Latino Muslim Reporter

By: Wendy Díaz Back in 2000 when I accepted Islam, I used to think that I must have been the only Muslim Latina in the world! I learned about Islam through an Egyptian family and met Muslims from other countries like Palestine and Pakistan, and even came across some American Muslims. However, it wasn’t until almost two years later that I met a handful of others like myself, Latin-American converts living in the US. When I finally visited Puerto Rico, where I was born and lived for the first eight years of my life, as a Muslim, I was surprised to learn that there were about nine mosques on the tiny island – which is smaller than Rhode Island – and thousands of Muslims. Although the majority of Muslims living in Puerto Rico are Arab immigrants, there is also an ever-growing number of converts. Now with a greater sense of determination, I continued my search for more Latino Muslims, so we could share our experiences, our struggles with non-Muslim family members, our quest for knowled

Latino Muslims Reach Out to Their Own Communities in Spanish, Portuguese, and English By Wendy Diaz and Juan Galvan ( An edited version of this article appeared on the July/Aug 2016 issue of Islamic Horizons Magazine: https://issuu.com/isnacreative/docs/ih_jul-aug_16 ) Type “Latino Muslims” into any search engine and the results will display a plethora of recent media reports about the fastest growing minority within Islam. Names like PBS, NBC, BBC, AlJazeera, the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Univision, and Telemundo have all produced their share of reports and documentaries fixated on this phenomenon. It has even warranted attention from academia, as professors invest research into the demographic and graduate students base their theses on varying factors of the Hispanic/Latino Muslim presence in the United States and beyond. The trend has been fueled by recent events surrounding the 2016 presidential race and the xenophobic and Islamophobic campaign rhetoric fro

Por: Wendy Díaz En el año 2000, cuando acepté el Islam, yo pensaba que era la única musulmana Latina en el mundo. Aprendí del Islam a través de mi amistad con una familia egipcia y conocí a musulmanes de otros países como Palestina y Pakistán, y hasta conocí algunos musulmanes americanos. Sin embargo, no fue hasta casi 2 años después que supe de otras personas como yo, musulmanes Latinoamericanos viviendo en los Estados Unidos. Cuando visité Puerto Rico, donde nací y me crie por ocho años de mi vida, por primera vez como musulmana, me sorprendí al saber que había nueve mezquitas en la pequeña isla, y miles de musulmanes viviendo ahí. Aunque la mayoría de los musulmanes en Puerto Rico son inmigrantes árabes, también existe un número cada vez mayor de conversos. Con un mayor sentido de determinación, continué mi búsqueda para más musulmanes latinos, para poder compartir juntos nuestras experiencias, nuestras luchas con nuestras familias no musulmanas, nuestra búsqueda de conocimient

A devastated U.S. Territory sets out on the long road to recovery By Wendy Díaz ( An edited version of this article appeared in the Jan/Feb 2018 issue of Islamic Horizons Magazine: https://issuu.com/isnacreative/docs/ih_january-february_18 ) La mezquita de Vega Alta or the Vega Alta Mosque is an iconic site for Puerto Rican Muslims. Nestled on a mountaintop surrounded by broad palm branches and lush greenery, the mosque, also known as Masjid Al Farooq, is visible from Route 2 in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. Some have even described it as resembling a castle, with its single dome and minaret towering over the rectangular structure with arched windows; it is the largest Islamic center in Puerto Rico. Like other buildings and residences on this tropical paradise, its cement walls have been painted and repainted in bright color patterns, forest green and mint years ago, and more recently a rusty orange with blue accents. On an island whose Muslim population is only between .1% and .2%

By: Wendy Díaz One of the Muslim driven initiatives for Puerto Rico relief is the Three Puerto Rican Imams Project, under the leadership of Imam Abdullah Daniel Hernandez, Imam Wesley “Abu Sumayyah” Lebrón, and Imam Jose “Yusuf” Rios. Rios, from Cleveland, Ohio, has been Muslim for about 20 years. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Sociology and is completing his MA in Islamic Sciences at the Islamic University of Minnesota. He is the director of Shaukani Institute for Islamic Education and Leadership Development, and is also involved in social service projects, as well as chaplaincy work with incarcerated youth and university students. His current focus is on the Three Puerto Rican Imams Project for Relief in Puerto Rico and he has traveled to Puerto Rico twice since Hurricane María. During his first visit, he partnered with ICNA Relief to assess the damages in the most devastated areas of the island and coordinate future relief efforts. The following is an interview with Imam