Hispanic Muslims in Atlanta Overcome Anti-Muslim stereotypes
By Ana Catalina Varela
Mundo Hispanico
March 1st, 2007
Adapted by TMO from an article originally published in Mundo Hispanico,
a Spanish-language weekly in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hispanic Muslims in Atlanta are set on changing the negative image that
some in the Latino community might have of them. That is the mission of
the Atlanta Latino Muslim Association (ALMA), a group founded by Siri
Carrion, a Puerto Rican woman who is also Muslim.
Wearing her hijab and kneeling, Carrion starts preparing to pray
alongside her four children. One of them, Ismail, raises his hands and
starts by saying the ‘adhan, inviting the angels into this family’s
living room.
Carrion, who grew up in Northern California as a Muslim, moved to
Georgia about eight years ago and saw the need for Latino Muslims to
come together.
She is the founder of ALMA, the first group in the state that seeks to
unite Hispanics who profess Islam, to create a venue for them to share
their culture and religion.
“As Latino Muslims we seek unity and also to educate the rest of the
Hispanic community about Islam, especially with the war in Iraq and
after 9/11, there are some who have a negative perspective of what it is
to me Muslim,” said Carrion.
She explains that one of the main reasons why ALMA was founded were to
raise awareness in the community about Islam and to provide access to
information in Spanish to those who want to learn and understand the
religion.
“We currently have about 20 members who come from countries like
Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba and Puerto Rico, just to name a few. As
Latinos and Muslims, we speak the same language, eat similar foods and
have similar cultural perspectives, and we also share the same faith,”
she added.
Carrion, who works as a tax administrator for a business in the city of
Marietta, also dispels the myths that some have of Muslim women. Being
Muslim and a woman have not been an obstacle for her to become an
example for her two young daughters.
The oldest of them, 13 year-old Maryam, looks up to her and wears her
hijab proudly to school every day.
“I was raised in Islam but I was not forced to use the hijab. I chose to
use it as an adult. But my daughter chose to wear it since she was
young. She does so with pride and has never been teased at school, she
is proud to believe in Islam and the other children see her as a
faithful Muslim,” said Carrion.
Posted on her fridge, she has a picture of one of the hijacked planes
flying into one of the World Trade Center towers on September 11. She
explains that her purpose in doing so is to reject those violent actions
and to remind her children that they are not like those men. They are a
family of peace-seeking, God-loving Muslims.
The Muslim Observer
Special Features, Regional, National news, 9-10
http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=770
http://www.mundohispanico.com/
Adapted by TMO from an article originally published in Mundo Hispanico,
a Spanish-language weekly in Atlanta, Georgia.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Puerto Rican grils journey to Islam.....
Because Allah ta'ala made me both...
By MusliRican...http://muslirican.blogspot.com/
Hejab on my head
With a machete dangling from my neck
I'm not a terrorist
Just a bonafide Boricua with coquis on my mind
I love the flares of salsa skirts
With claves and congas singing to my heart's content
While I prostrate on the sands of Rincon
Awaiting the whales to make their presence
Borinquen is my paradise
Allah is my creator
Yes—I can inhabit both spaces
And when bachata comes on the radio
I move three steps lift
Three steps lift
And when the azhan is called
"Allahu Akbar" and "Bismillah" run out of my mouth
Give me some piraguas with a side of dates
A little of sunlight with a dash of breeze
As the scarves surrounding me beckon to worship
I can dance merengue in the privacy of my room
As mis hermanas talk about who is cuter in the group
Because—we are Boricuas loving our land
We are boricuas dancing our traditional beats
We are boricuas wearing our big fluffy skirts
We are boricuas eating our arroz con habichuelas
We don't have to occupy one of your little boxes
Entrenching our identities into something you can label
We don't have to deny our abuelitas and our salsa beats
So I can't eat pernil anymore.
It's okay—pork has never been my thing any ways
But I can still enjoy las playas as I wet my feet on
Caribbean oceans
Because I am more
More than your dichotomies
More than your ideologies
I am not just a Boricua
Or someone who worships Allah
So if you need a label to satisfy your curiosity
I'll give you one now
With Qur'an in hand
Y bandera in the other
I am beyond your words
Because I am a MusliRican
By MusliRican...http://muslirican.blogspot.com/
Hejab on my head
With a machete dangling from my neck
I'm not a terrorist
Just a bonafide Boricua with coquis on my mind
I love the flares of salsa skirts
With claves and congas singing to my heart's content
While I prostrate on the sands of Rincon
Awaiting the whales to make their presence
Borinquen is my paradise
Allah is my creator
Yes—I can inhabit both spaces
And when bachata comes on the radio
I move three steps lift
Three steps lift
And when the azhan is called
"Allahu Akbar" and "Bismillah" run out of my mouth
Give me some piraguas with a side of dates
A little of sunlight with a dash of breeze
As the scarves surrounding me beckon to worship
I can dance merengue in the privacy of my room
As mis hermanas talk about who is cuter in the group
Because—we are Boricuas loving our land
We are boricuas dancing our traditional beats
We are boricuas wearing our big fluffy skirts
We are boricuas eating our arroz con habichuelas
We don't have to occupy one of your little boxes
Entrenching our identities into something you can label
We don't have to deny our abuelitas and our salsa beats
So I can't eat pernil anymore.
It's okay—pork has never been my thing any ways
But I can still enjoy las playas as I wet my feet on
Caribbean oceans
Because I am more
More than your dichotomies
More than your ideologies
I am not just a Boricua
Or someone who worships Allah
So if you need a label to satisfy your curiosity
I'll give you one now
With Qur'an in hand
Y bandera in the other
I am beyond your words
Because I am a MusliRican
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Puerto Rico Herald on hispanic muslims
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2002/vol6n28/HistDrawsHispIslam-en.html
Converts in the News: Some Latinos Convert to Islam
Converts in the News: Some Latinos Convert to Islam
Author: admin
Published: 2005/10/30
Read 2887 times
Size 10.44 KB
By Marcela Rojas
The Journal News
(Original Publication: October 30, 2005)
Aisha Ahmed's decision to convert to Islam and give up Catholicism and her Puerto Rican birth name, Maritza Rondon, did not come impulsively or under duress.
She spent five years studying the Quran and hired a teacher to learn Arabic before she was ready for shahadah, a declaration of faith led by an imam that is essential to the conversion process.
In the end, Ahmed's decision to become a Muslim and to take a name that belonged to the Prophet Muhammad's wife, she said, was borne of years of questioning her Catholic upbringing and discovering that, for her, the answers were with Islam.
"I have lived a humble and peaceful life since I converted. Everything is so clear," said Ahmed, 45, of Tarrytown. "I didn't see in Catholicism the unity and compassion I found in Islam. I saw more kindness and willingness to give."
Ahmed's change of faith is not unique among her ethnic group today. In recent years, thousands of Hispanics nationwide have been converting to Islam, particularly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when interest in the religion seemed to gain momentum.
Though precise statistics do not exist, the Council on American-Islamic Relations estimates there are more than 36,000 Hispanic Muslims in the nation today. Other estimates raise the total to 75,000. A study the group conducted also showed that 6 percent of the 20,000 annual converts to Islam are Hispanic.
Though the numbers are a small fraction of the estimated 6 million Muslims in the country, it is fast becoming evident that the conversion rate among this minority group is taking root and that its influence is being asserted through the formation of Hispanic Muslim organizations — "dawah," or outreach efforts targeted at Hispanics — and the distribution of literature and the Quran in Spanish.
"There hasn't been real scientific gauging," said Mohamed Nimer, research director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "But Muslim leaders are saying they are seeing more and more Latino Muslims, especially in New York, California and Florida."
Melvin Reveron converted to Islam last year, following a period of depression and internal doubts about Catholicism, he said.
"I called myself a Catholic, but I wasn't practicing as an adult," said Reveron, 41, a Puerto Rican who lives in New York City. "I realized the futility of confession. I felt alienated from God and unworthy of God's graces. If I was going to reintroduce God into my life, I thought this was the best way."
Reveron had read the Quran after Sept. 11 because he wanted to gain more knowledge about a religion that was being blamed for the attacks, he said. Culture and religion often can be mistaken, he said.
"People say that Islam is a religion that teaches people to kill, that it creates suicide bombers," said Reveron, 41, a supervisor for the Department of Social Services in New York City. "I reject that notion. Just because a criminal does something, the religion isn't wrong. There's something wrong with that person."
The Quran, he said, resonates with Catholics because it mentions Adam, Moses, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Jesus is revered as a prophet — not as the son of God — within the Islamic religion.
"I looked at is as an intellectual continuation of what I had been taught," he said.
Like Reveron, many Hispanic converts say they have grown disenchanted with Catholicism and have difficulty accepting the church hierarchy, original sin, confession, the Holy Trinity and the saints. Others say they are "reverting" to a religion that is part of their ancestral history — Islam ruled Spain for several centuries.
Either way, following the five pillars of Islam, the foundation of Muslim life, is a more truthful existence, many agree. Islam's tenets include professing faith in Allah and the prophet Muhammad, praying daily, charity work, fasting during Ramadan and a pilgrimage to Mecca.
"I was very confident it was the correct way of living life," said Fatima Britos, 25, a John Jay College student of Argentine descent. "It is the straight path."
Britos recently attended a Columbia University student event titled "Latinos in Islam: Rediscovering our Roots" that saw a diverse group of people in attendance. The affair included a Mexican feast and a discussion led by Hernan Guadalupe on why Hispanics are converting to Islam today. The Ecuadorean-American outlined the Muslims' reign in Spain from 711 to 1492. Between 10 percent and 30 percent of Spanish words come from Arabic, he said. Guadalupe spoke of the cultural similarities and family values inherent to Hispanics and Muslims. Typically, Hispanic households are tightknit and devout, and children are reared in a strict environment — traits that mirror Muslim households, Guadalupe said.
"There are 780 years of Islamic influence that can't be ignored," said Guadalupe, 24, a mechanical engineer from South Brunswick, N.J. "If you understand that, as a Latino, you have Spanish blood in you, then you would understand ... that you have Islam in you."
Not coincidentally, Guadalupe converted to Islam on Sept, 11, 2001 — or "the day the towers fell," as he said — after years of studying different religions and cultures. He started the Latino Muslim Outreach Program this year, traveling to schools in the tri-state area to educate — not convert — people on Islam, he said.
Other organizations have formed in recent years, including Piedad, an Internet group with nearly 300 members whose mission is to teach non-Muslims and give leadership training to women, particularly Hispanic females.
"On a daily basis, I hear Latinos coming into the fold of Islam," said Piedad founder Khadijah Rivera. "It is so close to our culture that, once they understand, it is like second nature to belong to Islam."
But Catholic leaders do not consider the conversion rate a sign of the faithful growing disillusioned with the church, said Alejandro Aguilar-Titus, associate director of the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Of the 45 million Hispanics in this country, 32 million are Catholic, he said. Conversely, there are more than 6 million Muslims in Latin America, and it has been reported that Islamic ideologies are spreading among indigenous groups.
"As far as we can see, Catholics becoming Muslim is more of an individual choice that comes through marriage, friendships or relationships," said Aguilar-Titus. He later added, "It saddens the church, but at the same time, there is respect for that person's choice."
Aguilar-Titus reflected on Islamic Spain and said the influence brought several practices and symbols similar to Catholicism.
"These elements could be very powerful and attractive to someone," he said. "I think that's more significant than being disenchanted with Catholicism."
In 1997, the Latino American Dawah Organization — LADO — was formed by a handful of converts. It serves to educate and promote the legacy of Islam in Spain and Latin America. One of its organizers, Juan Galvan, a Mexican-American who lives in San Antonio, said he has been in contact with more than 20,000 Hispanic Muslims in recent years, co-authored a report, "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," and is co-writing a book on conversion stories. LADO's Web site features dozens of accounts.
The need for support networks is imperative because often Hispanics may feel isolated from others who are born Muslim or because of a language barrier, he said. Galvan converted in the summer of 2001 after having grown up active in the Catholic Church, serving as an altar boy and Eucharistic minister.
"It's a very clear and simple belief," said Galvan, 30. "But it's not enough to say I disagree with the Catholic faith and then become a Muslim. There's more to it."
Indeed, converting to Islam means a lifestyle change that to some can be difficult. Fasting, praying five times a day and giving up alcohol and pork — a staple in the Hispanic diet — can present challenges. Women must wear a hijab, but the misperception, many women argue, is that the veil is debasing. Though there are no definitive statistics, reports indicate there are more women than men converting to Islam.
"A head scarf does not symbolize oppression. It represents freedom," said Ecuadorean Sonia Lasso, while speaking at the third annual Hispanic Muslim Day at a mosque in Union City, N.J. "Because it is not our physical but our intellectual selves that are seen."
Perhaps the biggest obstacle converts face is with their families, who take great pride in their Catholic rearing and have little understanding of Islam.
Reveron said he has yet to tell his family, fearing irreversible repercussions.
"I haven't found the right way to tell them," he said. "You hear stories about families ridiculing and (the Muslim converts) being ostracized."
For Ahmed, her family was more accepting of her decision, so much so that her brother is now Muslim, and her mother has accepted Islam, she said. Her life is much more devout since her conversion. She works as a representative to the James House at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow. She volunteers extensively in Westchester and the Bronx, a move she credits to her faith. She worships at the Thornwood masjid, as well as in the Bronx, and is proudest of helping to establish a mosque in Suffern with her former husband.
While the horror of Sept. 11 moved many Hispanics toward Islam, Ahmed admits that the attacks on the World Trade Center gave her pause about her adopted religion. But it was Islam that prevailed, she said.
"I saw a tragic situation and at the same time had to understand that I am a Muslim," she said. "My faith was tested, but I stayed on track because I'm not going to let a group of fanatics change my faith. I became stronger. Once you believe, you can't go back."
Source: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051030/NEWS02/510300319/1028/NEWS12
Copyright 2005 The Journal News
Article Rated: 8.20 (10 votes)
Author: admin
Published: 2005/10/30
Read 2887 times
Size 10.44 KB
By Marcela Rojas
The Journal News
(Original Publication: October 30, 2005)
Aisha Ahmed's decision to convert to Islam and give up Catholicism and her Puerto Rican birth name, Maritza Rondon, did not come impulsively or under duress.
She spent five years studying the Quran and hired a teacher to learn Arabic before she was ready for shahadah, a declaration of faith led by an imam that is essential to the conversion process.
In the end, Ahmed's decision to become a Muslim and to take a name that belonged to the Prophet Muhammad's wife, she said, was borne of years of questioning her Catholic upbringing and discovering that, for her, the answers were with Islam.
"I have lived a humble and peaceful life since I converted. Everything is so clear," said Ahmed, 45, of Tarrytown. "I didn't see in Catholicism the unity and compassion I found in Islam. I saw more kindness and willingness to give."
Ahmed's change of faith is not unique among her ethnic group today. In recent years, thousands of Hispanics nationwide have been converting to Islam, particularly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when interest in the religion seemed to gain momentum.
Though precise statistics do not exist, the Council on American-Islamic Relations estimates there are more than 36,000 Hispanic Muslims in the nation today. Other estimates raise the total to 75,000. A study the group conducted also showed that 6 percent of the 20,000 annual converts to Islam are Hispanic.
Though the numbers are a small fraction of the estimated 6 million Muslims in the country, it is fast becoming evident that the conversion rate among this minority group is taking root and that its influence is being asserted through the formation of Hispanic Muslim organizations — "dawah," or outreach efforts targeted at Hispanics — and the distribution of literature and the Quran in Spanish.
"There hasn't been real scientific gauging," said Mohamed Nimer, research director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "But Muslim leaders are saying they are seeing more and more Latino Muslims, especially in New York, California and Florida."
Melvin Reveron converted to Islam last year, following a period of depression and internal doubts about Catholicism, he said.
"I called myself a Catholic, but I wasn't practicing as an adult," said Reveron, 41, a Puerto Rican who lives in New York City. "I realized the futility of confession. I felt alienated from God and unworthy of God's graces. If I was going to reintroduce God into my life, I thought this was the best way."
Reveron had read the Quran after Sept. 11 because he wanted to gain more knowledge about a religion that was being blamed for the attacks, he said. Culture and religion often can be mistaken, he said.
"People say that Islam is a religion that teaches people to kill, that it creates suicide bombers," said Reveron, 41, a supervisor for the Department of Social Services in New York City. "I reject that notion. Just because a criminal does something, the religion isn't wrong. There's something wrong with that person."
The Quran, he said, resonates with Catholics because it mentions Adam, Moses, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Jesus is revered as a prophet — not as the son of God — within the Islamic religion.
"I looked at is as an intellectual continuation of what I had been taught," he said.
Like Reveron, many Hispanic converts say they have grown disenchanted with Catholicism and have difficulty accepting the church hierarchy, original sin, confession, the Holy Trinity and the saints. Others say they are "reverting" to a religion that is part of their ancestral history — Islam ruled Spain for several centuries.
Either way, following the five pillars of Islam, the foundation of Muslim life, is a more truthful existence, many agree. Islam's tenets include professing faith in Allah and the prophet Muhammad, praying daily, charity work, fasting during Ramadan and a pilgrimage to Mecca.
"I was very confident it was the correct way of living life," said Fatima Britos, 25, a John Jay College student of Argentine descent. "It is the straight path."
Britos recently attended a Columbia University student event titled "Latinos in Islam: Rediscovering our Roots" that saw a diverse group of people in attendance. The affair included a Mexican feast and a discussion led by Hernan Guadalupe on why Hispanics are converting to Islam today. The Ecuadorean-American outlined the Muslims' reign in Spain from 711 to 1492. Between 10 percent and 30 percent of Spanish words come from Arabic, he said. Guadalupe spoke of the cultural similarities and family values inherent to Hispanics and Muslims. Typically, Hispanic households are tightknit and devout, and children are reared in a strict environment — traits that mirror Muslim households, Guadalupe said.
"There are 780 years of Islamic influence that can't be ignored," said Guadalupe, 24, a mechanical engineer from South Brunswick, N.J. "If you understand that, as a Latino, you have Spanish blood in you, then you would understand ... that you have Islam in you."
Not coincidentally, Guadalupe converted to Islam on Sept, 11, 2001 — or "the day the towers fell," as he said — after years of studying different religions and cultures. He started the Latino Muslim Outreach Program this year, traveling to schools in the tri-state area to educate — not convert — people on Islam, he said.
Other organizations have formed in recent years, including Piedad, an Internet group with nearly 300 members whose mission is to teach non-Muslims and give leadership training to women, particularly Hispanic females.
"On a daily basis, I hear Latinos coming into the fold of Islam," said Piedad founder Khadijah Rivera. "It is so close to our culture that, once they understand, it is like second nature to belong to Islam."
But Catholic leaders do not consider the conversion rate a sign of the faithful growing disillusioned with the church, said Alejandro Aguilar-Titus, associate director of the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Of the 45 million Hispanics in this country, 32 million are Catholic, he said. Conversely, there are more than 6 million Muslims in Latin America, and it has been reported that Islamic ideologies are spreading among indigenous groups.
"As far as we can see, Catholics becoming Muslim is more of an individual choice that comes through marriage, friendships or relationships," said Aguilar-Titus. He later added, "It saddens the church, but at the same time, there is respect for that person's choice."
Aguilar-Titus reflected on Islamic Spain and said the influence brought several practices and symbols similar to Catholicism.
"These elements could be very powerful and attractive to someone," he said. "I think that's more significant than being disenchanted with Catholicism."
In 1997, the Latino American Dawah Organization — LADO — was formed by a handful of converts. It serves to educate and promote the legacy of Islam in Spain and Latin America. One of its organizers, Juan Galvan, a Mexican-American who lives in San Antonio, said he has been in contact with more than 20,000 Hispanic Muslims in recent years, co-authored a report, "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," and is co-writing a book on conversion stories. LADO's Web site features dozens of accounts.
The need for support networks is imperative because often Hispanics may feel isolated from others who are born Muslim or because of a language barrier, he said. Galvan converted in the summer of 2001 after having grown up active in the Catholic Church, serving as an altar boy and Eucharistic minister.
"It's a very clear and simple belief," said Galvan, 30. "But it's not enough to say I disagree with the Catholic faith and then become a Muslim. There's more to it."
Indeed, converting to Islam means a lifestyle change that to some can be difficult. Fasting, praying five times a day and giving up alcohol and pork — a staple in the Hispanic diet — can present challenges. Women must wear a hijab, but the misperception, many women argue, is that the veil is debasing. Though there are no definitive statistics, reports indicate there are more women than men converting to Islam.
"A head scarf does not symbolize oppression. It represents freedom," said Ecuadorean Sonia Lasso, while speaking at the third annual Hispanic Muslim Day at a mosque in Union City, N.J. "Because it is not our physical but our intellectual selves that are seen."
Perhaps the biggest obstacle converts face is with their families, who take great pride in their Catholic rearing and have little understanding of Islam.
Reveron said he has yet to tell his family, fearing irreversible repercussions.
"I haven't found the right way to tell them," he said. "You hear stories about families ridiculing and (the Muslim converts) being ostracized."
For Ahmed, her family was more accepting of her decision, so much so that her brother is now Muslim, and her mother has accepted Islam, she said. Her life is much more devout since her conversion. She works as a representative to the James House at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow. She volunteers extensively in Westchester and the Bronx, a move she credits to her faith. She worships at the Thornwood masjid, as well as in the Bronx, and is proudest of helping to establish a mosque in Suffern with her former husband.
While the horror of Sept. 11 moved many Hispanics toward Islam, Ahmed admits that the attacks on the World Trade Center gave her pause about her adopted religion. But it was Islam that prevailed, she said.
"I saw a tragic situation and at the same time had to understand that I am a Muslim," she said. "My faith was tested, but I stayed on track because I'm not going to let a group of fanatics change my faith. I became stronger. Once you believe, you can't go back."
Source: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051030/NEWS02/510300319/1028/NEWS12
Copyright 2005 The Journal News
Article Rated: 8.20 (10 votes)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
From cross to crescent.. catholic news service
Site & Forum Owner
"I was cured all right"
Registered: June 03, 2005
Posts: 6,833 Yesterday at 10:33 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From BustedHalo.com:
From Cross to Crescent
Why Latinos are increasingly converting to Islam
by Anthony Chiorazzi
As a girl in Catholic school, Khadijah Rivera dreamed of becoming a nun despite the fact she feared Jesus. She was frightened by her church’s bloodied statue of Christ nailed to the cross and was plagued with fear when receiving communion. "When I used to put the host in my mouth," she says, "I never bit it. I let it melt because I was afraid to bite the body and blood of Christ." Years later, as an adult, she says she has now gotten over these fears and learned to love Jesus more. The reason for her change of heart? Rivera converted to Islam.
According to Rivera, who founded PIEDAD, a Latino Muslim organization based in Tampa, Florida, with over 300 members nationwide, Latino Muslims are on the rise. In America, they are close to 100,000 and growing, more than doubling their numbers in less than a decade.
Rivera says reading the Koran played a role in her conversion. "Here’s a book that explained to me in a logical matter why we’re on earth," she says. "What we’re suppose to do and where we go afterward. All the questions you could ask are answered in the Koran."
Now, as a Muslim who wears the hijab, or headscarf, Rivera, 56, says she doesn’t fear Jesus because she understands him. "I don’t see him as God, but as a man who was a messenger of God and a special prophet."
A Supportive Forum
Latino Muslims can be found in sizable numbers in metropolitan centers where large populations of both Latinos and Muslims reside, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Miami.
LALMA (Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association) is one of the several Latino Muslim organizations in California. The organization began eight years ago with five members and now has over eight times that amount and still growing. LALMA offers not only Spanish speaking educational classes on Islam but also a supportive forum for Latino Muslims.
Marta Felicitas Ramirez, the leader of LALMA, says that she came to Islam through much soul-searching, study and by privately reciting the shahada ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is God’s messenger") and witnessing immediate answers to her problems.
The 9/11 Factor
According to the Harvard University Pluralism Project, statistics show that there has been an increase in conversions to Islam in the US since 9/11. Many Latino Muslims attribute this to the media focus on Islam in the wake of events like 9/11 and the Iraq war. They believe that due to the extensive media coverage, people grow curious about Islam, check it out and often find truth in it.
Ramirez contends that for many of these traditionally Catholic Latinos, their conversion is eased by the fact that they don’t have to abandon their love of Jesus and Mary because both are highly regarded in Islam. The Koran dedicates an entire chapter to Mary.
Jesus, Mary and Islam
Jihad Turk, Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California, says that there is more written in the Koran about Mary or Jesus than Muhammad. Turk says it’s also important to remember, "Muhammad came with the final brick for a beautiful building."
In short, Turk says that Muslims believe that Jesus was born from a virgin birth, performed miracles—including healing the sick and raising the dead—and was the Messiah (a man chosen by God to lead the Jewish people back to God’s ways).
However, there are major differences. Unlike Christians, Muslims don’t consider Jesus divine or believe he rose from the dead. They also don’t believe in the idea of inherited Original Sin and that a divine atonement had to be made by a God-Man to bridge man’s eternal separation from God. According to Islam, Jesus was one of many prophets sent by God to turn mankind back to the ways of the Almighty. Muslims believe that Muhammad was God’s last prophet.
Leaving the Faith
Some believe that the conversions of Latinos from the faith of their ancestors isn’t motivated by theological issues. "The reason why some Latinos are leaving the Church for Islam is they never really understood Catholicism," argues Fr. Lawrence Seyer at the University of Southern California’s Catholic Center. "They have a very cursory understanding of it, but what excites them about Islam is the discipline—no alcohol, a more structured prayer program and great sense of community."
Nevertheless, Seyer adds that if these converts are seeking the truth and can find it better in their new group than in a dysfunctional Catholic group that they left, then maybe in the end, they will be better off. "But what we might at least hope for," says Seyer, "is that they will explore this new faith, learn from it and then realize the wisdom they always had in the Catholic Church and come back home."
Fr. Bill Delaney, senior priest of St. Agnes Church in South Los Angeles, which sits only a few blocks down from where LALMA often meets, says the reason why some leave is because they are not involved enough with their own parish. "It’s all about getting people connected," says Delaney.
At St. Agnes—which is over 90 percent Latino—that connection is made through a 300-member charismatic prayer group that meets once a week. Delaney says that any Catholic who experiences one of their high-charged services will see another side of Catholicism that will draw them closer to their faith and Catholic community.
Quote:
Sigh.
Trouble with the Trinity
In the two years that Turk has been Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center, he has seen over 100 converts to Islam and a majority of them have been Latino Catholics.
His experience suggests there may be more of a theological basis to these conversions than some might think. According to Turk, when Christians—Catholics in particular—were asked why they wanted to convert to Islam, without exception they said they had always believed in God but never could make sense of the Trinity and felt that Islam just made more sense. "There is no leap of faith in Islam," says Turk.
"I always felt that ‘God the Father’ in the Trinity was the real boss and whenever I prayed, that’s who I had in mind," says Ricardo Pena, a Latino convert to Islam living in Chicago. Pena says that as a devout Catholic, he never believed that Jesus was God. The Islamic idea that God is absolutely one—with no parts—and that Jesus is not God but a prophet just made more sense to him.
Quote:
As if Catholicism teaches that God has "parts."
Pena was further attracted to Islam when he learned that it embraced Moses, Abraham, Adam, Eve and other biblical figures. "After hearing that, I was completely blown away," says Pena. "How is it that they believe in ‘our’ prophets? I thought Islam had nothing to do with Christianity or Judaism." Pena wanted to learn more.
After studying Islam for seven months, Pena, along with his brother, became a Muslim in 1995. But when Pena told his parents, they didn’t take it too well. "We broke the news to them at about 8:30 or 9 PM one night and didn’t conclude the dramatic fallout until four in the morning."
Today his family is much more accepting. In fact, his older sister and her husband have since converted to Islam as well. "We are still hoping for our parents, though," says Pena.
Islamic prayers mingled with the bustling sounds of traffic as he prostrated himself in prayer in a little mosque in Havana, Cuba, recalls Diego Santos, a Cuban-American who traveled to the communist state not long ago to visit his family.
A recent convert to Islam and a writer who prefers not to use his real name, Santos says that Islam in Cuba—like in America—is becoming more visible and that during his stay he found no attempt to repress it. In fact, after jum’a, Friday prayers, Santos talked openly in Spanish about Islam with fellow Muslims while strolling down the crowded streets of old Havana, even passing the government offices of the Cuban Community for the Defense of the Revolution, which has a notorious reputation for being the snitch center for Cuban rule breakers. "Nobody was hiding their Islam in Havana," says Santos.
Back in Los Angeles, Santos attends meetings of the Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association (LALMA), an organization working to help inform the Latino community about Islam. Santos says as a Cuban-American that he has been well embraced by the Muslim community in America because his conversion confirms Islam as a universal religion. Santos hopes that more people will understand that Islam is for everyone whether they live in Europe, America or even Cuba.
Spanish Roots
And for many Latino Muslims living in America, Islam has brought them closer to a community they’ve long felt estranged from—Muslim Spain. Ramirez, leader of LALMA, says that the Catholicism brought to the indigenous people of the New World by the Spanish was not voluntary. It was forced, brutal and genocidal.
Quote:
Sigh. And "Islam means peace," right?
On the other hand, Ramirez says, Islam represents a religious tradition brought to Latin America via Muslim slaves that was much more accepted and self-sustained, despite continuous efforts by the colonial powers to viciously stomp it out.
Quote:
Thank you, cultural Marxists. You've done your job well.
"I think my learning about Islamic Spain gave me an impetus for learning more about Islam, and may have played a role in my conversion," says Juan Alvarado, a spokesperson for the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), a national organization based in New York that promotes Islam among Latinos. Alvarado lives in a rural part of Pennsylvania with no Muslims and has to travel an hour to the nearest mosque.
Muslim Renaissance
A great source of pride for Latino Muslims is the understanding that many major advances in the areas of science, medicine, mathematics and philosophy have Arab and Muslim origins. In fact, John L. Esposito, Islamic scholar and author, says, "Many of the great medieval Christian philosophers and theologians—Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon—acknowledged their debt to their Muslim predecessors."
The Latino-Arab connection is also evident in other areas. According to Alvarado, many common Hispanic surnames have Arabic origins. For example, Garcia comes from the Arabic word Gharsiyya; Medina from Madina; Padilla from Abdillah and Ventura from Ben Tura. Latino Muslims say that up to 4,000 words in Spanish are Arabic in origin.
Converts and Challenges
Despite the historical nexus between Muslim and Latino traditions, there still remain cultural challenges and stereotypes for Latino Muslims to overcome. Jurlio Moreno, 58, who lives in Los Angeles and is a member of LALMA, says that when he converted to Islam his wife asked him if he was a terrorist. Moreno responded: "You have known me my whole life. You know I’m no terrorist."
After 9/11, the headscarf-wearing Khadijah Rivera, founder of the Florida-based PIEDAD, says someone spat in her face and others shouted obscenities at her. "I could have taken off my hijab (head scarf) or spoken out," says Rivera. Rivera chose to speak out and went on the popular Christina talk show and said that you can’t blame Islam for 9/11 any more than you can blame Christianity for what Timothy McVeigh did in Oklahoma.
As Latino Muslims, Pena says they share in the same persecution that other Muslims face in America. The only difference, says Pena, is that Latino Muslims can remain concealed if they choose. "Because my name is Ricardo Pena and not Osama Al-something, people generally assume that I am anything else but Muslim."
Pena adds, "I always joke that people react to us as though they had just seen a Leprechaun. ‘Look honey! It’s a real live Latino Muslim.’"
Keeping the Culture
Dawud Khalil-ullah Abdullah, 54, a Muslim educator in Los Angeles, says that Allah did not send Islam to destroy any culture, but to purify it. "You’re free to stay in whatever culture you were born into," says Abdullah. "You can be a Mexican and keep eating burritos and tacos, and you don’t have to change what you eat or how you dress as long as it fits within Islamic perimeters. You can’t eat menudo with pork in it, but you can eat menudo without the pork."
Khadijah Rivera says that there are still challenges for Latinos Muslims, but some things don’t change. "I may have converted to Islam," she says. "But I haven’t lost my salsa, my zest for life."
"I was cured all right"
Registered: June 03, 2005
Posts: 6,833 Yesterday at 10:33 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From BustedHalo.com:
From Cross to Crescent
Why Latinos are increasingly converting to Islam
by Anthony Chiorazzi
As a girl in Catholic school, Khadijah Rivera dreamed of becoming a nun despite the fact she feared Jesus. She was frightened by her church’s bloodied statue of Christ nailed to the cross and was plagued with fear when receiving communion. "When I used to put the host in my mouth," she says, "I never bit it. I let it melt because I was afraid to bite the body and blood of Christ." Years later, as an adult, she says she has now gotten over these fears and learned to love Jesus more. The reason for her change of heart? Rivera converted to Islam.
According to Rivera, who founded PIEDAD, a Latino Muslim organization based in Tampa, Florida, with over 300 members nationwide, Latino Muslims are on the rise. In America, they are close to 100,000 and growing, more than doubling their numbers in less than a decade.
Rivera says reading the Koran played a role in her conversion. "Here’s a book that explained to me in a logical matter why we’re on earth," she says. "What we’re suppose to do and where we go afterward. All the questions you could ask are answered in the Koran."
Now, as a Muslim who wears the hijab, or headscarf, Rivera, 56, says she doesn’t fear Jesus because she understands him. "I don’t see him as God, but as a man who was a messenger of God and a special prophet."
A Supportive Forum
Latino Muslims can be found in sizable numbers in metropolitan centers where large populations of both Latinos and Muslims reside, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Miami.
LALMA (Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association) is one of the several Latino Muslim organizations in California. The organization began eight years ago with five members and now has over eight times that amount and still growing. LALMA offers not only Spanish speaking educational classes on Islam but also a supportive forum for Latino Muslims.
Marta Felicitas Ramirez, the leader of LALMA, says that she came to Islam through much soul-searching, study and by privately reciting the shahada ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is God’s messenger") and witnessing immediate answers to her problems.
The 9/11 Factor
According to the Harvard University Pluralism Project, statistics show that there has been an increase in conversions to Islam in the US since 9/11. Many Latino Muslims attribute this to the media focus on Islam in the wake of events like 9/11 and the Iraq war. They believe that due to the extensive media coverage, people grow curious about Islam, check it out and often find truth in it.
Ramirez contends that for many of these traditionally Catholic Latinos, their conversion is eased by the fact that they don’t have to abandon their love of Jesus and Mary because both are highly regarded in Islam. The Koran dedicates an entire chapter to Mary.
Jesus, Mary and Islam
Jihad Turk, Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California, says that there is more written in the Koran about Mary or Jesus than Muhammad. Turk says it’s also important to remember, "Muhammad came with the final brick for a beautiful building."
In short, Turk says that Muslims believe that Jesus was born from a virgin birth, performed miracles—including healing the sick and raising the dead—and was the Messiah (a man chosen by God to lead the Jewish people back to God’s ways).
However, there are major differences. Unlike Christians, Muslims don’t consider Jesus divine or believe he rose from the dead. They also don’t believe in the idea of inherited Original Sin and that a divine atonement had to be made by a God-Man to bridge man’s eternal separation from God. According to Islam, Jesus was one of many prophets sent by God to turn mankind back to the ways of the Almighty. Muslims believe that Muhammad was God’s last prophet.
Leaving the Faith
Some believe that the conversions of Latinos from the faith of their ancestors isn’t motivated by theological issues. "The reason why some Latinos are leaving the Church for Islam is they never really understood Catholicism," argues Fr. Lawrence Seyer at the University of Southern California’s Catholic Center. "They have a very cursory understanding of it, but what excites them about Islam is the discipline—no alcohol, a more structured prayer program and great sense of community."
Nevertheless, Seyer adds that if these converts are seeking the truth and can find it better in their new group than in a dysfunctional Catholic group that they left, then maybe in the end, they will be better off. "But what we might at least hope for," says Seyer, "is that they will explore this new faith, learn from it and then realize the wisdom they always had in the Catholic Church and come back home."
Fr. Bill Delaney, senior priest of St. Agnes Church in South Los Angeles, which sits only a few blocks down from where LALMA often meets, says the reason why some leave is because they are not involved enough with their own parish. "It’s all about getting people connected," says Delaney.
At St. Agnes—which is over 90 percent Latino—that connection is made through a 300-member charismatic prayer group that meets once a week. Delaney says that any Catholic who experiences one of their high-charged services will see another side of Catholicism that will draw them closer to their faith and Catholic community.
Quote:
Sigh.
Trouble with the Trinity
In the two years that Turk has been Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center, he has seen over 100 converts to Islam and a majority of them have been Latino Catholics.
His experience suggests there may be more of a theological basis to these conversions than some might think. According to Turk, when Christians—Catholics in particular—were asked why they wanted to convert to Islam, without exception they said they had always believed in God but never could make sense of the Trinity and felt that Islam just made more sense. "There is no leap of faith in Islam," says Turk.
"I always felt that ‘God the Father’ in the Trinity was the real boss and whenever I prayed, that’s who I had in mind," says Ricardo Pena, a Latino convert to Islam living in Chicago. Pena says that as a devout Catholic, he never believed that Jesus was God. The Islamic idea that God is absolutely one—with no parts—and that Jesus is not God but a prophet just made more sense to him.
Quote:
As if Catholicism teaches that God has "parts."
Pena was further attracted to Islam when he learned that it embraced Moses, Abraham, Adam, Eve and other biblical figures. "After hearing that, I was completely blown away," says Pena. "How is it that they believe in ‘our’ prophets? I thought Islam had nothing to do with Christianity or Judaism." Pena wanted to learn more.
After studying Islam for seven months, Pena, along with his brother, became a Muslim in 1995. But when Pena told his parents, they didn’t take it too well. "We broke the news to them at about 8:30 or 9 PM one night and didn’t conclude the dramatic fallout until four in the morning."
Today his family is much more accepting. In fact, his older sister and her husband have since converted to Islam as well. "We are still hoping for our parents, though," says Pena.
Islamic prayers mingled with the bustling sounds of traffic as he prostrated himself in prayer in a little mosque in Havana, Cuba, recalls Diego Santos, a Cuban-American who traveled to the communist state not long ago to visit his family.
A recent convert to Islam and a writer who prefers not to use his real name, Santos says that Islam in Cuba—like in America—is becoming more visible and that during his stay he found no attempt to repress it. In fact, after jum’a, Friday prayers, Santos talked openly in Spanish about Islam with fellow Muslims while strolling down the crowded streets of old Havana, even passing the government offices of the Cuban Community for the Defense of the Revolution, which has a notorious reputation for being the snitch center for Cuban rule breakers. "Nobody was hiding their Islam in Havana," says Santos.
Back in Los Angeles, Santos attends meetings of the Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association (LALMA), an organization working to help inform the Latino community about Islam. Santos says as a Cuban-American that he has been well embraced by the Muslim community in America because his conversion confirms Islam as a universal religion. Santos hopes that more people will understand that Islam is for everyone whether they live in Europe, America or even Cuba.
Spanish Roots
And for many Latino Muslims living in America, Islam has brought them closer to a community they’ve long felt estranged from—Muslim Spain. Ramirez, leader of LALMA, says that the Catholicism brought to the indigenous people of the New World by the Spanish was not voluntary. It was forced, brutal and genocidal.
Quote:
Sigh. And "Islam means peace," right?
On the other hand, Ramirez says, Islam represents a religious tradition brought to Latin America via Muslim slaves that was much more accepted and self-sustained, despite continuous efforts by the colonial powers to viciously stomp it out.
Quote:
Thank you, cultural Marxists. You've done your job well.
"I think my learning about Islamic Spain gave me an impetus for learning more about Islam, and may have played a role in my conversion," says Juan Alvarado, a spokesperson for the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), a national organization based in New York that promotes Islam among Latinos. Alvarado lives in a rural part of Pennsylvania with no Muslims and has to travel an hour to the nearest mosque.
Muslim Renaissance
A great source of pride for Latino Muslims is the understanding that many major advances in the areas of science, medicine, mathematics and philosophy have Arab and Muslim origins. In fact, John L. Esposito, Islamic scholar and author, says, "Many of the great medieval Christian philosophers and theologians—Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon—acknowledged their debt to their Muslim predecessors."
The Latino-Arab connection is also evident in other areas. According to Alvarado, many common Hispanic surnames have Arabic origins. For example, Garcia comes from the Arabic word Gharsiyya; Medina from Madina; Padilla from Abdillah and Ventura from Ben Tura. Latino Muslims say that up to 4,000 words in Spanish are Arabic in origin.
Converts and Challenges
Despite the historical nexus between Muslim and Latino traditions, there still remain cultural challenges and stereotypes for Latino Muslims to overcome. Jurlio Moreno, 58, who lives in Los Angeles and is a member of LALMA, says that when he converted to Islam his wife asked him if he was a terrorist. Moreno responded: "You have known me my whole life. You know I’m no terrorist."
After 9/11, the headscarf-wearing Khadijah Rivera, founder of the Florida-based PIEDAD, says someone spat in her face and others shouted obscenities at her. "I could have taken off my hijab (head scarf) or spoken out," says Rivera. Rivera chose to speak out and went on the popular Christina talk show and said that you can’t blame Islam for 9/11 any more than you can blame Christianity for what Timothy McVeigh did in Oklahoma.
As Latino Muslims, Pena says they share in the same persecution that other Muslims face in America. The only difference, says Pena, is that Latino Muslims can remain concealed if they choose. "Because my name is Ricardo Pena and not Osama Al-something, people generally assume that I am anything else but Muslim."
Pena adds, "I always joke that people react to us as though they had just seen a Leprechaun. ‘Look honey! It’s a real live Latino Muslim.’"
Keeping the Culture
Dawud Khalil-ullah Abdullah, 54, a Muslim educator in Los Angeles, says that Allah did not send Islam to destroy any culture, but to purify it. "You’re free to stay in whatever culture you were born into," says Abdullah. "You can be a Mexican and keep eating burritos and tacos, and you don’t have to change what you eat or how you dress as long as it fits within Islamic perimeters. You can’t eat menudo with pork in it, but you can eat menudo without the pork."
Khadijah Rivera says that there are still challenges for Latinos Muslims, but some things don’t change. "I may have converted to Islam," she says. "But I haven’t lost my salsa, my zest for life."
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