Islam in Argentina

Islam in Argentina is represented by one of Latin America's largest Muslim minorities. Although accurate statistics on religion are not available (because the national census does not solicit religious data) the actual size of Argentina's Muslim community is estimated between 1 and 1.5% of the total population (375,000 - 525,000 people) although the number is assumed to be smaller than that because of statistical inaccuracies.

Early Muslim immigration

Though early Spanish and Portuguese explorers and immigrants to the New World were very familiar with Muslims and Islamic culture (due to 800 years of Moorish rule), it is doubtful that any Muslims were among the first wave of the largely Spanish and Italian settlers who formed the majority of the immigrant population in colonial Argentina.

The 20th century saw an influx of Arab migrants to the country, mostly from Syria and Lebanon. It is estimated that today there are upwards of 3,500,000 Argentinians of Arab descent. . The majority of these Arab immigrants were Christians and Sephardic Jews, and though accurate information is unavailable, probably less than a quarter of Arab migrants were actually Muslim. The descendants of Arab Jews are more likely to identify themselves as Jewish rather than Arab today. In any case, conversion to Catholicism, Argentina's state religion, was common amongst these early Muslim pioneers.

Among other notable Arab immigrants is the Menem family, who were of Syrian origin and Muslim themselves. Former President Carlos Menem was allowed to run for the presidency only because he converted to Catholicism, since Catholic affiliation was a constitutional requirement for the head of state at the time (this was abolished in the 1994 constitutional reform).

Recent Immigration and Conversion

More recent Muslim immigration is comprised mostly of immigrants from the South Asia. Reports of conversion to Islam amongst Argentines has grown in recent years but no accurate data exists with regard to their numbers. For example, the Argentine newspaper Clarín has reported that Muslim converts in Argentina number 900,000, but this number is not based on any verifiable data.

Today, some estimates of the Muslim population in Argentina exceed one million people, but such high numbers are thought to be based on flawed assumptions (i.e.: that all people of Middle Eastern descent are Muslims or that all Muslim immigrants and their descendants continued to practice Islam).

Islamic Institutions In Argentina

There is a prominent mosque in Buenos Aires's Calle Alberti, in the city’s center, that was built in 1989 by local Argentinian Muslims. There are also several mosques in other cities and regions throughout the country, most notably the controversial Tres Fronteras region (see discussion of Triple Frontera region below).

The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center, the largest mosque in South America, was completed in 1996 with the help of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, on a piece of land measuring 20,000 square meters. The total land area granted by the Argentinean Government measures 34,000 square meters, and was offered by President Carlos Menem following his visit to Saudi Arabia in 1992. The project cost around US $30 million, and includes a mosque, library, two schools, a park and is located in the middle class district of Palermo, Buenos Aires.

The Islamic Organization of Latin America (IOLA), headquartered in Argentina, is considered the most active organization in Latin America in promoting Islamic affiliated endeavors. The IOLA holds events to promote the unification of Muslims living in Latin America, as well as the propagation of Islam.

Terrorism

Since the Israeli Embassy attack in 1992 and the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (Spanish: Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) in 1994 there has been considerable anti-Arab sentiment among the populace, who until the tragedies saw themselves as safely outside the centers of world terrorism. The large Argentine Jewish population and many non-Jews feel that the previous government failed to bring the terrorists to justice because the local police are implicated in the affair. Most of the suspicion has been directed at Iran or Iran-backed groups, but Menem's Syrian ancestry as well as the involvement of several Arabs in corruption and even murder scandals has led to a fogging of issues.

Counter-terrorism experts in the United States claim extremist cells tied to Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida network are operating in Argentina, primarily in the Triple Frontera region bordering Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, which was described as a "haven for Islamic extremists" by the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Asa Hutchinson, in testimony before the U.S. House International Relations Committee. The suspected activities of these groups include counterfeiting U.S. currency, drug, arms and uranium smuggling, and money-laundering activities. The Washington Times reported on September 4, 2005 that police in Buenos Aires briefly detained dozens of Tablighi Jamaat Muslim missionaries acting on tips from Spanish and Italian officials investigating the March 2004 Madrid train bombings. Argentine newspapers reported that the men had been held, questioned and released.