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 from some of the candidates, such as rants by Republican hopeful, Donald Trump. Because Trump’s campaign began with accusations against Mexican immigrants and other Hispanic groups and were later followed by attacks on Muslims, the dual have garnered extensive media attention. Media outlets now hasten to find Muslim converts or born Muslims of Hispanic origin to provide their commentary or reactions, perhaps because it proves more convenient and provides an unexpected turn on the negative propaganda trail.
This atmosphere has not only brought to light the increasing number of Latinos embracing or practicing Islam, but also opened the door for others to explore Islam. Juan Galvan, the director of the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO) and a Muslim convert of Mexican descent, says, “There's more curiosity about the Latino Muslim community. Everyone wants to know what we think about what's going on.” LADO’s website showcases news articles written by or about Latino Muslims. Galvan has worked diligently for over a decade to gather these pieces under one umbrella. He adds, “Disseminating information is critical. I enjoy distributing information on current events, especially when Latino Muslims are in the news.”
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) based in Florida, now has its own Spanish-speaking representative, attorney and political analyst, Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, and even set up a Spanish Facebook page, CAIR en Español: Musulmanes Hispanos. The Facebook page which caters to Hispanic Muslims in both English and Spanish, boasts that it is managed by a “group of Muslims that are proud of their Hispanic and Muslim heritage.” Ruiz is frequently invited as a commentator on local radio and television news channels, as well as national news stations to offer his expertise on Islam, the Middle East, and Latino Muslim issues. Recently, Ruiz and other leaders from the Latino Muslim community, including Imam Abdullah Daniel Hernandez from the Islamic Center of Pearland, Texas, participated in National Muslim Advocacy Day on April 21, 2016 organized by the US Council of Islamic Organizations. An occurrence indicative of the emerging Latino Muslim leadership also mounting within the Muslim populace of the US, and its hopes of influencing the political landscape.
Pa’ coger impulso: To Gain Momentum
There is a famous Spanish/Caribbean proverb that says, pa'lante, pa'lante, pa'tras ni pa' coger impulso, meaning “never take a step back, not even to gain momentum.” On the other hand, looking back and reflecting on the history of Islam and its influence on Latinos and their culture can be a motivator for those who seek to connect to their roots. Latin-Americans began embracing Islam as far back as the 1960’s and 70’s, communities of Hispanic Muslims were born out of the Civil Rights movement and some branched out from the Nation of Islam.
Ramon Ocasio, one of the pioneering founders of the most prominent of these Latino Muslim organizations, Alianza Islamica (the Islamic Alliance), states, “In 1973, when I took Shahadah (the Islamic testimony of faith) there were very few Latino Muslims, and fewer still who felt a need to affirm it. In the decades since, it has moved significantly away from that retrograde stance and the moniker now has no one shying from it.” Alianza Islamica was founded in 1987 as a community-based Puerto Rican organization, opening the very first Hispanic masjid (mosque) in the US in the heart of Spanish Harlem, New York. The masjid was a shining example of outreach and community development in its prime, offering congregational prayers, sermons in both English and Spanish, marriage services, funeral services, classes, counseling and mentorship for new Muslims. However, it lost its momentum after relocating to the Bronx at the beginning of the century and finally closed its doors in 2005. During and after Alianza’s time, there were many other Latino Islamic dawah organizations that emerged, but none of these had achieved the endeavor of opening their own center or mosque exclusively for Spanish-speakers.
Now more than 10 years later, another Latino Muslim Islamic center opened its doors in Houston, Texas, on January 30, 2016, following the same model. The IslamInSpanish Centro Islamico caters to the largest Hispanic Muslim community in the US, but also enjoys a global reach by providing videoconferencing and live-streaming of its weekly bilingual (Spanish/English) Friday sermons, weekly Islamic studies classes, and other special programs on Youtube and Facebook.
The Internet and social media have proven to be effective tools in spreading the message of Islam and educating Latinos about their cultural ties to the Moors of Spain and African Muslims brought to the Americas after the discovery and colonization of the New World. Galvan comments, “Spanish dawah transformed from primarily email or newsgroups like Yahoogroups into a social media phenomenon. Social media is also making it cheaper and faster with a larger reach.” This larger reach has called for a surge in Islamic scholarship from the Latino community, as the demand for more information and instruction grows. “A lot of good work gets accomplished through social media, especially Facebook,” he points out. Galvan is an administrator for the Latino Muslims and Hispanic Muslims group pages on Facebook.
Current Trends
Abu Sumayyah, Abdul Razzaq Wesley Lebron, an IslamInSpanish representative and Islamic studies teacher at Miftahul Uloom in Union City, NJ, says, “The dawah to Latinos has evolved significantly. We have many new Islamic organizations in North and South America that are ran by native Latino Muslims who want to serve their people. We have also seen an increase in Latino converts going overseas to study Islam, studying online, etc., in order to bring about more students of knowledge who speak the language and who can disseminate the message of Islam in our mother tongue of Spanish.” There are more Spanish-speaking, Latino Imams and Islamic activists both inside and outside the United States with international influence. However, Isa Lima, a Dominican convert and member of LADO, believes that there is a dire need for more Latin-American Muslims in religious leadership roles.
Remarkably, three native Latino Muslim scholars have been featured in The Muslim 500, The 500 Most Influential Muslims, an annual publication which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center (Amman, Jordan) and issued by Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, however, these 3 leaders live in Latin America. Professor Muhammad Isa Garcia, who has an international following of Spanish-speaking Muslims because of his literary works, translations, videos and audio lectures, is a native born Argentinian convert to Islam who studied theology and Prophetic traditions at Umm Al Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He is responsible for translating countless classical Islamic works from Arabic to Spanish, including the Qur’an in Latin-American Spanish, 110 Ahadith Qudsi, Riyadh-us-Saliheen, and others. Imam Isa Rojas is a Mexican convert who was the first Mexican Muslim to obtain a degree in Islamic Law from the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia. He founded the Al-Hikmah Institute for Arabic Language and Culture in Mexico City, where he resides and serves as the Imam and Director. The third is Sheikh Yahya Juan Suquillo who is the director of the Islamic Center of Ecuador, a convert to Islam, and graduate of the Islamic University of Madinah. All three of these men are widely recognized and respected by the Latino Muslim community.
Historically, in the United States, Islam among Hispanics has spread faster in areas with a dense Latino population, cities like Houston, Dallas, Miami, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles house some of the largest groups. However, due to the availability of audiovisual and print materials, more and more people in remote areas are exposed to Islamic teachings. Marta Khadija Galedary from the La Asociación Latino Musulmana de América (LALMA), believes that there is enough information available to satisfy the needs of Spanish-speakers. She says, “There is no more need of printing dawah material, the group founded by Mujahid Fletcher (IslamInSpanish), ICNA via Whyislam, Al-Furqan Foundation, and of course the multiple publications from Saudi Arabia… have been printing pamphlets, Qur'ans etc. With the multimedia resources, video or audio of Qur'an recitation in Arabic and translated to Spanish, anyone can find it on Youtube.”
Oftentimes non-profit Islamic organizations producing Spanish material do not receive adequate funding, hindering their distribution efforts, however, smart technology may provide a more cost effective way of disseminating information. Nevertheless, Galvan adds, that web and smartphone applications may still need to be developed, and specifically catered to Muslims whose dominant language is Spanish. He says, “Our community is lacking smartphone apps for Quran, (with) prayer times, etc., as well as online, free searchable hadith collections (similar to) what is available in the English language.” This, like other demands from the new convert populations, is a need that will take time to fulfill, especially since these organizations may ignore the fact that not all Latinos living in the US are fluent English speakers.
According to the US Census Bureau, as of 2013, 73.3% of Hispanics living in the US 5 years and older spoke Spanish at home and 58% of them also had near-native English fluency. This means, however, that the remaining 42% did not consider English their stronger language; something Muslims should keep in mind while dealing with their Hispanic counterparts. The Latino/Hispanic demographic is complex, with people from distinctive cultures and nationalities sharing variants of the same language. Ocasio considers that this may be one of the reasons the Latino Muslim community is still underserved,
“The greater diversity of the contemporary Latino community presents the challenge of a pan-Latino approach to dawah and community development. The full impact of this is masked somewhat by the large proportion of (English-speakers) among current Latino Muslims, but it will emerge in bold relief when dealing with each respective community and the peculiarities of their situations.” He also points out that there has been very little community development in his native New York. “There are no community-based Latino jamaats (congregations) in the New York metropolitan area, for example, even though the Latino population here is immense. The closest thing to that is the North Hudson community in Union City, NJ, but they are just a significant minority subject to an, albeit supportive, Arab administration.”
Alex Robayo, a North Hudson Islamic Educational Center (NHIEC) Dawah Committee member, is more optimistic, “In the New York Metro area we have seen a plethora of Latino/Hispanic events sprout from Northern NJ, namely Hudson County, Essex County, Passaic County as well as the NYC area. This has led to grassroots organizations holding picnics, potlucks, lectures, classes, etc. in Spanish. The area has thus become more bilingual with Spanish as the second language next to Arabic. I would say this is a welcomed change and evidence of the change that has taken place in the last 10 to 15 years.” The NHIEC Muslim community hosts an annual Hispanic Muslim Day, which is a day dedicated to celebrating Latino Muslims. The mosque also provides simultaneous translations of their Arabic Friday sermons into Spanish via headsets, as well as a monthly Spanish Friday sermon, and Islamic studies classes taught in Spanish. Alex Robayo, who is half Puerto Rican and half Ecuadorian, feels that cultural awareness plays a crucial role in fortifying the bonds of brotherhood between the Latino and non-Latino congregants. He suggests, “A strong social network should be addressed in order to secure Islam's future within our community.”
Pa’lante, pa’lante: Moving Forward
While Islam has experienced a revival in the hearts of Latinos, more work is needed to accommodate the rising demographic. Ocasio is convinced that taking an activist approach in which Islam is taught with practical examples is most effective. Relating to his past experiences in the barrio, he says “Latinos must be addressed where they live, and when they come into the fold, integrate them into an ever-expanding community which serves as a beacon for those yet to come,” he explains that the way to achieve this is by, “not only preaching the message but also by trying to address the needs of psychologically and spiritually broken people, demonstrating that Islam can make a practical difference in their lives.”
Galvan agrees that there needs to be greater involvement on the local level. “We need to do a better job reaching our neighbors,” he states. LALMA has followed the example of Alianza. It now regularly collaborates with Los Angeles based organizations such as the LA Voice, the Inland Congregations United for Change, and the Orange County Community Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO). LALMA was honored by the organization called Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) for their effort in working towards social justice. “We are putting into action our Islamic beliefs and ethical principles,” Galedary says.
“It is time for the Muslim community to act and be pro-active within our society. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was chosen to restore social justice and the maintenance of human dignity that Allah gave to every single soul, and of course, to return to the worship of One God.” She favors an activist approach to Islamic outreach, by encouraging Muslims to get involved in serving the underprivileged, empowering youth leaders, and joining advocacy groups to promote social change. Through leading by example, these efforts which are geared to helping society as a whole, may also aid in promoting Islam among Latinos. As Galvan states, “The fruit of our labor is rarely immediate. It takes a lot of patience.” What still needs to be addressed to continue current efforts of Spanish dawah and/or start new projects geared towards the Latino population? It perhaps begins with defining Spanish Dawah. Ocasio states that there is a reality that bears closer scrutiny. “So far, virtually all questions regarding materials and approaches center on Spanish language books, brochures, CDs and DVDs as if the only ones worth addressing in a Latin-specific way are immigrants. The approach to Latino dawah must be more nuanced and cannot be so narrowly focused,” he states. He believes that the "Spanish Dawah" and its associated materials should be considered a part of an overall "Latino Dawah” program which integrates material geared to the first-generation Latin-American. Galvan sums it up by stating that the dawah to Latinos must be bilingual.
Keeping this in mind, Islamic organizations, both Latino and non-Latino must develop educational and support initiatives in order to establish the correct belief and implementation of Islam, and help steer newcomers away from deviant beliefs or downright negligence. By acknowledging that the Latino community is the fastest growing group accepting Islam, according to the latest statistics, it becomes incumbent upon the entire Muslim community to cater to its needs.
“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's Favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided.” {The Qur’an, 3:103}
Comments
Post a Comment