At left:
AT PRAYER: Melissa Matos, of the Council on American Islamic Relations, is one of a growing number of Hispanic Muslims. The population has grown 30 percent since 1999.
CANDACE BARBOT/MIAMI HERALD/AP
I noticed years ago the reports in the Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) periodical "Islamic Horizons" regarding efforts, conversion stories and fundraising efforts to continue this mission regarding attempts to convert Hispanic immigrants new to the US. Illegal or legal, the focus was on the poorer people, just as the well-funded programs in prisons tend to be. The message is simple: tell the people that they are being oppressed by problems within their own racial groups as well as by the greater "white" American society, and that Islam offers "equality" for all. I was sickened by the regular reports in "Islamic Horizons", rather akin to any cultic tactics and spread. The movement has, however, grown within the more segregated Hispanic communities in the United States. I will have to find more of my old information for a full report, but I was taken aback by this story enough to at least post on this subject.
Note in the quotes below, as with many African Americans, a desire to RETURN to the yoke of Islam that was forced on areas of Africa as well as Spain, this time as a return to "their heritage". The ultimate example of the ignorant and frequently uneducated being used by those slick Saudi funded operations. Also note how well this tactic has worked for decades in the African American community. As always, get your sick-bags ready.
From: The Christian Science Monitor:
''ORLANDO, FLA. – With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn't look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she's from, often they are surprised that it's not the Middle East but Colombia.
That's because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in modesty. "When I was in my country I never fit in the society. Here in Islam I feel like I fit with everything they believe," she says.
Garcia is one of a growing number of Hispanics across the US who have found common ground in a faith and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage. From professionals to students to homemakers, they are drawn to the Muslim faith through marriage, curiosity and a shared interest in issues such as immigration.
The population of Hispanic Muslims has increased 30 percent to some 200,000 since 1999, estimates Ali Khan, national director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago. Many attribute the trend to a growing interest in Islam since the 2001 terrorist attacks and also to a collision between two burgeoning minority groups. They note that Muslims ruled Spain centuries ago, leaving an imprint on Spanish food, music, and language.
"Many Hispanics ... who are becoming Muslim, would say they are embracing their heritage, a heritage that was denied to them in a sense," says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky.
The trend has spawned Latino Islamic organizations such as the Latino American Dawah Organization, established in 1997 by Hispanic converts in New York City. Today the organization is nationwide."
(...)
"In South Central Los Angeles, a group of Muslim UCLA students a decade ago established a medical clinic in this underserved area. Today the nonreligious University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic treats some 16,000 patients, mostly Hispanic, who see it as a safe place to seek care without fear for their illegal status, says Mansur Khan, vice chairman of the board and one of the founders."
READ IT ALL
Update
What do you know? The group mentioned, "LADO", even has a link page for ordering one of the issues of "Islamic Horizons" with a cover story on Hispanic Muslims. To think, I just read the updated reports...I never even saw this one! But then most of mine were from before 9/11, you know, back when they still had ads for all of those "charity" groups that were dismantled by the US government for funding terrorist groups. Well, these folks don't shock me. I've seen way too much of their tricks thus far.
More on this to follow.
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