Tag: latino

My path towards Islam has taken many twists and turns throughout Latin America and here in the USA, where I finally became a Muslim. My parents are from Chile. They were political refugees exiled to Mexico because they were Socialists. In the 70s, to be a Socialist in Latin America was synonymous with being a rebel. Having political views that were left-leaning was very dangerous at that time. In 1973, a military coup d’état in Chile resulted in years of brutal political repression. My father was imprisoned and tortured before being exiled. A few months later he met my mother, who was also a Chilean political refugee. In 1976, I was born in Mexico City. My parents, my sister and I lived as a relatively happy, typical Mexican middle class family except for one thing: my parents were agnostic. To not be Catholic in Mexico was almost unthinkable.

In 1989, when democracy was reinstated in Chile, my parents decided to return. I was a 12-year-old boy. Chile is a small country, dominated by one of the most conservative churches in the world. Like in Mexico, I grew up surrounded by Catholic messages over the radio, on television, and in the streets. In my own innocent way, I always liked the idea of God, of one God, but that was not what people believed. How could a boy from an agnostic family firmly believe in God? In my house that topic was never a theme of conversation. “Religion is the opium of the masses,” my father used to say. Over the years, my desire for a spiritual connection continued to increase.

As a teenager, I was exposed to Capoeira (a Brazilian dance/martial art form) during a family vacation to Brazil. In Chile, I began taking Capoeira classes which helped to fill the void of my lacking spirituality. In 2000, I was accepted to the school of business in Chile and I studied Capoeira every day. My life became busy, “too busy” for religion.

In 2003, I met my wife, a beautiful American woman who was teaching English in Santiago, Chile. She came from a Catholic family and thus, I came closer to the religion. In 2005, I moved to the USA and in 2006 we married in a Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia. In 2008, I opened my own studio to teach different styles of martial arts, fitness and dance. That same year my first daughter, Priya, was born and in 2010 I became a home owner. In a period of only five years I had achieved the “American dream”, things that some people do not achieve in their entire life. But something was still missing.

2012 was one of the hardest times in my life. My arrogance led me to tear my patella tendon which took almost a full year to recover. That same year my second daughter, Mireya, was born. In 2013, I began my spiritual-religious search. I started investigating the Yoruba religion, Santeria, but I did not feel identified with it.

In December of 2014, I spent Christmas with my family in Chile. After Christmas dinner I went to my room to sleep, but stayed awake just sitting on my bed. Memories of my adolescence and my youth came to me and I began to cry. I cried a lot. I can’t remember for how long, maybe for five or 10 minutes, but I remember putting my knees on the floor and my arms in a supplication position. And I stayed there, asking, really asking, for God to guide me and help me to come closer to Him. After that, I turned on the TV and it was showing a program about the life of Jesus. A lot of questions came to mind like, “Is he God”? Then I googled the word “Jesus” and somehow landed on a page discussing Jesus and Islam. Then I researched the words “Islam” and “Prophet Muhammad.” By the end, I didn’t sleep until 5 or 6 am.

Around 11am, I woke up. My mother said I must have been tired because of how much I had slept. I told her then that I wanted to become a Muslim but she didn’t believe me. When I arrived in America again, I called a Muslim friend to see if he could take me to a mosque. There, I felt so much peace and harmony within myself. Then another friend, who is from Turkey, helped me to take my Shahada, the testimony of faith. I also met a Gambian brother, a student at my studio, who helped me visit different mosques and meet with some imams. By Ramadan time, I realized that I was surrounded by a nice community of brothers to help me in my journey.

My wife has been a tremendous support to me. We have been married for 10 years now. I consider myself an impulsive person and I used to get angry with her for insignificant things. But now I try to remember this hadith: “The strong person is not the good wrestler. Rather, the strong person is the one who controls himself when he is angry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 73, #135)

My name is Margarita Aguirre and I am from the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico. I was born in the midst of a practicing Catholic family. I remember that while I was in high school, I had my first encounter with Islam without realizing it. On our school’s bulletin board, they displayed a “poem” that caught my attention. I remember jotting it down in my favorite poetry journal because I loved it. At the end of the poem, it simply read: “The Qur’an.” I thought that it must have referred to a book of poetry, and so I did not think to look for any more information.

Years passed and again I came face-to-face with the Qu’ran. In my profession as a teacher, and until now, I have always been passionate about everything that has to do with history. Consequently, it was while I was reading about history that I learned about all the many world religions, including Islam. One day, I planned a lesson dealing with world religions for my students. It was during that particular class that I again found the word, “Qur’an” in the history books. Then I realized that this book was not a book of poetry, but rather a book that Muslims read, similar to the Bible for Christians.

It was a huge surprise for me, because I used to think that the Bible was God’s only book. I recall that at the end of my work day, I went home and searched for what I had written in my journal all those years ago during high school, and I found it. It was then that I wanted to know more about Islam. That was the most striking incident that occurred which sparked my search for information about Muslims and Islam. In fact I did not have a good concept about Islam but I wanted to explore and understand the religion myself, and I wanted to know why Muslims also had a holy book.

During my investigation I found an internet page with information about Islam. I really enjoyed reading the articles, and that is how I began learning. The site manager explained a lot about the religion and answered all my questions, dispelling any doubts. I would double check whatever the brother said, just to be certain, until one day I decided to download a copy of the Qur’an.

In the beginning, this Qur’an contained a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and it impressed me. I finally learned firsthand about the person who had established the Islamic teachings. When I began reading the verses of the Qur’an, my heart recognized that they were God’s words; that I was reading the very words of Allah.

I felt so moved that I could no longer resist the truth that my heart had acknowledged. This beautiful religion that has changed my life is a fountain of wellbeing and joy for the heart. God, in His divine wisdom has left us with all the knowledge we need in the Holy Qur’an and in the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. More importantly is that it was in this religion that I finally understood God’s Oneness, and I learned how to love Him alone. I felt complete and I understood so many things. Islam perfected my soul and my feelings, and all my doubts were resolved, Alhamdulillah. And as Allah tells us in the Qur’an, “This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah,” (Qur’an, 2:2).

My first Ramadan was about total surrender to God. I was very excited; it had only been two months since my conversion. I had declared my testimony of faith long distance with a Moroccan brother, because I did not know a single Muslim in Mexico. Later I searched for an Islamic community in my city, and to my surprise, I found other Muslims in Guadalajara. Until that time I had thought that I was the only one in Mexico! I was able to say the Shahada again with my Muslim sisters in the mosque. Alhamdulillah, it was a wonderful Ramadan for me, as I observed the fast, and not only did I leave food and drink during the prescribed times, but I also abstained from everything that was harmful to the soul, such as bad manners and evil actions.

I give thanks to God for having guided me to Islam as my religion and way of life, for I have never been happier, alhamdulillah.

There was an interest in me that was awakened in translating the Holy Qur’an that was not so much devoted to imitating the style of the original in Arabic or in copying the literary style of the original, but rather in transmitting in the correct and most direct way all of the meanings, both profound and spiritual, as well as describing the whole approach of it all, that I had understood when reading and studying it in its original language. –Isa García.

A Little History

When I embraced Islam and accepted it as my way of life, I was thirsty for knowledge. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the primary source of knowledge, the divine revelation: the Holy Qur’an. I knew from the beginning that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, and that this text was the original; that it had been preserved and safeguarded intact for more than 14 centuries. But since I did not know Arabic, I had to refer to the various Spanish translations that were available.

What I found disappointed me, because many times the text was confusing and incoherent. I understood that the reason for this was due to two factors. The first was that many of these translations were done by people who did not have the necessary knowledge about Islam, its message, and its history. Because of this, certain concepts were misinterpreted and erroneous. In some cases, there were premeditated attempts to discredit Islam and its holy book by altering the meanings.

Furthermore, most of the translations are too literal, imitating the Arabic style not only in the expressions used but also in the word order. The result was that the normal grammar and syntax used in the Spanish language were not utilized, resulting in confusing translations. Add to this the fact that the language used is archaic and almost foreign, in a style that is seldom used in Latin America. Also, most of these translations do not have clarifying notes regarding historical and legal contexts.

Later on, when I had the opportunity to study the Arabic language and I began accessing the meanings of the Holy Qur’an in its original language, I understood that I had lost much of the meanings and contexts through the translations I had read. It is a fact, however, that there are no translations that can approximate the beautiful narrative and the poetic rhetoric of the Qur’an, nor can any translation reproduce its eloquence or the multiple ways in which it can be recited. It is also true that the translations, some more than others, fail to convey to the reader the real essence of the Quranic message.

This awoke in me an interest in translating the Holy Qur’an that was not so much devoted to imitating the style of the original in Arabic or in copying the literary style of the original, but rather in transmitting in the correct and most direct way all of the meanings, both profound and spiritual, as well as describing the whole approach of it all, that I had understood when reading and studying it in its original language.

Alhamdulillah, I could finally embark on making a translation of the Holy Qur’an for the benefit of the Spanish-speaking world, but mostly for the benefit of Latin America. Along with a team of experts, I have tried to provide Muslims and non-Muslims with the message of Islam in the closest possible form to the original revelation in Arabic, but at the same time using language that is simple and plain, and also using explanatory notes for certain terms so that the content of the text is easy to understand.

Current Trends

While Islam still is not one of the major religions with a large number of followers in Latin America, it is growing rapidly throughout the continent. There are now mosques in all of the major cities in Latin America and conversion to Islam is also a growing phenomenon among the Hispanic populations of the United States.

The fact that the media projects a bad image of Islam and Muslims, having a translation of the Qur’an in the Spanish language that transmits its message in a direct and simple way has become urgent and of the utmost importance for two reasons:

Firstly, for those Muslims who do not know the Arabic language, they need to read the meanings of the Qur’an in their language to understand and better practice their religion. In this way, they can be good examples of what it is to be a Muslim.

Secondly, for those non-Muslims who desire to learn about Islam, they need a reliable source of information. This will let them form their own opinions based on what the Qur’an actually teaches and not on stereotypes and erroneous ideas that have lasted for centuries in many of the works by Orientalists and in some of the translations of the Qur’an.

From there, the objective of this translation is to present to Spanish-speakers the real message of the Qur’an, how it was known, understood, and practiced by the scholars of Islam and by the devout Muslims for more than 1,400 years. The translation is based on clear and simple language with a direct and contemporary message with the Latin American public in mind.

Distribution of Printed and Digital Versions

The goal of this translation is free distribution so that in this way it can be available to the maximum number of people possible.

To achieve this goal, it has been distributed in a digital version in PDF. It has been added to various programs on multiple platforms. It will soon come out in its own unique reading and audio format.

Also, many were printed for the free distribution to the public. The first edition included 50,000 pocket-sized books for free distribution during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Also, 100,000 copies were printed in Qatar to be distributed throughout the world. In Latin America, in particular, many small printings have been made in Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Spain, the distribution has begun for a project that has already printed 10,000 copies.