The Message International Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine published by ICNA. What you find in ‘The Message magazine’ is a universal publication for the whole of Muslim community. Echoing the concerns and ideas pertaining to Muslims in America, this non-profit publication is a forum for the youth searching their Islamic identity in a western land.


Editorial

Published on March 19th, 2013 | by Wendy Diaz

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Editorial: Our Collective Role in Spanish Dawah

More than 1,400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “Surely, this religion will reach the boundaries of the day and night and Allah will not spare a rural or an urban dwelling except that He would cause Islam to enter it…”(Ahmad and Ibn Hibban, classified as authentic). We are witnessing the realization of this prophecy today, as Islam continues to spread from the East to the West, including North and South America, where the number of Muslims will more than double by the year 2030, according to statistical projections.

Many of the new Muslims are Latinos who are living in the US and in Latin America. Recent studies such as the The American Mosque 2011 Report reveal that the number of Latino converts in the US has been steadily increasing since the year 2000, more so than any other racial or ethnic group. Similar trends are occurring in neighboring Mexico and further south in Central and South America, where the primary language is Spanish.

Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world, and the official language of 21 countries. With over 50 million native speakers and second-language speakers, the United States has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico. Spanish is the most studied foreign language in the US.

In the Qur’an, God says, “And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them. Then Allah misleads whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise”(Qur’an, 14:4). This points to the importance of providing educational materials about Islam in all languages. And due to the dramatically rising number of Spanish-speaking Muslim converts in the US, the need for resources in Spanish cannot be ignored.

ICNA and its WhyIslam project are among the few organizations providing services for this demographic, with Spanish-speaking operators on the 1-877-WhyIslam hotline, educational material in Spanish, Spanish sessions during the annual ICNA-MAS convention, and The Message International magazine now featuring articles in the Spanish language.

Islam is an integral part of Latino history and culture and as such, Hispanics who choose to become Muslim are merely rediscovering and embracing their past. Through our efforts, with God’s help, we can share the message with our brothers and sisters in humanity and facilitate the success of their transition.

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  • Tasneem Ataullah

    There is a good point, worth pondering, provoded in the write-up. We need to spread Islam smartly. When spanish is considered the second most spoken language in the world, it is our duty to reach out to the majority. We must avoid blind dawah, but rather work with a strategy and a strong plan.

  • Alesanchez

    In fact, the growth of Islam in Mexico is very slow. I have seen many Shahadas but very few new Muslims keep practicing Islam. There is a lot of potential, though. People in Mexico do have many misconceptions about Islam. Most of the so-called “dawah” activities are more like gatherings of friends or picnics! There are also some crooks here and there who live on “dawah” resources.

    Unfortunately, it is difficult to do anything about it, due to the fact that there is almost nobody with enough knowledge and preparation, not only of Islamic studies, but also of the adab and education that a caller to Islam (daai) should have.

    One important thing that foreign organizations can do, is finance quality Islamic educational audiovidual and written materials, especially for kids because this is the generation that is getting lost away from Islam. So far, there are no second-generation Muslims in Mexico, and this is a big problem because even though parents are converting to Islam, the kids are going away once they become adults.

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