Latinot kääntyvät

mitään latinoja ollut!

Minä olen ymmärtänyt, että latinot ovat kovin kiinteästi katolilaisia. Ainakin Etelä-Amerikassa ja Keski-Amerikassa asuvat ovat yleensä.

‘I am doing this for God,’ one convert says

By Carmen Sesin
Reporter
NBC News
Updated: 4:15 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2005

UNION CITY, N.J. — On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, N.J., and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women.

Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops.

Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.

"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, ‘Why is she wearing that, it’s so hot.’”

But, she said, “I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing.”

And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.

“You know how guys [say], ‘Hey Mami, come over here?’ I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are still curious, but it’s much less,” she explained.

“They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body.”

Growing number of converts?

Perada is not alone as a Hispanic women converting to Islam.

The exact number of Latino Muslims is difficult to determine, because the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect information about religion. However, according to estimates conducted by national Islamic organizations such as the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) there are approximately 40,000 Latino Muslims in the United States.

Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female. But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos converting to Islam tilts slightly in favor of women — with 60 percent women to 40 percent men.

Juan Galvan, the head of LADO in Texas and the co-author of a report "Latino Muslims: The Changing Face of Islam in America," explained that those numbers are unscientific, but based on the results of a voluntary survey that has been conducted on the LADO website since 2001.

“From observation and experience those numbers are correct,” Galvan said. “From my personal experience, there are definitely more Latina Muslims than Latino men.” Galvan explained said that there “just seem to be more” Latina Muslims at the various events he attends through his work with LADO.

At the Islamic Education Center of North Hudson, 300 of the people who attend the mosque are converts, and 80 percent are Latino converts. In addition, out of the Latino converts, 60 percent are women, according to Nylka Vargas, who works at the mosque with the Educational Outreach Program.

Overall growth

Peter Awn, an Islamic studies professor at Columbia University, says there is no doubt that the number of Latinos converting to Islam is growing.

Louis Cristillo, an anthropologist who focuses on Islamic education at Columbia University, points out there are several indicators that reflect the growing trend of Latinos converting to Islam.

For example, there are a number of regional and national organizations that cater to Latino Muslims, and there are even support groups that can be found on-line specifically for Latino converts — in particular Hispanicmuslims.com, as well the LADO organization at latinodawah.org.

In fact, last weekend, Latino Muslims in this country celebrated the third annual Hispanic Muslim Day with different activities throughout the day.

For women, particular challenges

Converting to Islam can be shocking for families who are largely Catholic and harbor stereotypes of Muslims, specifically concerning women.

Perada says her mother, who is Colombian, accepted her decision to convert because she never really pushed her into Catholicism. However, her father, who is of Italian origin, has had a tough time dealing with it.

“Sometimes he says things about the way I dress,” said Perada. “He’ll say, ‘Why do you have to dress that way. I’m Christian. I don’t walk around with a cross in my hand.'

“He always complains to my mom about it, but with me he just keeps it to himself. But I know for him it is very hard,” Perada added.

Vargas, 30, from the Islamic Education Center, is of Ecuadorian and Peruvian descent. She says her family is already accustomed to the idea of her being Muslim, since it has already been ten years since she converted. But she recalls the days in which her family was dealing with the initial shock of her new faith.

“When I started being more visible, that’s when things started getting weird. My sisters couldn’t understand why I would cover myself. They thought I was being oppressed or brainwashed,” said Vargas.

She admits it was difficult at first to adjust to certain customs, such as wearing the hijab or a headscarf and having to pray five times a day.

“First it felt kind of weird to be covered, but after a while it [the headscarf] becomes your hair. I refer to my hijab as my hair.”

‘A return to traditional values’

Like other ethnic groups, Latinos convert for a variety of reasons.

Some, says Cristillo, grew up in inner-city areas ravaged by poverty, drugs and prostitution, and were attracted in part by the fact that some Islamic communities were very active in cleaning up the neighborhoods.

Vargas, meanwhile, says she questioned many things about the Catholic faith in which she was raised and felt an emptiness in Christianity.

Galvan, from LADO, pointed out that many people come to Islam through people that they know, "friends, co-workers, classmates, boyfriends or husbands.”

Professor Awn said that many Latinas find there is a greater sense of economic and social stability in Islam and that it also represents “a return to traditional values.”

In that regard, Awn does not think Islam is any more patriarchal than other traditional religions, but recognized that “the younger generation is looking for a more progressive form of Islam."

And Perada does not feel that her adherence to the Muslim faith restricts her freedoms as a woman.

“If I get married, I know I am going to work, but I am going to be there for my kids, too,” said Perada, dismissing any notions that Islam would prevent her from living the life of any other modern woman.

Carmen Sesin is an assignment editor on the NBC News Foreign Desk.

Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9352969/

By Alexandra Alter
[email protected]
The Miami Herald (Herald.com)
Posted on Wed, Oct. 05, 2005

Ask Melissa Matos why she converted to Islam, and you'll likely get an answer that spans 13 centuries. She may refer to seventh century Arabia, where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed received the Koran from the angel Gabriel. Or she might describe Islam's golden age in medieval Spain. Or she'll recall Sept. 11, 2001, when fear and curiosity drove her to read about Islam on the Internet.

Matos, who comes from a family of Seventh-day Adventists from the Dominican Republic, has answered the question countless times since converting to Islam in April. She now covers her hair, prays five times a day, and today will observe Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection, which began at sundown.

''Sometimes it does get a little difficult,'' said Matos, a 20-year-old political science student at Florida International University who lives with her parents in Miramar. "I feel alienated from my family and my old friends, but Islam is so beautiful, it's worth it. And with Ramadan, I'm just doing it by myself, just me and God.''

Though Hispanic women make up a small fraction of the nation's 6 million Muslims, those converting to Islam are exerting influence beyond their numbers, teaching Spanish-Arabic classes, forming Hispanic-Muslim organizations and distributing the Koran in Spanish.

Matos, for one, plans to organize a lecture series this semester at FIU on the religion's little-known history in Latin America, including two lectures that will be in Spanish, she said.

Some have founded support networks. Piedad, a network of Muslim women that seeks to educate Spanish-speaking communities about Islam, has more than 344 members nationally. Other groups, like the Latino American Dawah Organization , which was formed in 1997, promote the legacy of Islam in Spain and Latin America.

''It's a movement that is growing, particularly in urban areas,'' said Manuel Vasquez, a professor of religion at the University of Florida. "It's part of the cross-fertilization that's occurring among immigrant groups.''

There are some 40,000 Hispanic Muslims in the United States, according to a spokesman for the Islamic Society of North America. The largest populations live in New York, Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, American Muslim organizations say.

Jameela Ali, 26, became a Muslim seven years ago after she dreamed she was praying in a mosque filled with light. Her mother, who is from Peru, had converted to Islam several years before. Now her brother, 22, and sister, 21, have converted.

''You feel a much closer connection to God,'' said Ali, who lives in Pembroke Pines and teaches two other Hispanic Muslim women to read and write Arabic. "You give up everything of your old lifestyle -- your old clothes, you're not going to clubs, you're not drinking, you're not smoking.''

Islam's growth among Hispanic women may result from the broader Muslim outreach following the Sept. 11 attacks, said Aisha Musa, an assistant professor of religion at Florida International University.

Spanish Korans

Sofian Abdelaziz, the director of the American Muslim Association of North America in Miami, said his group often gets requests for the Koran in Spanish. In the last several years, they've given away more than 5,000 Spanish translations of the Koran to South Florida mosques and prisons, he said.

Converts and Muslim leaders are quick to note that Muslims accept Hebrew and Christian scripture as revelation, but maintain that the Prophet Mohammed provided the complete word of God. Muslims follow the Koran, the holy book revealed to Mohammed. Islam's five central tenets include professing faith in God and his prophet, Mohammed, performing daily prayers, showing charity, fasting during Ramadan and making hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holy city in Saudi Arabia.

Islam spread rapidly after Mohammed's death in the seventh century and today is one of the fastest-growing religions in North America, scholars say. Hispanic converts in urban areas say it's become easier to find like-minded communities.

''It's so great to meet other Latin people because we all know each other's backgrounds,'' said Fatima Narvaez, 30, who converted in 2002 and now studies Arabic with two other Hispanic women on the weekends.

But convincing families that conversion is the way to go hasn't always been easy.

Clashing Beliefs

''They think I've rejected my way to salvation because I don't believe Jesus Christ is the son of God,'' Matos said of her parents, who are Seventh-day Adventists.

Roraima Aisha Kanar was raised Roman Catholic by her parents, Cuban exiles who settled in Miami in 1959. Kanar, 52, considered becoming a nun before converting to Islam at age 22. Her parents, devout Catholics, didn't want their grandchildren to be raised Muslim, she said.

''It was very hard to know that my own mother didn't respect my belief,'' said Kanar, who with her husband raised their three children as Muslims.

But others have found support from their families. Narvaez, who lives with her grandparents in Davie, was worried they wouldn't understand her new dietary practices. Islam forbids pork and meat that isn't halal, or slaughtered according to Islamic law.

''With Puerto Ricans, there's pork in everything,'' said Narvaez, who works in marketing. "But they accommodate all my issues and cook halal food for me.''

Ali said she's renounced aspects of Hispanic culture that conflict with her beliefs, like cooking with wine or eating pork. But she still marks Christmas with her Peruvian family and cooks South American dishes.

''Islam is a way of life, but you don't suddenly have to start listening to Arabic music,'' said Ali. "We still keep our heritage.''

Source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12820867.htm

© 2005 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

By Greg Flakus

Voice of America (Dallas, Texas)

Over the Fourth of July weekend, several hundred American Muslims came together in Dallas, Texas for the south-central regional conference of the Islamic Society of North America. Among them were many Spanish-speaking people who have embraced Islam.

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States and Latinos represent one of the fastest-growing minorities. Increasingly, the two trends are meeting in the form of Hispanic converts to Islam.

San Antonio native Juan Galvan says the transition to Islam is made easy for many Hispanics because of historic and cultural traditions dating back to the time when Muslims ruled much of Spain.

"Islam was in Spain for over 700 years. Spanish, as we speak it today, has been highly influenced. There are over a thousand words which have Arabic roots,” says Mr. Galvan. “Muslims and Latinos have a lot of similarities. Both appreciate family, both appreciate religion and I think that is one of the reasons that a lot of Latinos are coming to Islam."

The Islamic period in Spain came to an end when Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella succeeded in driving the Muslim Moors from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492.

To this day, many Hispanic Christians maintain a negative view of Islam, which has been reinforced by images of terrorism and unrest in the predominantly Muslim Middle East.

Muslim converts try to counter that image by presenting theirs as a religion of peace and brotherhood.

Latino Muslims are encouraged by the success of Islam among African-Americans. Nearly half of all Muslims in the United States today are black, as are around 90 percent of all new converts to the religion.

Dallas resident Mustafa Carroll says Islam has spread among blacks and other minorities by the example Muslims have provided. "We are not out proselytizing and we are not asking people to do it. All we do is present the word and people take it."

One of the biggest sources of new converts to Islam is the U.S. prison system. Mustafa Carroll says Muslim brothers offer support to those inmates who want to change their lives.

"We have a very dynamic inner-prison group right now in the Dallas, Texas area, which helps a lot of inmates to come out. They start the transformation in prison and then they get help to stay out of prison once they get out."

At the Islamic Society conference, one Mexican-American man told how his conversion to Islam took him away from a life of crime. He says his faith and the support of his brother Muslims has given him a new life.

For most Latino Muslim converts the transition is generally less dramatic. Reyna Cazares converted some months after her husband and daughter. "I was undecided in accepting all of it, in accepting the part that is very difficult for us Hispanics."

One of the things that she found difficult at first was the role of the Muslim woman, but Reyna says there are advantages in this new life she has chosen.

"The woman has her rights in Islam and they are respected by the man. The man and woman cooperate in following the rules established by God."

There are no firm figures on how many Latinos have converted to Islam, although there is an estimate of around 40,000, a small number compared to the overall U.S. Latino population of more than 35 million. But Latino Muslims say they believe many more will follow in their path as they spread the word about Islam in their communities.

Source: http://author.voanews.com/english/2005-07-13-voa49.cfm