Tag: whyislam

My name is Martha Patricia Garcia and I am 27 years old, a graduate of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I am currently working as a reporter for the entertainment section of a national newspaper in Mexico. I was born into a Catholic family and never had the intention of changing my religion, but alhamdulillah (all praise is due to Allah), today I am very happy to be a Muslim.

Any lingering doubts about Islam did not last very long. I searched on the internet for the answer to the question: what must one do to become a Muslim?

The first impression I had about Islam was not good because it was based on two movies that made me want to never set foot in any Islamic country, particularly Turkey where one of the stories was set. I used to make many friends on the internet and the social network, Hi5, was very popular. I became friends with a guy and after a while I realized two things: he was a Muslim and he also lived in Turkey; that did away with my misconceptions.

Before I met him, Muslims seemed to me to be backward, fanatical people. But he was not anything like that. On the contrary, he was the friendliest and most polite 19 year-old I had ever met, and he was very intelligent. But as every rule has an exception, I wanted to be sure that he was not just an anomaly. I did not want to believe that the films, newsreels, and even print media were lying. So I began searching for Muslims from other parts of the world: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, and all had the common denominator of good manners, kindness, and intelligence.

The Turkish guy and I started a long-distance relationship. He talked a lot about Islam and I liked learning, but always warned him that I would never change my religion because I was convinced about my faith. Four months later, our “courtship” ended, but I remained friends with many Muslims, who continued to explain to me their religion.
Everything was going well until in 2010, I was told that in Islam, Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) was a prophet. That offended me so much that I became obsessed with finding something that could prove that idea wrong. I went to fellow followers of Catholicism and they ignored me; then I went to a Christian forum where they spoke ill of other religions and I happened to share that Muslims were good people. The forum administrator told me: “This is a Christian forum, if you do not like it, then leave.” So I left.

By then I had been communicating with an Egyptian who offered to send me books in Spanish to better understand Islam. I accepted because I did not know at the time that there were Muslims in Mexico. I received several packages and one of the booklets seemed to be the perfect tool to “sink” the arguments of the Muslims with regards to Jesus. It was called “The True Message of Jesus.” I took the book and, since it quoted the Bible, I decided to compare the verses mentioned one by one. My Catholic faith faded a bit more with each page I read. When I finished the book I did not know if I was a Muslim, but I knew I was no longer Catholic.

Any lingering doubts about Islam did not last very long. I searched on the internet for the answer to the question: what must one do to become a Muslim? I found the shahada, the testimony of faith: “Ash hadu anna laa il?ha illa All?h, wa Ashadu anna Mu?ammadan ras?l All?h” (I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship, except Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger). My heart was stirred by the idea of pronouncing it and so I did; I did it so many times that I memorized it. From that moment onward, I would repeat it, and as a Catholic would make the sign of the cross upon himself, I would say the Islamic declaration of faith whenever something frightened me.

Shortly after I was pleasantly surprised to find a Mexican Muslim on Facebook who took me to the Educational Center of the Muslim Community in Polanco, Mexico City, and a week later I declared my shahada to the community. At first my family did not accept it, but gradually they realized that I had made a very serious decision and I would not change my mind.

An Ordinary Muslimah

One of the biggest obstacles I faced was the clothing. I tried to adjust my wardrobe to keep using clothes that were Islamically acceptable to my eyes, but not strange enough for people to consider me “weird”. The battles were tougher in the beginning when I would leave the house without hijab (the Islamic head-covering) and try to “play super hero” by looking for somewhere to cover myself before going to the mosque, or to remove the hijab before returning home. I disliked the idea of being questioned, especially by my neighbor across the street, who was also my “godmother” for my first communion.

One day on a work assignment, I visited the hotel where the musical band, U2, was staying while on tour in Mexico City. As a journalist, I write for the entertainment section of the paper and often cover such stories. That day I dared to wear the hijab and when I asked a police officer for information about the fans surrounding the hotel, he looked at me in a derogatory manner because of the hijab and said “I cannot give that information.” This situation made my heart uneasy, but politely and firmly I asked “Am I being discriminated against?” while I pointed to my hijab. Another policeman who witnessed the scene from afar came and answered my questions politely.

That incident put doubts on my intention to wear the hijab regularly; I was terrified of being discriminated against. Little by little I started inventing more excuses not to cover my hair despite having the desire to do so. During this period, my clothing began to transform into long shirts and blouses, and pants a little less tight. At last, this Ramadan, alhamdulillah, I began to wear the hijab every day and nothing negative has happened. People glance at me with a bit of curiosity, but no one has been rude.

There are still days when I feel so strange that the thought of taking off my hijab crosses my mind, but then I remember that no matter how weird or unappealing my attire may seem to others, I have decided to do what pleases God. I will never give up my hijab! Another major battle I faced was the reaction of my family and friends. It took a while for them to get used to the idea that I do not drink and that I am no longer interested in partying. I cannot say I lost my friends because I know they are still there, although I do not see them as often. I would much rather say that I have found many new brothers and sisters.

On June 26, 2012, as Nahela Morales-Essouiri stepped off her plane and she and her son Andrew walked through the arrival gates in Mexico City, she was unsure of what to expect from the place she once called home. Visiting her country for only the second time as a Muslim woman wearing hijab, Morales was on a special mission.

Visiting her country for only the second time as a Muslim woman wearing hijab, Morales was on a special mission.  She was unsure of what to expect from the place she once called home

Morales, like other immigrant Latinos in the US who have accepted Islam, was eager to introduce Islam to her family members in her native country and dispel common stereotypes and misconceptions. She had also volunteered to take essential Islamic materials and monetary donations to the emerging Muslim community in Mexico City. Her journey began at 3 a.m. in her home in Union City, New Jersey where she prepared to go to Newark Airport to board the 6 a.m. connecting flight to Detroit, Michigan which would take her to her destination.

Prior arrangements were made with the religious leader of the Islamic Center, Al-Hikmah, in Mexico City to pick up the seven extra bags Morales had packed with educational materials and clothing donated by Muslims in the US, especially for this trip. She met Imam Isa Rojas and his wife, Moserratt Pimentel, for the first time in the airport and presented them with the luggage loaded with the Islamic provisions. She was then greeted by family members who drove her to her grandparents’ home, where she would be staying during her three week vacation.

The following day after performing her morning prayer in her guest room, she recalls, “I sat there for a while crying, reflecting on every aspect of my journey the previous day… the struggle to get everything on and off a cart at the airport while people stared and still being able to smile at them as our Prophet [Muhammad] told us, making sure that the missing luggage would get there on time, hearing people whispering, ‘wow, she speaks perfect Spanish,’ and the hundreds of stares… that was all super easy.”The hard part, according to Morales, was her family’s immediate response to her attire.“My grandmother saying she does not want to see me with ‘that thing on my head because they don’t wear that here’ the night before in front of the cousin who had physically attacked me a few years back because of the hijab [Islamic head covering]was not [easy].”

Her 103-year-old grandmother’s comment brought back bitter memories for Morales, who had received criticism four years prior for embracing the Muslim faith which obliged her to pray five times daily and don a headscarf and flowing garments to cover her shape. Although Morales was raised for years in her grandparents’ home in Cuernavaca, Morelos, she was now a stranger in her homeland because she is Muslim.

In 1979, Morales’ mother took the risk of entering the US illegally and alone, leaving her infant daughter behind in Mexico under her grandmother’s care, to search for a better way of life. When Morales was 5-years-old, she was finally reunited with her mother who had settled in Los Angeles, California. After the Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed in 1986, the family was able to apply for amnesty and obtain US citizenship.

Even as a US citizen, however, Morales still felt like a foreigner. At the age of 12, she revisited the land that gave her the most memorable years of her life, and she continued to visit often thereafter, even after moving to the East Coast in 2001.

One of the highlights of the trip, according to Morales, was having the chance to pose side-by-side for a photo with a Mexican nun, a wonderful way to show that modesty is an integral part of both Catholicism and Islam

However, this most recent visit was unlike any other. “I promised myself that I was there with a purpose and was going to carry it out no matter what,” Morales said. “The purpose was to show my family that my faith was here to stay, not a trend or phase like some thought, but very strong, true, firm, and most importantly, that I was only there to convey the message, and not to convert anyone.” As an Administrative Assistant and National Spanish Dawah Coordinator for WhyIslam, a project of the Islamic Circle of North America, Morales was more than prepared.

One of her daily tasks in the WhyIslam office in Somerset, New Jersey, is to take calls from the 1-877-WhyIslam hotline, where people of all faiths in the US and Canada are encouraged to call to ask questions about Islam. The project advertises all over the nation, online, through mailings, and billboards inviting Americans to get answers. Such projects are unheard of, or perhaps only in the very beginning stages in Mexico; but Morales hopes to change that.

Last year, when Morales began to plan her trip to Mexico to visit relatives, she called the mosque near her home. During her conversation with Imam Rojas, she learned about the resources that were lacking at the Al-Hikmah Islamic Center. She then spoke with friends and colleagues and formed an online network called “United for Dawah in Mexico/Unidos para Dawah en México.” Along with WhyIslam, seven other Islamic organizations volunteered to assist Morales on her trip and provided numerous resources including Islamic clothing for the new converts in Mexico City, pamphlets and audio CD’s about Islam, Islamic children’s books, and toiletries.

This was an unprecedented collaboration of Islamic organizations in the US with the aim of assisting a growing Muslim community in Latin America. With Hispanic converts to Islam on the rise in the US since 9/11 —according to statistics in The American Mosque Report 2011 —many of these new converts, like Morales, are becoming involved in Islamic propagation and reaching out to their families back home.

Tanya Cantu, a Spanish convert and mother of four living in San Antonio, Texas, is the founder of Muslimahs [female Muslims] Covered With Care (MCWC), one of the organizations which joined “United for Dawah in Mexico.” MCWC specializes in providing Muslim converts around the world with modest attire. They provide monetary and clothing donations and have distributors in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Through MCWC, Cantu wishes to reach out to new converts to comfort them during a time, she knows, they are at their most vulnerable. She relates, “When I converted to Islam from Catholicism, my family accused me of rejecting our culture because of their misconceptions about Islam.” Cantu remembers receiving her first Islamic dress from a Muslim friend after her conversion in June 2006, during the month of Ramadan, a gesture which inspired her work.

After hearing about Morales’ trip to Mexico, she was immediately on board, “We have been working together on a few projects and early this year, Sister Nahela shared with me the news about going to Mexico to visit her family. We discussed her huge desire to provide the Masjid Centro Al-Hikmah with much needed items. This was one of our many goals; to visit remote countries where the demand [for Islamic attire]is high. It was a great opportunity for MCWC to reach out and assist the Muslim women in Mexico.”
Some of the other organizations that contributed material were Islam in Spanish, Hablamos Islam Niños (We Speak Islam, Kids), Radio Islámico (Islamic Radio), and NHIEC, who raised $1000 for the Hikmah Center and presented them with a plaque commemorating their dawah efforts in Mexico.

In addition to bringing the donations and Islamic educational materials for the Islamic Center, Morales spent time with Imam Isa Rojas and community members, offered the female worshippers classes on Islamic hygiene, provided advice to the Muslim women on various issues, and participated in an educational expo in the capital to diffuse negative stereotypes about Islam. Morales also encouraged the members of the mosque to set up an outreach committee. She felt her involvement within the safe haven of the small Mexican Islamic community was successful, but dealing with her own family was the bigger challenge.

Eventually, however, during her three week stay, things began to change. Her uncle surprised her when he confessed that he had purchased a Quran weeks before her visit, and other relatives began asking her about Islam.“Within a few days of my stay, I felt everyone was more at ease and questions began to flow from every direction. The questions never stopped or maybe it felt that way because I was always stuck in a conversation to clear up as many misconceptions as they had.” The cousin who had insulted her a few years previously and ripped off her hijab, now bought her some scarves as gifts. And when her 8-year-old niece tried Morales’ head covering on out of curiosity, family members smiled and said she “looked beautiful.”

The opportunities to talk about Islam did not stop at her family’s home. While sight-seeing in Mexico, Morales was also approached by strangers who wanted to learn about Islam. “I did notice when I flashed a huge smile, the women’s faces would light up and they would admire my attire by pointing at it or they would come to me and in their limited English they would tell me ‘muy beautiful’ [very beautiful].” She carried WhyIslam brochures and educational Islamic CD’s in Spanish to hand out to anyone who was curious. One of the highlights of the trip, according to Morales, was having the chance to pose side-by-side for a photo with a Mexican nun, a wonderful way to show that modesty is an integral part of both Catholicism and Islam. The photo went viral after Morales posted it on Facebook and she hopes that it will serve as a reminder of what Muslims and Latinos have in common.

Since returning to the US, Morales continues to collaborate with the community in Mexico and Islamic organizations like MCWC, to facilitate dawah and the distribution of resources to Muslims in Mexico.

Deep in the heart of Alabama, in the city of Mobile, rests a small mosque called Masjid AsSalaam, which means “Mosque of the Peace.” The imam of the mosque, Imam Yusef Maisonet, is a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican convert. Imam Yusef, who was raised both in New York and Puerto Rico, is 61 years old and has been Muslim for 45 years. He was exposed to Islam in his teens through an Arab Muslim who introduced him to the Quran and Islamic manners.

Imam Yusef’s rich background makes him a unique and well-rounded religious leader in his community. He explains, “I am a retired Merchant Seaman of 30 years, and have traveled through most of the world, made the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)three times, been to the city of Medina three times, and also visited all of Palestine, including Jerusalem. I studied Islam in the UAE and also went to Al-Azhar University in Cairo for an intensive course in May 2012.”

Imam Yusef works closely with the other Islamic centers and religious groups in Mobile, arranges educational and cultural exchange programs and visits to the Middle East and Puerto Rico, lectures, and is active in online activities that promote outreach and understanding. He is also a Muslim Chaplain at one of the most notorious prisons in America, Atmore Prison.

From Alabama to Al-Azhar

In May 2012, Imam Yusef was selected to attend a thirty-day intensive dawah course for Latinos at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. The program, which was sponsored by generous donors in Egypt, was designed to teach the 23students from Spanish-speaking countries or backgrounds how to effectively propagate a peaceful and moderate message of Islam. “The curriculum was put together by people who are educators and put a lot of thought into how they could get the message of moderation across to us as students and future preachers of Islam,” Imam Yusef describes.

During their long days which began at 3 a.m. with Fajr prayer, they studied Qur’an and tajweed, Arabic, hadith sciences, the various schools of thought, or religious jurisprudence (fiqh), human rights, Islamic history, and Islamic economics. Now that Imam Yusef is back home in Mobile, he is putting his knowledge into full practice.

Masjid AsSalaam offers classes on tajweed, marriage in Islam, “Riyadh us-Saliheen” (“The Gardens of the Righteous”, a classical work by Imam Al-Nawawi), and salat (prayer). They also offer once a week to substance abusers the “12 Step Islamic Program of Recovery from Alcohol, Cocaine, and Other Drugs.”