By Deborah KongAssociated PressJune 17, 2002 Ibrahim Gonzalez, raised as a Catholic, says he didn’t convert to Islam — rather, he says, he reverted. Like a small but growing number of Hispanics, the New York-born Puerto Rican has found a spiritual home in a faith with a long history in Spain, stretching to the rule […]
Category: LM articles
“¡Hola!” or “Salaam alaiykum”
By Marion Piekarec,“Le Devoir” NY CorrespondentFebruary 2, 2002 To Be South-American, American by Adoption,and to Convert to Islam is Not As ContradictoryAs It Might Appear at First Sight In the United States, there are 15,000 to 40,000 Hispanic Muslims out of a total of six to eight million Muslims, according to data from American Islamic […]
Latina Muslims: The Choices They Make
By Ramin GaneshramCatalina MagazineNov-Dec 2002. pp 26-28. You can say 27-year-old Zulayka Martinez was a typical Latina. As the child of a strictly religious family, she went to Catholic youth groups and could name all of her saints. She even dreamt of becoming a nun one day. Then, at age 22, while at a Catholic […]
Latino Muslims build identity
By James JanegaChicago Tribune staff reporterJuly 5, 2002 An Islamic conference hopes to give greater voice to a developing group that lacks a large cultural background or network in the Chicago area. Yolanda Rodriguez considers herself a Muslim first, then Mexican-American, but on her regular walks down 18th Street in Chicago, she does not wear […]
Islam in Ecuador
By Yahya Juan Suquillocentroislamico.org.ecMay 2002 HISTORICAL ASPECTSThirty to fifty centuries ago, the native Ecuadorian Indian cultures were known as: “Chordeleg, Machalilla and Chorrera.” They are believed to have been sun worshippers. Their Indian chief was believed to have been sent by their “Sun God.” They practiced religious ceremonies offering young virgin women for sacrifice as […]
Many drawn to Islam’s simplicity, peace, balance
By Rabiah AhmedThe Herald-SunAugust 24, 2002 Fatima Morales always was taken by the woman in the veil, the way the cloth draped simply around her face, the way her lowered gaze suggested humility. But as a Catholic, Morales would not associate the image of the Virgin Mary with a Muslim woman wearing her hijab until […]
Q & A with a Latina Muslim
Q & ABy Jay CridlinSt. Petersburg TimesSeptember 6, 2002 Rose Munoz is president of the Muslim Students Association at the University of South Florida. As the first anniversary of 9/11 approaches, she discusses her conversion to Islam, how USF students reacted to her after the attacks and why her parents worry about her. Jumada Al-Thani […]
Conference focuses on Muslim Latinos
By Katherine PaceDaily Texan StaffJuly 09, 2002 The Islamic Society of North America focused on recent trends in religious conversions among Latinos across the United States in a conference last week. The ISNA held its third annual Conference on Islam among Latino Americans in Rosemont, Ill., as part of a series of conferences held yearly […]
Number of Hispanic Muslim converts growing
By Tara Dooley,The Houston ChronicleAugust 17, 2002 Huevos rancheros for breakfast; fasulye for dinner. It was not an unusual menu that graced the table one recent Thursday at Patricia El-Kassir’s west Houston home. For El-Kassir, a Mexican-American convert to Islam, starting the day with the Mexican egg breakfast and ending it with a Lebanese meat-and-bean […]
“Muslims find welcoming home on Texas range”
By Robert L. KaiserChicago Tribune staff reporterNovember 21, 2001 Amarillo, with its growing Islamic community, was a litmus test of tolerance following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. AMARILLO, Texas — During the long prayer Saturday after Iftar–the traditional dinner that breaks fasts for Muslims observing Ramadan– a boy kneeling in the little, brick mosque on […]