Hispanic and Latino American Muslims

Latino Muslims are Latin Americans whose religion is Islam. In countries such as the United States, where due to a historical misunderstanding regarding to the real meaning of the words Hispanic and Latino, these terms may be confused, Latino Muslims may also be called Hispanic Muslims. Note that this does not happen in the rest of the World.

Spain

Also, note that the Moors, the North African Muslims who invaded Hispania (modern-day Spain and Portugal) in the 8th century, were kicked by the Christians in the 15th century, after the Reconquista. Therefore, despite the claims of some Latino Muslims trying to trace their Islamic roots back to the Moors, the modern-day Latinos have converted to Islam as a personal choice, and therefore they have no relation to the original Muslim inhabitants from Hispania, whose heirs are the peoples that nowadays live in North Africa.

Statistics

Many Latino Muslims live in various cities within the United States, their numbers estimated to be from between 70,000 and 200,000. Since the United States Census Bureau does not provide statistics on religion, thus statistics are scarce and wide ranging. Some estimates say there are between 15,000 to 50,000 Hispanic Muslims in the United States. According to the Islamic Society of North America there are 40,000 Hispanic Muslims in the Unites States. The majority of Hispanic converts to Islam are women.

Organizations

Various Latino Muslim organizations exist including the Latino American Dawah Organization and Alianza Islamica.

See also

• Islam in the United States
• Islam in South America
• Islam in Mexico
• Islam in Spain
• Al-Andalus
• Black Muslims

External links

• HispanicMuslims.com
• Latino American Dawah Organization
• Statistics about Islam in Spain