Latinos converting to Islam
1:50 PM Thu, Mar 13, 2008 | Permalink
Pilar Conci, a master's candidate at Columbia University Graduate School
of Journalism.in New
York City, has a story about American Hispanics who have converted
(usually from Catholicism)
to Islam. One Muslim advocacy group estimates the number of Latino Muslims
in the United States
at 200,000.
LATINA CONVERTS LOOK FOR ANSWERS IN ISLAM
By PILAR CONCI
2008 Columbia News Service
NEW YORK -- When Beatriz Kehdy was growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she
felt uncomfortable with
the standards of beauty that she says were a part of the culture in which
she was raised. An
emphasis on external beauty and the body, she says, became increasingly
foreign to her own
personal values.
Kehdy moved to New York City almost 10 years ago and eventually discovered
a sense of place in
Islam and in the hijab, or headscarf worn by women in the faith.
"When I wear the hijab, I feel more respected, people talk to me with
respect," she said.
The now 27-year-old architect converted from Catholicism to Islam four
years ago, but didn't
tell her family until a few years later, in a letter.
"When I started wearing the hijab, there was a problem," she said. "My
father didn't want me to
wear it in public in Brazil."
Kehdy is one of many Latin American women in the U.S. who have embraced
the Islamic faith. The
American Muslim Council, based in Chicago, estimates that there are more
than 200,000 Latino
Muslims in the United States. Women make up 60 percent of conversions to
Islam, according to
experts.
Mosques around the country have begun to offer special cl***** where women
converts can learn
about Islam. The North Hudson Islamic Educational Center, in Union City,
N.J., offers both
English and Spanish Language cl*****. Mariam Abassi, vice president of the
Da'wah (outreach)
program at the center, said about 500 members of the center are Latino
converts. There are
between 4,000 and 5,000 members in total.
Many Latinas choose to accept Islam because they marry Muslims. Others
convert when they're
single, often because they feel unfulfilled by the religion in which they
were raised. For a
large number of Latinas, that faith is Catholicism.
"Some of them really have doubt about the Trinity," a central belief in
Catholicism that says
God exists in three beings, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; said Chernor
Sa'ad Jallah,
assistant Imam at the Islamic Cultural Center, in East Harlem, the largest
mosque in New York
City. "They find it really confusing," In his community of about 1,500
people, between 10 and
15 percent are Latinos. Some said they were uncomfortable making
confessions to a priest and
feeling as though they had no direct relation****p with God.
"I was raised as a Catholic but I didn't like it. I felt this emptiness,"
said Mayeline
Turbides, a 21-year-old Dominican student who lives in West New York,
N.J." I was never
convinced." She took the name Leila after she became a Muslim.
Before discovering Islam, Turbides had explored evangelical Christianity
and Mormonism, which
failed to draw her in. About two years ago, her Muslim boss started
talking to her about Islam.
"I used to go out, to drink. I got drunk 500 times," Turbides said in
Spanish. "But nothing
made sense. I wanted rules."
When it comes to assimilating to a new faith, Islam appeals to Catholic
Latinas for several
reasons. "There are many similarities between Catholicism and Islam," said
Ibrahim Hooper,
Communications Director and spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, based in
Wa****ngton, D.C. "Both have principles that need to be followed, regarding
how you conduct
yourself as person, how you operate in a community."
Others find a new religion to be an escape from the confines of machismo,
or chauvinism.
"I feel more protected," Turbides said. "Men used to shout things at me
when I was walking down
the street. They would honk their horns. When I wear the hijab, nobody
says anything."
For New Yorker Yuri Lara, the 23-year-old daughter of Ecuadorian
immigrants, understanding the
role of women in Islam, and dispelling what she considers to be
stereotypes, was one of her
biggest concerns when she was studying the religion. "We have rights, we
have a voice, it's all
in the Quran," said Lara, who studied psychology at SUNY Albany.
But for many Latina converts to Islam, conversion brings with it the
challenge of gaining
acceptance from their own families and other non-Muslims, a process that
takes time.
"At first my family was unhappy," said Demaris Tapanes, 32, who was born
and raised in Union
City, N.J., to a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father. "'Why do you have
to cover?"' she said
of her family's objection to the hijab.
"One of my brothers told me he didn't want me to cover because after 9/11,
people resented
Muslims," she said "He was concerned for my security."
Wearing the hijab presents other challenges, as Turbides found out when
she wore the head
covering to the grocery store where she works. "People would ignore me,"
Turbides said. "My
boss is a Muslim, but they're nice to him because he is an Arab. Since I
am Latina, they tell
me that I'm pulling away from my religion. I felt very bad that day."
Despite the obstacles they face to practice their adopted faith, many
women converts say Islam
changed their lives.
"I'm a better version of myself now," said Lara. "I'm closer to my family
than I ever was. I
think more about others, as opposed to me, me, me. I think about what I'm
going to eat before I
take the last bite left."
Estela Ramon, who attends the class at the North Hudson Islamic
Educational Center, in Union
City, became interested in Islam after her husband, Delfino, who was born
in Mexico, converted
to Islam four years ago. "At first I asked him if he was crazy," said
Ramon, who is also from
Mexico and was raised a Catholic.
Ramon, 34, says that her husband changed for the better when he turned to
Islam. "He used to
drink and get angry," she said. "Now he is more confident in himself, he
is more responsible.
And he doesn't drink anymore."
Ramon is reading a Spanish translation of the Quran and is thinking of
converting too. Although
she says she is drawn to the lifestyle that Islam proscribes, Ramon says
she is not ready to
accept the faith. "My time to say yes has not come," she said. "When God
wants me to, I will
accept it."
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/03/latinos-converting-to-islam.html
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