By Marina JiménezNational PostJanuary 19, 2002 CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Like all Americans, Debra Portmann felt overcome with grief after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and mourned for the slaughter of her countrymen. But she also felt something else: a lingering sadness for Islam itself, a faith she felt had been grossly abused by the terrorists […]
Category: Misc
Ramadan in Mexico
By Mudar AbdulghaniIslamOnlineNovember 23, 2002 MEXICO CITY, November 23,2002 (IslamOnline) – Muslims in Mexico started observing the holy month of Ramadan on November 6. Some Muslims determined the date based on information received from Islamic countries, while others used information received from adjacent countries, mainly the USA. The moon sighting information from abroad concurred with […]
Islam taking root in southern Mexico
By Dudley AlthausHouston ChronicleJune 22, 2002 SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — In recent years, Agustin Gomez Mendez and other Maya Indians in far southern Mexico have taken yet one more sharp turn in a long quest for redemption, deciding that Jesus Christ isn’t their personal savior after all. “There is no God but […]
Radical Islam Takes Root in Chiapas
By Jan McGirkFeatureWell.comApril 2002 New Age Spanish sufis launch a counter-conquest and preach anti-globalist jihad to Mexican Mayas. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, MEXICO– Forget the Inquisition, the bloody conquest of the New World, and the expulsion of Moors from Spain 510 years ago. In a volatile corner of southern Mexico, history is being […]
Spanish Muslim mission grows in Mexico
Links to Mayan, Moorish roots survive centuries of oppression Susan FerrissCox Washington BureauAugust 12, 2002 San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico — Every weekday morning, children at an Islamic school in this city sit cross-legged at low desks and rock in time as they recite the Quran in Arabic. The older girls’ heads are wrapped […]
Islam in Cuba
Sheikh Muhammad Al-AboudyDiscourse HavanaSafar 5/May 9 Sheikh Muhammad bin Nassir Al-Aboudy, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL), has expressed the hope that the government of Cuba would respond positively to a request for the establishment of an Islamic organization that would take care of the affairs of Cuba’s Muslim community. Among […]
A Spanish bridge to Islam
By Sara B. MillerThe Christian Science MonitorOctober 02, 2002 Spain’s Muslim converts reach out to Moroccan immigrant women and children. MADRID – As a teenager, Elena Rodriguez Arteaga visited the Alhambra, Granada’s great Moorish citadel, and became intrigued with Spain’s Muslim past. She studied its role in her overwhelmingly Catholic country, and the more she […]
Islam Is Also an Alternative for Latinos in the United States
By Anna CuencaAssociated PressDecember 28, 2001 Posted Monday December 31, 2001 LOS ANGELES — Latinos who don’t drink, eat pork or even dance might feel out of step with their families or with other Latin Americans. Just the same, about 40,000 Latinos living in the United States find that Islam meets other needs and provides […]
Latino Muslims Balance 2 Cultures
By Teresa PuenteThe Chicago TribuneDecember 22, 2001 Converts face cultural challenges from family andfriends while staying true to their newfound faith As he has for many years, Ricardo “Rashid” Pena will join his family for Christmas Eve dinner. He will eat the turkey, and Puerto Rican rice without sausage, but he will skip one of […]
Alleged ‘Dirty Bomber’ and I Would Have Been Prison Buddies
By Joe LoyaPacific News ServiceJune 13, 2002 For PNS contributor and ex-con Joe Loya, “dirty bomb” suspect Abdullah al Muhajir — a Latino who converted to Islam after release from prison — is familiar. Loya met and used to sympathize with many Latino Muslims during his incarceration, and he explains what a Brooklyn-born former gang […]