Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups within Islam in America. Now about 8 percent of all Muslim Americans adults are Latino, increasing by about a third from 2011.

About 8 percent of all Muslim Americans adults are Latino, according to a 2017 report from the Pew Research Center, increasing by about a third from 2011.

In 2009, only 1 percent of Muslims identified as Hispanic, the institute said. “That’s a 700 percent growth in less than 10 years, and no other group has grown at this rate,” Dalia Mogahed, the institute’s director of research, wrote in an email.

Their backgrounds are diverse. About 56 percent converted from Catholicism and the rest from Protestant faiths or secular or atheist lives, according to the “Latino Muslims in the United States” report. But their conversion often is not easy, as they break ties with family and their Christian upbringing, North Jersey told.

Islam emphasizes a personal and direct connection with God

In interviews, Latino converts said they are drawn to Islam because of the intense devotion to God, a simplicity in faith and a focus on community that they failed to find in their former faith. About 94 percent of Latino Muslims cited the desire for a more direct, personal experience of God as a reason for converting, in a survey of 560 converts reported in “Latino Muslims in the United States,” a 2017 report in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion.

The reasons most people who convert give as to why they are attracted to Islam are that Islam emphasizes a personal and direct connection with God, without the interference of an institution or clergy.

Latino Muslims said that their journeys to Islam is a collection of stories about people’s personal journeys to the truth. It is about their struggles, discoveries and revelations during this journey, and about finally finding their peace within Islam, and often their stories are left unheard.

Islam is part of their heritage

Latino Muslim groups say Islam is, in fact, part of their heritage. They say they are returning to their roots because of the nearly 800-year Moorish rule of Spain that left an Islamic influence on Hispanic language and culture. “We’re choosing to embrace something that’s already there,” said Morales, who wrote the 2018 book “Latino and Muslim in America: Race, Religion, and the Making of a New Minority.”

“Islam is not as foreign as others think,” said Imam Isa Parada, leader of a Houston mosque where sermons are in Spanish, Inquirer mentioned.

The glorious past of Spain under the Muslims is an inescapable part of the Hispanic DNA.

Islam is not just a religion but a complete form of life

For many reverts, Islam is not just a religion but a complete form of life. They find Islam easy, logical, authentic and true unlike Christianity. Due to peace and uniqueness in Islam they saw it as proper religion which can bring stability into their disturbed life, mvslimfeed told.

Islam has raised the status of women

More number of Latina women are converting to Islam than men. The reason is simple; Islam has given men and women equal rights unlike the male dominated Catholic churches which forbids women priests, birth control and divorce. Further, Islam has raised the status of women up to the extent that the “Paradise is beneath her foot for her sons. As a daughter, she is the key of paradise for her father, As a wife, she is the Queen of House, and a best friend and guide for her brothers.”

Islam has given them dignity, respect and a unique identity of Muslim women with hijab.

Culture Affinity to the Muslim Culture

Latinos and Muslims highly values the extended family and offerings such as hospitality to strangers. In fact, Latinos are most amazing people having good nature. There are many similarities between both cultures. For some of the Latino reverting to Islam is something as they found their old traditions, customs and cultures that were kept hidden from them. It is like a discovery to their past.

Latinos and Muslims alike feel targeted by Trump’s rhetoric

They are also choosing the faith at a time when Latinos and Muslims alike feel targeted by President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and his increasingly restrictive immigration policies for both groups. The 2016 election cycle, marked by a rise in hate speech and bias crimes against Latinos and Muslims, led to even closer ties as the groups mobilized around issues like immigration and discrimination.

“One can theorize for years about the reasons a group of people may be embracing a new religion, but if that same group of people is given the platform to speak and present their stories, it is so much stronger and impactful,”Aaron Siebert-Llera writes in “A Book About Our Journeys to Islam”.

Source: en.shafaqna.com