THE MUSLIMS IN LATIN AMERICA
Their present and future
Problems and solutions
Praised be Allah, Creator of the universe, peace and blessings be
with the Prophet Muhammad, with his Family and with all his Companions.
Praised be He who made us noble through the Coran and illumined
our hearts with faith.
Dear brothers and sisters:
Assalamu ?Alaikum wa Rahmatullah
Introduction:
I am pleased to present this compact study on the muslims in Latin America,
begging God Allmighty will assist me to provide an image that is clear
and correct. In this study I will try, with the help of God, to expose
the problems of the Latin Islamic Community, opinions on those problems
and to propose convenient solutions, knowing the situation of the community
in this part of the world, given the fact that I am a part of it. Besides,
we mustn?t forget that there is a similitude of situations, political,
social, economic and cultural in all Latin America.
Every minority in particular goes through difficulties according to
the place of residence. There is no doubt that, for any observer, there
are common problems and obstacles for all islamic minorities everywhere.
Some of these problems are imposed by the society where they live and others
by muslims themselves. Therefore we find, in many cases, muslims far apart
from each other, weakened, without the possibility of occupying posts of
importance in politics and of making important decisions in the countries
where they live.
The problems facing muslims in Latin America in general, are similar
to the ones faced by muslims all over the world.
MUSLIMS IN LATIN AMERICA
History and immigration
Since the discovery of America by the Spaniards in the fifteenth century,
the slaves brought by the conquerors from the north and west of Africa,
introduced Islam, staying in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia
and some Caribbean islands.
The great majority of slaves were muslims, in many cases forced
to leave their religious beliefs or be executed instead. Thus, with the
passing of time, Islam started fading away in Latin American countries.
At the end of the sixteenth century, after the liberation of slaves
and the return of many of them to these lands, together with immigration
from India and Pakistan, new concentrations of muslims appeared.
According to some documents, between the years 1850 and 1860 a new
massive immigration of arab muslims to American lands took place. The majority
came from Syria and Lebannon, and stayed in countries like Argentina, Brazil,
Venezuela and Colombia. Some of these also stayed in Paraguay, together
with immigrants from Palestine, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This immigration
was very intense, and started decreasing in the ?50?s in these countries
and in the ?70?s in Colombia, with future currents taking residence in
Brazil and Venezuela.
These communities, just like in the USA, integrated themselves to national
activities, standing out for their hard work, respect and love for the
country that sheltered them.
Many of them grouped to create Islamic societies, centers, mosques,
etc in order to worship freely.
Nowadays, in all Latin American countries, there are muslim concentrations,
immigrants and natives, who adopted Islam as their new faith.
According to statistics, the number of muslims in Latin America is
over four million, serving as an example 700,000 (seven hundred thousand)
in Argentina and more than 1,500,000 (one point five million) in Brazil.
EXAMPLES OF SIMILITUDE AMONG LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES
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A great percentage of muslim residents in Latin American countries are
immigrants, another great percentage are new muslims who converted to Islam.
Nowadays these percentages are approximately 50% each.
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The similitude of Latin American countries is a very important one. On
the one hand they share the same language, except for Brazilians, speakers
of Portuguese, which does not represent a barrier as it has the same roots
as Spanish.
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Similarity of beliefs, as most of the inhabitants of the continent are
catholics.
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Similarity of political, social, economic and cultural situations.
According to the above, we can say that all studies of muslims in
any country in Latin America is useful to all other countries in the continent,
due to the similitude among its components, whether their way of life or
their Islamic work.
Here we must make one point clear: when we refer to the islamic community
in Latin America, we say that immigrants represent 50% of muslims, the
rest being new muslims of different nationalities, for example: Mexicans,
Spanish, Italians, Colombians, Argentinians, etc.
DIFFICULTIES FACED BY MUSLIMS IN LATIN AMERICA
1. Lack of knowledge of the islamic culture and religion.
2. Random practice of the religion by some. There was also a high degree
of impotence at not being able to maintain their islamic identity. This
came about because muslims themselves did not understand Islam, trying
to look and act like the societies where they live, finally imitating their
traditions, losing interest in their own rights.
3. Lack of formal teaching of the arab language.
4. Lack of economic resources.
5. Lack of religious guides who spoke Spanish, and knew the traditions
of the countries where they spread the Da?wah.
6. Lack of help for kids and adolescents.
7. Lack of a commission to administer islamic property (Uaqf).
8. Lack of islamic and arab secondary schools.
9. Lack of islamic material in Spanish.
10. Lack of coordination in the activities of islamic institutions.
11. Lack of communication among muslims in all aspects: individual,
in the family, and among institutions and organizations.
12. Lack of frequency of conferences and religious gatherings.
13. Lack of trained personnel in charge of liasing with the press.
14. Local media showing a wrong image of Islam and of muslims.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
After exposing the different problems and mentioning how muslims were
scattered or absorbed by the traditions of the countries which sheltered
them, especially in the acts of the muslims? daily life, such as marriage,
funerals, burials and others, till they lost their identity. In spite of
all this, thank God, many groups maintained their identity and did everything
possible to return to
their religious origins. These groups worked hard in order to
change that situation.
Then the problem stops being impossible to solve and not all is lost.
Today many members of the islamic community participate in islamic congresses
round the world, young muslims study at muslim universities in the arab
countries, and many others keep their islamic religion and traditions,
and wish to increase threir knowledge of it.
We can also see that the number of people embracing Islam grows day
by day.
There are many people in Latin America who are permanently looking
for new spiritual paths; we have noticed that people in these countries
feel a great void, and the lack of response of other faiths to people?s
needs.
The situation for islamic work and the development of Da?wa is a good
one at this time, not only to help the muslims from the loss they are experiencing,
but also to offer others this religion based on tolerance and faith.
In view of this situation we have gathered the islamic responsible
of 19 (nineteen) countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the year
1997 in Buenos Aires, and we have achieved -Al Hamdu Lillah- the formation
of the ?Islamic Association for Latin America?.
In these last years of hard work we have achieved:
*The edition of various books in Spanish, done by young Latin American
muslims graduated from islamic universities, for example:?Funerals in Islam?,
?The Exemplar Caliphs?, ?Prophet Muhammad?s companions (PyB)?, the translation
of ?Muslim Sahih Volumes 1 and 2?, ?Islamic Jurisprudence?, ?leaflets on
Human rights?, some on the ?Tauhid?, a web page in Spanish for all Latin
muslims (www.islamerica.org.ar)
*The first videotape entirely in Spanish ?The pillars of Islam?, an
explanatory educational C.Drom ?The Islamic library? , etc.
*Recognition of various islamic institutions from the Latin American
local authorities.
*Sending of Latin brothers to the Pilgrimage in representation of Islamic
Communities.
*The inclusion of this organization among the most important islamic
institutions in the world.
*Participation in world forums and seminars on muslims in Latin America.
*Massive distribution of all material in Spanish on Islam.
*Sending of Latin young men to study at islamic universities.
*Return of many of them to their countries of origin, with the corresponding
acknowledgement to develop the Da?wa.
*Recognition by government authorities (for example in Argentina) of
holy days for the islamic community, including the islamic new year.
*Plant the feeling of responsibility among our young people, as they
are citizens of the country where they live and enjoy all privileges and
rights, to use them to reach positions of relevance in different government
agencies and their different specializations in order to bring benefits
to the community as a whole. As an example of this we can mention the Argentine
former president, descendant of a muslim family, many governors, senators,
representatives and other positions of importance taken by muslims.
*Face the defense of the muslim community before world organizations
like the United Nations, and the human rights commission.
CONCLUSIONS
Dear brothers and sisters:
If we can elaborate and maintain a common and precise work plan which
we can execute and supervise through our islamic structures, we will be
able to go back on the situation completely. Let us not forget that there
are many people who are not muslims looking for new religious options.
Considering the situation the world is facing today, the void people feel
and the lack of someone to provide an answer to their needs are constantly
latent.
All muslims in Latin America must get together, and follow an intensive
program of conferences, meetings, studies, educational gatherings, taking
advantage of this meeting that joins us today. Once it has been evaluated
and studied, this program can reach young muslims in this part of the world
and receive a high acceptance and understanding from them.
We could also edit a newspaper for the Latin islamic community, in
our own language using our own resources.
We must incentive the community in the places where islamic societies
or centers are non-existent.
We must uphold islamic education and teaching, particularly taking
care of the younger generations, starting with a program to teach the arab
language and the principles of Islam. We must prepare our young on the
basis of the understanding of the Coran and the islamic law with their
correct meanings.
We must cooperate in the building of mosques in the places where islamic
communities suffer the lack of them.
We must publish, in all possible media, the true Islam and try to dismiss
its detraction.
We must cooperate in the creation of a fund for humanitarian help to
the old, the poor and the sick.
We must unify the attitude of all muslims in subjects like marriage,
funerals, burials, etc.
We must stimulate the feeling of responsibility in muslims, motivating
them into participating and donating according to their possibilities,
to achieve self-funding of our projects, as it is very difficult for the
islamic community to move forward counting only on outside help.
We must incentive the activities at the mosques, so that they can perform
their true roles and not only that of a place to pray and commemorate events.
Finally, I would like to thank in the name of all countries that form
the Islamic Organization for Latin America and in my name the brothers
of The Arab Union of Cuba and all the people who worked to make this possible
the Third International Symposium ?The Arab and Islamic Prescences
in America?. Allah-Subhanahu wa Ta?ala illumine the heart of all
those responsible for the spread of the Arabic and Islamic culture, for
the benefit of so many women, children, old people and families in this
part of the world, who expect fruitful decisions to arise from this meeting.
As a last prayer to Allah, Allmighty, our eternal thanks.
Wassalamu ?alaikum wa Rahmatullah
Arquitecto Muhammad Yusuf Hallar
Secretary General of the Islamic Organization for Latin America
Director of the Office of Islamic Culture- Argentina
Members of the Constituent Islamic Council of the Muslim World League
(Makka)
Member of Expert Committee on Minority Rights- Islamic Conference
(OIC)
