Hispanic and Latino American Muslims
Hispanic and Latino Americans are an ethnolinguistic group of citizens of the United States with origins in Spain and Latin America.
Fathi Osman, resident scholar at the Omar Foundation, says "in their own countries Hispanics did not see the Church supporting the rights of the poor.
[5] Islam began to have a more significant influence on the Latino community in the barrios in the Northeast in the early 70s through converts being introduced to the religion in African-American mosques.
[5] The concept of liberation theology has Christian roots in the Latin American struggle for social justice in light of colonialism and oppression, but the term has also been applied in an Islamic context.
"[7] According to Palombo, “[a]ll liberation theologies emerge during struggles for socioeconomic, political, and psychological liberation from objective and subjective forms of oppression,” and “the revelatory activity of God in history demonstrates a 'preferential option for the poor' and sides against those who exert oppression and domination.”[7] Islam is seen as "refusing" the concept of separation of religion and politics of the Enlightenment, which in turn leads to the necessity for social and political activism, much like the Muslim activists of the 20th century that challenged colonialism and corruption of the government.
[citation needed] Although there are inconsistent exact numbers of conversions, many scholars and chaplains cite Islam as the fastest growing religion among the incarcerated population.
[11] Despite the benefits for Muslim converts in terms of rehabilitation, some authors[12] describe concerns about the threat of radicalization within prisons.
[16] Hispanic and Latino Muslims also include people with Middle Eastern and North African descent from Latin America.
[5] Islam in the United States has a unique context of shared self-discovery of historically marginalized groups like African Americans and Latinos, which make up a large proportion of the Muslim population in the U.S., along with Middle Eastern, African, South Asian, and Southeast Asian immigrant Muslim communities.
For example, the Five Percent Nation had some success recruiting African American and Latino youth through hip hop music.
[6] More than ten years ago Puerto Rican converts within the Five Percent Nation translated a version of the 120 Lessons to Spanish to accommodate the growing Spanish-speaking Muslim community.
Their numerous seminars have included speakers like Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Mohammed Nasim, Dr. Thomas Irving, Dr. Omar Kasule, and others.
It is now one of the most well-known Latino Muslim groups, working with other organizations inside and outside the United States, including Islamic Society of North America.
Their mission statement states that "LALMA is an organization of Latino Muslims that promotes a better understanding of Islam to the Spanish speaking community and establishes a forum of spiritual nurturing and social support to Latino Muslims, building bridges among the monotheistic community and advocating for social justice in accordance with Islamic values.
"[25] LALMA now stands for La Asociacion Latino Musulmana de America and is still based in the Los Angeles area.
Hispanic Muslim communities have grown across the United States, including in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, and California.
[5] With the common rhetoric of Islamophobia in the U.S. media, Hispanic Muslims are also concerned about the representation of Islam in broader society, especially in Spanish language outlets.
[28][5] According to Abbas Barzegar, "Future research aimed at understanding the significance of the rising role of Islam among Latinos in the United States needs to be placed along a comprehensive matrix that allows for the simultaneous analysis of a number of variables.
