibn Hazm considered logic a useful tool, and philosophy to be in harmony, or at least not in conflict, with revelation. He has been described as “one of the giants of the intellectual history of Islam,” but it is difficult to form a considered judgment of a man who wrote more than 400 books, most of which have perished or still remain in manuscript.
Ibn Bajjah, whom western scholastic theologians called Avempace, was another great Andalusian philosopher. But it was Averroës—Ibn Rushd—who earned the greatest reputation. He was an ardent Aristotelian, and his works had a lasting effect, in their Latin translation, on the development of European philosophy.
Islamic technological innovations also played their part in the legacy that al-Andalus left to medieval Europe. Paper has been mentioned, but there were others of great importance—the windmill, new techniques of working metal, making ceramics, building, weaving and agriculture. The people of al-Andalus had a passion for gardens, combining their love of beauty with their interest in medicinal plants. Two important treatises on agriculture—one of which was partially translated into Romance in the Middle Ages, were written in al-Andalus. Ibn al-‘Awwam, the author of one of these treatises, lists 584 species of plants and gives precise instructions regarding their cultivation and use. He writes, for example, of how to graft trees, make hybrids, stop blights and insect pests, and how to make floral essences and perfumes.
This area of technological achievement has not yet been examined in detail, but it had as profound an influence on medieval European material culture as the Muslim commentators on Aristotle had on medieval European intellectuals. For these were the arts of civilization, the arts that make life a pleasure rather than a burden, and without which philosophical speculation is an arid exercise.
Paul Lunde, an independent scholar who divides his time between Seville and Cambridge, England, researches and writes about the Middle East. His most recent book is Islam: Culture, Faith and History (2001, Dorling Kindersley).
Michael Grimsdale, one of Britain’s foremost illustrators, paints portraits, animals, sports and travel themes in a variety of media. Widely collected and exhibited, his paintings have also appeared in advertising, books and magazines.
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In Islamic Spain, the high civilization of the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus was first continued, then exceeded, as both eastern and homegrown scholars and artists found welcoming and openhanded patrons in al-Andalus. One example is the ninth-century scholar ‘Abbas ibn Firnas, who experimented with flight some 600 years before Leonardo da Vinci and constructed a planetarium in which the planets actually revolved.
he Medieval Christians of Spain had a legend that Roderick, the last king of the Visigoths, was responsible for unleashing the Arab invasion of the Iberian Peninsula because, in defiance of his plighted word, he unlocked the gates of an enchanted palace he had sworn not to tamper with. As far as the West was concerned, the Arab invasion did unlock an enchanted palace. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Vandals, Huns and Visigoths had pillaged and burned their way through the Iberian Peninsula, establishing ephemeral kingdoms which lasted only as long as loot poured in, and were then destroyed in their turn. Then, without warning, in the year 711, came the Arabs—to settle, fall in love with the land and create the first civilization Europe had known since the Roman legions gave up the unequal fight against the barbarian hordes.
Spain first prospered under the rule of the Umayyads, who established a dynasty there after they had lost the caliphate in the East to the Abbasids. At first, the culture of the Umayyad court at Córdoba was wholly derivative. Fashions, both in literature and dress, were imitiative of those current in the Abbasids’ newly founded capital of Baghdad. Scholars from the more sophisticated lands to the east were always assured of a warm reception at the court of Córdoba, where their colleagues would listen avidly for news of what was being discussed in the capital, what people were wearing, what songs were being sung, and—above all—what books were being read.
slamic culture was pre-eminently a culture of the book. The introduction of paper from China in 751 gave an impetus to learning and an excitement about ideas which the world had never before known. Books became more available than they had been even in Rome, and incomparably cheaper than they were in the Latin West, where they continued to be written on expensive parchment. In the 12th century, a man sold 120 acres of land in order to buy a single Book of Hours. In the ninth century, the library of the monastery of St. Gall was the largest in Europe, boasting 36 volumes. At the same time, that of Córdoba contained 500,000. The cultural lag between East and West in the Middle Ages can be attributed partly to the fact that the Arabs had paper, while the Latin West did not.
It took much more than paper to create an intellectual and scientific culture like that of Islamic Spain, of course. Islam, with its tolerance and encouragement of both secular and religious learning, created the necessary climate for the exchange of ideas. The court of Córdoba, like that of Baghdad, was open to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, and one prominent bishop complained that young Christian men were devoting themselves to the study of Arabic, rather than Latin—a reflection of the fact that Arabic, in a surprisingly short time, had become the international language of science, as English has today.
Islamic culture in Spain began to flourish in earnest during the reign of ‘Abd al-Rahman II of Córdoba, as Arabic spread increasingly among his non-Muslim subjects, especially in the cities, leading to a great flowering of intellectual activity of all kinds.
In a courtly society, the tastes and predilections of the ruler set the tone for society at large, and ‘Abd al-Rahman II, passionately interested in both the religious and the secular sciences, was determined to show the world that his court was in no way inferior to the court of the caliphs at Baghdad. To this end, therefore, he actively recruited scholars by offering handsome inducements to overcome their initial reluctance to live in what many in the lands of the East considered the provinces. As a result, many scholars, poets, philosophers, historians and musicians migrated to al-Andalus, and established the basis of the intellectual tradition and educational system which made Spain so outstanding for the next 400 years.
Another result was that an infrastructure of public and private libraries, mosques, hospitals and research institutions rapidly grew up and famous scholars in the East, hearing of these amenities, flocked to the West. They in turn attracted students of their own; in the Islamic world it was not at all unusual for a student to travel thousands of miles to study at the feet of a famous professor.
One of the earliest of these scholars was ‘Abbas ibn Firnas, who died in the year 888 and who, had he lived in the Florence of the Medici, would have been a “Renaissance man.” He came to Córdoba to teach music, then a branch of mathematical theory, but—not a man to limit himself to a single field of study—soon became interested in the mechanics of flight. He constructed a pair of wings, made out of feathers in a wooden frame, and attempted to fly—anticipating Leonardo da Vinci by some 600 years.
Luckily, ‘Abbas survived, and, undiscouraged, turned his mind to the construction of a planetarium in which the planets actually revolved—it would be extremely interesting to know the details of the gearing mechanism. It also simulated such celestial phenomena as thunder and lightning and was, of course, a wild success. Next ‘Abbas turned to the mathematical problems involved in the regularity of the facets of certain crystals and evolved a formula for manufacturing artificial crystals.
t must be remembered that a knowledge of the achievements of men like ‘Abbas has come to us purely by chance. It has been estimated that today there are 250,000 Arabic manuscripts in western and eastern libraries, including private collections. Yet in the 10th century, private libraries existed which contained as many as 500,000 books. Literally millions of books must have perished, and with them the achievements of a great many scholars and scientists whose books, had they survived, might have changed the course of history. As it is, even now, only a tiny proportion of existing Arabic scientific texts has been studied, and it will take years to form a more exact idea of the contributions of Muslim scientists to the history of ideas.
One of the fields most assiduously cultivated in Spain was natural science. Although Andalusian scholars did not make contributions as fundamental as those made by their colleagues in the East, those that they did make had more effect on the later development of science and technology, for it was through Spain and the scholars of al-Andalus that these ideas reached the West.
No school of translators comparable to the House of Wisdom of al-Ma’mun existed in Spain, and Andalusian scholars seem not to have interested themselves in the natural sciences until the translations of the House of Wisdom reached them.
Interest in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine was always lively, however, because of their obvious utility—mathematics for commercial purposes, computation of the rather complicated Islamic laws of inheritance, and as a basis for measuring distances. Astronomy was useful for determining the times of prayer and adjusting the calendar, and the study of medicine needed no apology. The introduction of the new Aristotelian ideas, however, even in Arab dress, aroused a certain amount of suspicion in the conservative West, and it was some time before public opinion would accept that Aristotelian logic did not conflict with the revelation of Islam.
Part of the suspicion with which certain of the ideas emanating from the scholars of the Abbasid court were viewed was due to an inadequate distinction between sciences and pseudo-sciences. This was a distinction which the Muslims made at a much earlier date than western scholars, who, even during the Renaissance, tended to confound astronomy with astrology, chemistry with alchemy. Ibn Hazm, a leading Andalusian scholar of the 11th century and staunchly conservative, was very outspoken on this point. People who advocated the efficacy of talismans, magic, alchemy, and astrology he calls shameless liars. This rational approach did much to make Islam preeminent in the natural sciences.
The study of mathematics and astronomy went hand in hand. Al-Khwarizmi’s famous book entitled The Calculation of Integration and Equation reached al-Andalus at an early date, and became the foundation of much later speculation. In it, Al-Khwarizmi dealt with equations, algebraic multiplication and division, measurement of surfaces and other questions. Al-Khwarizmi was the first to introduce the use of what he called “Indian” and we call “Arabic” numerals. The exact method of transmission of these numerals—and the place-value idea which they embodied—is not known, but the symbols used to represent the numbers had slightly different forms in eastern and western Islam, and the forms of our numerals are derived from those used in al-Andalus. The work of al-Khwarizmi, which now only survives in a 12th-century Latin translation made in Spain, together with a translation of Euclid’s Elements, became the two foundations of subsequent mathematical developments in al-Andalus.
he first original mathematician and astronomer of al-Andalus was the 10th century’s Maslama al-Majriti. He had been preceded by competent scientists—men like Ibn Abi ‘Ubaida of Valencia, who in the ninth century was a leading astronomer, and the emigré from Baghdad, Ibn Taimiyyah, who was both a well-known physician and an astronomer—but al-Majriti was in a class by himself. He wrote a number of works on mathematics and astronomy, studied and elaborated the Arabic translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest and enlarged and corrected the astronomical tables of al-Khwarizmi himself. He compiled conversion tables, in which the dates of the Persian calendar were related to hijri dates, so that for the first time the events of Persia’s past could be dated with precision.
Al-Zarqali, known to the Latin West as Arzachel, was another leading mathematician and astronomer who flourished in Córdoba in the 11th century. He combined theoretical knowledge with technical skills, and excelled at the construction of precision instruments for astronomical use. He built a waterclock capable of determining the hours of the day and night and indicating the days of the lunar month. He contributed to the compilation of the famous Toledan Tables, a highly accurate compilation of astronomical data. His Book of Tables, written in the form of an almanac (almanac is an Arabic word meaning “climate,” originally indicating the stations of the moon) contains tables which allow one to find on what day the Coptic, Roman, lunar and Persian months begin; others give the position of the various planets at any given time; still others allow prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. He also compiled valuable tables of latitude and longitude; many of his works were translated, both into Spanish and into Latin.
Still another luminary was al-Bitruji (the Latin scholars of the Middle Ages called him Alpetragius), who developed a new theory of stellar movement and wrote the Book of Form in which it is detailed.
The influence of these astronom- ical works was immense. Today, for example, the constellations still bear the names given them by Muslim astronomers—Acrab (from ‘aqrab, “scorpion”), Altair (from al-ta’ir, “the flyer”), Deneb (from dhanb, “tail”), Pherkard (from farqad, “calf”)—and words such as zenith, nadir and azimuth, all still in use today, recall the works of the Muslim scholars of al-Andalus.
ut the Muslim science par excellence was the study of medicine. Interest in medicine goes back to the very earliest times. The Prophet himself stated that there was a remedy for every illness, and was aware that some diseases were contagious.
The great contribution of the Arabs was to put the study of medicine on a scientific footing and eliminate superstition and harmful folk-practices. Medicine was considered a highly technical calling, and one which required long study and training. Elaborate codes were formulated to regulate the professional conduct of doctors. It was not enough to have a mastery of one’s subject in order to practice medicine. Certain moral qualities were mandatory. Ibn Hazm said that a doctor should be kind, understanding, friendly, good, able to endure insults and adverse criticism; he must keep his hair short, and his fingernails as well; he must wear clean, white clothes and behave with dignity.
Before doctors could practice, they had to pass an examination, and if they passed they had to take the Hippocratic oath, which, if neglected, could lead to dismissal.
Hospitals were similarly organized. The large one built in Córdoba was provided with running water and baths, and had different sections for the treatment of various diseases, each of which was headed by a specialist. Hospitals were required to be open 24 hours a day to handle emergency cases, and could not turn any patient away.
Muslim physicians made many important additions to the body of medical knowledge which they inherited from the Greeks. Ibn al-Nafis, for example, discovered the lesser circulation of the blood hundreds of years before Harvey, and ideas of quarantine sprang from an empirical notion of contagion.
Another example is Ibn Juljul, who was born in Córdoba in 943, became a leading physician by the age of 24 (he began his studies of medicine at 14) and compiled a commentary on the De Materia Medica of Dioscorides and a special treatise on drugs found in al-Andalus. In his Categories of Physicians, composed at the request of one of the Umayyad princes, he also presents a history of the medical profession from the time of Aesculapius to his own day.
During the 10th century, al-Andalus produced a large number of excellent physicians. Several went to Baghdad, where they studied Greek medical works under the famous translators Thabit ibn Qurra and Thabit ibn Sinan. On their return, they were lodged in the government palace complex at Madinat al-Zahra. One of these men, Ahmad ibn Harran, was placed in charge of a dispensary which provided free medical care and food to poor patients.
Ibn Shuhaid, also known as a popular doctor, wrote a fundamental work on the use of drugs. He—like many of his contemporaries—recommended drugs only if the patient did not respond to dietary treatment, and said that if they must be used, simple drugs should be employed in all cases but the most serious.
Al-Zahrawi, who died in 1013, was the most famous surgeon of the Middle Ages. He was court physician of al-Hakam II, and his great work, the Tasrif, was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona and became a leading medical text in European universities in the later Middle Ages. The section on surgery contains a number of illustrations of surgical instruments of elegant, functional design and great precision. It describes lithotrites, amputations, ophthalmic and dental surgery and the treatment of wounds and fractures.
Ibn Zuhr, known as Avenzoar, who died in 1162, was born in Seville and earned a great reputation throughout North Africa and Spain. He described abscesses and mediastinal tumors for the first time, and made original experiments in therapeutics. One of his works, the Taysir, was translated into Latin in 1280 and became a standard work.
n outgrowth of the interest in medicine was the study of botany. The most famous Andalusian botanist was Ibn Baitar, who wrote a famous book called Collection of Simple Drugs and Food. It is an alphabetically arranged compendium of medicinal plants of all sorts, most of which were native to Spain and North Africa, which he had spent a lifetime gathering. Where possible, he gives the Berber, Arabic, and sometimes Romance names of the plant, so that for linguists his work is of special interest. In each article, he gives information about the preparation of the drug and its administration, purpose and dosage.
The last of the great Andalusian physicians was Ibn al-Khatib, who was also a noted historian, poet, and statesman. Among his other works, he wrote an important work on the theory of contagion: “The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the afflicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmitting is effected through garments, vessels, and earrings.”
Ibn al-Khatib was the last representative of the Andalusian medical tradition. Soon after his death, the energies of the Muslims of al-Andalus were wholly absorbed in the long, costly struggle against the Christian reconquista.
nother field that interested the scholars of al-Andalus was geography, and many of the finest Muslim works in this field were produced there. Economic and political considerations played some part in the development of this field of study, but it was above all their all-consuming curiosity about the world and its inhabitants that motivated the scholars who devoted themselves to the description of the earth and its inhabitants. The first steps had been taken in the East, when “books of routes,” as they were called, were compiled for the use of the postmasters of the early Abbasid caliphs. Soon, reports on faraway lands, their commercial products and major physical features were compiled for the information of the caliph and his ministers. Advances in astronomy and mathematics made the plotting of this information on maps feasible, and soon cartography became an important discipline in its own right.
Al-Khwarizmi, who did so much to advance the science of mathematics, was also one of the earliest scientific descriptive geographers. Basing his work on information made available through the Arabic translation of Ptolemy, al-Khwarizmi wrote a book called The Form of the Earth, which included maps of the heavens and of the earth. In al-Andalus, this work was carried forward by Ibn Muhammad al-Razi, who died in 936, and who wrote a basic geography of al-Andalus for administrative purposes. Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Warraq, a contemporary of al-Razi, wrote a similar work describing the topography of North Africa. The wide-ranging commercial relations of al-Andalus allowed the collection, from returning merchants, of a great deal of detailed information about regions as far north as the Baltic. Ibrahim ibn Ya‘qub, for example, who traveled widely in Europe and the Balkans in the late ninth century—he must have been a brave man indeed—left itineraries of his travels.
Two men who wrote in the 11th century collected much of the information assembled by their predecessors and put it into convenient form. One of them, al-Bakri, is particularly interesting. Born in Saltes in 1014, al-Bakri was the son of the governor of the province of Huelva and Saltes. Al-Bakri himself was an important minister at the court in Seville and undertook several diplomatic missions. An accomplished scholar as well as litérateur, he wrote works on history, botany and geography as well as poetry and literary essays. One of his two important geographical works is devoted to the geography of the Arabian Peninsula, with particular attention to the elucidation of its place names. It is arranged alphabetically, and lists the names of villages, towns, wadis and monuments which he culled from the hadith and histories. His other major work has not survived in its entirety, but it was an encyclopedic treatment of the entire world.
l-Bakri arranged his material by country—preceding each entry by a short historical introduction—and describes the people, customs, climate, geographical features and the major cities, with anecdotes about them. He says of the inhabitants of Galicia, for example: “They are treacherous, dirty and bathe once or twice a year, even then with cold water; they never wash their clothes until they are worn out because they claim that the dirt accumulated as the result of their sweat softens their body.” Perhaps the most famous geographer of the time was al-Idrisi, “the Strabo of the Arabs.” Born in 1100 and educated in Córdoba, al-Idrisi traveled widely, visiting Spain, North Africa and Anatolia, until he eventually settled in Sicily. There he was employed by the Norman king Roger ii to write a systematic geography of the world, which is still extant, and is usually known as The Book of Roger.
In it, al-Idrisi describes the world systematically, following the Greek division of it into seven “climes,” each divided into 10 sections. Each of the climes is mapped—and the maps are highly accurate for the time in which they were compiled. He gives the distances between major cities and describes the customs, people, products and climate of the entire known world. He even records the voyage of a Moroccan navigator who was blown off course in the Atlantic, sailed for 30 days, and returned to tell of a fertile land to the west inhabited by naked savages.
The information contained in The Book of Roger was engraved on a silver planisphere, which was one of the wonders of the age.
Al-Andalus also produced the authors of two of the most interesting travel books ever written. Each exists in good English translation. The first is by Ibn Jubair, secretary to the governor of Granada who, in 1183, made the Hajj, and wrote a book about his journey, called simply Travels. The book is in the form of a diary, and gives a detailed account of the eastern Mediterranean world at the height of the Crusades. It is written in clear, elegant style, and is filled with the perceptive, intelligent comments of a tolerant—and often witty—man.
The most famous of all the Andalusian travelers was Ibn Battuta —the greatest tourist of his age, and perhaps of any. He went to North Africa, Syria, Makkah, Medina and Iraq. He went to Yemen, sailed down the Nile, the Red Sea, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea. He went to the Crimea and to Constantinople. He went to Afghanistan, India and China. He died in Granada at the age of 73.
t is impossible to do justice to all the scholars of al-Andalus who devoted themselves to the study of history and linguistic sciences. These were the prime “social sciences” cultivated by the Arabs, and both were brought to a high level of art in al-Andalus. For example, Ibn al-Khatib, whose theory of contagious diseases we have touched on already, was the author of the finest history of Granada that has come down to us.
Ibn al-Khatib was born in 1313, near Granada, and followed the traditional educational curriculum of his time—he studied grammar, poetry, natural sciences and Islamic law, as well, of course, as the Qur’an. His father, an important official, was killed by the Christians in 1340. The ruler of Granada invited the son to occupy the post of secretary in the department of correspondence. He soon became the confidant of the ruler and gained a position of great power.
Despite his busy political career, Ibn al-Khatib found time to write more than 50 books on travel, medicine, poetry, music, history, politics and theology.
The achievements of Ibn al-Khatib were rivaled only by those of his near contemporary Ibn Khaldun, the first historian to seek to develop and explicate the general laws which govern the rise and decline of civilizations. His huge, seven-volume history is entitled The Book of Examples and Collection from Early and Later Information Concerning the Days of Arabs, Non-Arabs and Berbers. The first volume, entitled Introduction, gives a profound and detailed analysis of Islamic society and indeed of human society in general, for he constantly refers to other cultures for comparative purposes. He gives a sophisticated analysis of how human society evolved from nomadism to urban centers, and how and why these urban centers decay and finally succumb to less developed invaders. Many of the profoundly disturbing questions raised by Ibn Khaldun have still not received the attention they should from all thinking people. Certainly, anyone interested in the problems of the rise and fall of civilizations, the decay of cities, or the complex relationship between technologically advanced societies and traditional ones should read Ibn Khaldun’s Introduction.
nother great area of Andalusian intellectual activity was philosophy, but it is impossible to do more than glance at this difficult and specialized study. From the ninth century, Andalusian scholars, like those in Baghdad, had to deal with the theological problems posed by the introduction of Greek philosophy into a context of Islam. How could reason be reconciled with revelation? This was the central question.
Photo: Tor Eigeland
Ibn Hazm was one of the first to deal with this problem. He supported certain Aristotelian concepts with enthusiasm and rejected others. For example, he wrote a large and detailed commentary on Aristotle’s Posterior Analects, that abstruse work on logic. Interestingly, Ibn Hazm appears to have had no trouble relating logic to Islam—in fact, he gives illustrative examples of how it can be used in solving legal problems, drawn from the body of Islamic law. Nothing better illustrates the ability of Islam to assimilate foreign ideas and acclimatize them than Ibn Hazm’s words in the introduction to his work: “Let it be known that he who reads this book of ours will find that the usefulness of this kind of work is not limited to one single discipline but includes the Qur’an, hadith and legal decisions concerning what is permissible and what is not, and what is obligatory and what is lawful.”
Ibn Hazm considered logic a useful tool, and philosophy to be in harmony, or at least not in conflict, with revelation. He has been described as “one of the giants of the intellectual history of Islam,” but it is difficult to form a considered judgment of a man who wrote more than 400 books, most of which have perished or still remain in manuscript.
Ibn Bajjah, whom western scholastic theologians called Avempace, was another great Andalusian philosopher. But it was Averroës—Ibn Rushd—who earned the greatest reputation. He was an ardent Aristotelian, and his works had a lasting effect, in their Latin translation, on the development of European philosophy.
Islamic technological innovations also played their part in the legacy that al-Andalus left to medieval Europe. Paper has been mentioned, but there were others of great importance—the windmill, new techniques of working metal, making ceramics, building, weaving and agriculture. The people of al-Andalus had a passion for gardens, combining their love of beauty with their interest in medicinal plants. Two important treatises on agriculture—one of which was partially translated into Romance in the Middle Ages, were written in al-Andalus. Ibn al-‘Awwam, the author of one of these treatises, lists 584 species of plants and gives precise instructions regarding their cultivation and use. He writes, for example, of how to graft trees, make hybrids, stop blights and insect pests, and how to make floral essences and perfumes.
This area of technological achievement has not yet been examined in detail, but it had as profound an influence on medieval European material culture as the Muslim commentators on Aristotle had on medieval European intellectuals. For these were the arts of civilization, the arts that make life a pleasure rather than a burden, and without which philosophical speculation is an arid exercise.
Paul Lunde, an independent scholar who divides his time between Seville and Cambridge, England, researches and writes about the Middle East. His most recent book is Islam: Culture, Faith and History (2001, Dorling Kindersley).
Michael Grimsdale, one of Britain’s foremost illustrators, paints portraits, animals, sports and travel themes in a variety of media. Widely collected and exhibited, his paintings have also appeared in advertising, books and magazines.
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Osama bin Ladens of the world are a small minority
Osama bin Ladens of the world are a small minority
Mar 8, 2007 at 10:30 AM
More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
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. 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."
Mar 8, 2007 at 10:30 AM
More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
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. 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."
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