Latino Muslim Reporter

Este mensaje fue escrito por la Hermana, Nahela Morales, quien tuvo la oportunidad de irse al Hajj, el Peregrinaje a La Meca, esta pasada temporada del 2018. Lo escrito estaba dirigido a un grupo de mexicanas no-musulmanas en Facebook, pero decidimos preservarlo aquí. Es importante compartir los detalles sobre su viaje para que todos podamos ver el Hajj por los ojos de una musulmana latina/mexicana y también para tomar su ejemplo y compartir nuestras experiencias con personas que no saben del Islam, de manera que puedan aprender y apreciar todo lo que tiene que ver con nuestra fe. A continuación, el mensaje de Nahela: Hola, Hola, que la paz de Díos este con todas ustedes. Espero que esten bien; las pensé mucho durante mi último viaje, el viaje más importante para un musulmán. Hace casi dos semanas regresé de hacer el peregrinaje mayor llamado el "Hajj" el quinto pilar en el Islam. Es un viaje obligatorio siempre y cuando estés en buena salud y tengas los medios económi...

Por Hernán Guadalupe Traducido del inglés al español por Wendy Díaz Antes del 9/11 estuve buscando la “verdad,” es decir, la manera apropiada de adorar a Dios. Me crie en un hogar católico, serví como monaguillo, asistí a un colegio católico y estudié la Biblia durante gran parte de mi juventud. Siempre he creído en Dios, sin importar en qué etapa de mi vida estaba, fuera durante mi niñez en la escuela católica, mi breve experimentación con el cristianismo, mi búsqueda del conocimiento del budismo, hinduismo y otros “ismos”, o mis estudios del Darwinismo y la teoría de la evolución. A través de mis días antes del 9/11, yo sentía que tenía suficiente experiencia en todos los credos e ideologías, y llegué a la conclusión de que había un Dios o un Ser Supremo, pero me preguntaba: “¿Cómo debo adorarlo? ¿Cómo hago sentido de todas las demás religiones que existen en el mundo? Este era mi estado de ánimo antes del 9/11. Hasta ese punto no había conocido el Islam. Me sorprende, ahora que...

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...

By: Yusuf Rios There are two major concerns that need to be addressed in the whole of the Muslim Community and they are internal disorder and struggles for leadership. The issue is not only lack of manpower, but lack of community will; a failure to be supportive in a substantial way and to act collaboratively. The Latino community needs to determine where it stands in this regard. There are too many disturbances within the Muslim Community that stem from disunity, and, specifically in the Latino community, when we judge by the standards of collaborative effort. The least point of focus is community development, while it should be a priority, and the trend is personal advancement, while this is not characteristic of true Islamic leadership and values. The standard is the lack of adequate resources and a willingness to accept second class status for personal survival within the existing organizations targeting the Latino community. There is also the problem of split loyalties...

Que viva Puerto Rico Libre By Wesley “Abu Sumayyah” Lebrón As a Puerto Rican living on the mainland, I find myself waking up every morning wondering what new struggle, challenge, or life-altering change I am going to read about today concerning Puerto Rico. I wonder if my family, friends, or acquaintances will receive another tragic call from Puerto Rico regarding someone else passing away, someone else being hospitalized, someone else being hurt, etc. This is life after Hurricane Maria. I ask myself, “Will we read another devastating story due to the lack of true help reaching our people? Will the people be cornered into another difficult situation? Will the people be charged for another service they cannot afford? Will they continue to be put under constant pressure until they eventually abandon the island altogether? Will this be history replaying itself all over again for Puerto Ricans?” Daily, I struggle with the thought, "What will happen if the island is forgotten?...

By Wesley "Abu Sumayyah" Lebrón At times I feel like I need to scream, cry, and drop to my knees when thinking about Puerto Rico and my people, especially now that the reality of death has struck home with my own family. My heart and soul is with my family in PR. I lost a cousin last night to the bacteria in the water. She was only 17 and died within two days. Many have no clue of the oppression our people currently face. You wake up not knowing about eating healthy because the food you’ve been given lacks the adequate nutrients. You fear drinking the water because it has become infected with bacteria! You fear to now wash your clothes in the river after catching a skin rash and your kids come out with a fever soon thereafter. You fear to drink soda and juice from cans because you just lost a family member who drank and as a result died because of the bacteria within two days. The heat at night is suffocating. The shower is ice cold for those who have water and for th...

Interview with Wendy Díaz 1. What influenced you to become a Muslim? In my freshman or sophomore year of high school, I saw the movie, Malcolm X, and I was so moved by his life and role in the civil rights movement that I wanted to know more about him. I bought Malcolm X’s autobiography and was intrigued by the religion of Islam. However, it wasn’t until I was in 11th grade that I met one of my best friends, who happened to be a Muslim Egyptian by the name Hebatullah (A gift from Allah). I feel like her name bears great significance in my life because it was through her that I found Islam. Through interacting with her and her family, I became acquainted with the religion and began to ask questions until finally her father gave me a copy of the Qur’an and some books with information about Islam. 2. What has been/is your greatest challenge after accepting Islam? There have been many challenges that have come since I accepted Islam, but by far the most difficult and continuous is...

Working Together for a Better Future-- A Message for the Children of Abraham By Wendy Díaz “Say (O Muhammad): "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah (Alone), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah . Then, if they turn away, say: "Bear witness that we are Muslims." (The Qur’an, Chapter 3, Verse 64) Undoubtedly, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them, taught the same message: the Oneness of God, upholding His Commandments, being good to others and living a righteous life. Both serve as examples for Muslims and Christians, alike, as well as others who choose to study about their lives and uphold their teachings. Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the children of Israel, Muhammad came to confirm his teachings, and to serve as the vehicle for the Qur’an, the final testament of God, a timeless revelation that would...

By Wendy Díaz November 20,2015 Dear neighbors, With everything going on in the world today and the news that surrounds us, we know that things can get a bit confusing. As your Muslim neighbors and fellow citizens, we would like to assure you that we stand with you against all forms of oppression and injustice in the US and anywhere else in the world. You may have heard Muslims say that Islam means “peace,” but you may have also heard from the media and other sources that Muslims can be “extremists,” “jihadists,” “radicals,” “fanatics,” and so on… Islam does stem from the Arabic root word, “Salama” which means peace, but the word Islam literally means to surrender yourself to God alone, in order to obtain peace in your life. A Muslim, by definition, is someone who submits to God in worship and obedience. This surrender and submission necessitates that we have “God consciousness,” meaning that we are always aware that God is watching us and that we will be held accountable for ou...

Por Wendy Díaz Publicado en el blog Mamasconpoder el 21 de marzo, 2016 Cuando me convertí al Islam en Agosto del 2000, sabía que sería una transición algo difícil añadiendo cinco oraciones a mi rutina diaria, ayunando desde el alba hasta la puesta del sol durante el mes sagrado de Ramadán y cambiando mi ropa escotada por piezas más conservadoras y un pañuelo. Sin embargo, estos cambios eran mínimos comparados al desafío de lidiar con opiniones negativas sobre el Islam y los musulmanes, incluso viniendo de las personas más cercanas a mí. Puse distancia entre mí y aquellos que deseaban introducir la negatividad en mi vida, pero cuando los comentarios venían de familiares, eran más difíciles de tragar. Un año después, cuando mi decisión de practicar la religión se había vuelto más aceptada y habitual, ocurrieron los atentados del 11 de septiembre, y mi vida cambió de manera drástica. Por temor a las repercusiones dirigidas a la comunidad musulmana y la preocupación por mi seguridad,...

By Wendy Díaz Published on Momsrising blog, March 21, 2016 When I converted to Islam back in August of 2000, I knew it would be a transition adding prayer 5 times a day to my daily routine, fasting from sun up to sundown during the month of Ramadan, and exchanging my revealing clothes for more conservative threads and a headscarf. However, these changes were minimal compared to the challenge of dealing with negative opinions about Islam and Muslims, even coming from people who were closest to me. I steered clear of the people who wanted to bring negativity in my life, but when the comments came from family, they were harder to swallow. A year later when my decision had become more accepted and routine, September 11th happened, and my world was torn apart. Out of fear of repercussions aimed at the Muslim community and concern for my safety, for a year my parents refused to let me leave the house with hijab, and so I began to carry my headscarf in my purse, slipping it on once they ...

Oct 25, 2013 Hernán, un jóven de origen Ecuatoriano criado en los estados unidos, cuenta su historia paso a paso de cómo se alejó del catolicísmo y aprendió sobre el Islam, finalmente decidiendo convirtirse en musulmán. Para más de Hablamos Islam, visítenos en http://www.hablamosislam.com