Islam by country |
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Islamportal |
Mexico is a predominantly Christian country, with adherents of Islam representing a small minority. Due to the secular nature of the state established by Mexico's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country. The country has a population of around 126 million as of 2020 census and according to the Pew Research Center, the Muslim population was 60,000 in 1980, 111,000 in 2010, and is predicted to be 126,000 in 2030; [1] however, according to the 2010 National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) census, there were only 2,500 individuals who identified Islam as their religion. [2] Most Muslims are foreign nationals and the majority are Sunni. [3] [4]
Today, most Mexican Islamic organizations focus on grassroots missionary activities, which are most effective at the community level.
The Centro Cultural Islámico de México (CCIM), a Sunni organization headed by Omar Weston, a British-born Mexican convert to Islam, has been active in several big cities in northern and central Mexico. In the state of Morelos, the CCIM has built a prayer hall and centre for recreation, learning and conferences, called Dar as Salaam, which also operates Hotel Oasis, a hotel that offers halal holidays for Muslim travellers and accommodation for non-Muslims sympathetic to Islam. This group was the subject of a study carried out by British anthropologist Mark Lindley-Highfield of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. Apart from CCIM there is a branch of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order in Mexico City which is often at odds with the traditionalist Muslim community and is headed by two women, Shaykha Fatima Fariha and Shaykha Amina Teslima.
There is also a small Salafi organization (the Centro Salafi de México) led by Muhammad Abdullah Ruiz (a former deputy to Weston) and an educational centre managed mainly by Muslims from Egypt and the Middle East, el "Centro Educativo de la Comunidad Musulmana en México" (run by Said Louahabi),and centro al hikmah run by Isa Rojas a Mexican convert to Islam, who studied Islamic studies in the University of Medina, within the capital city. [5] At first, the CCIM which headed by Muhammad Ruiz were closed, until it reopened in 1998 due to support from Saudi Arabia embassy, then from 2011 book which contained the claim by Muhammad Ruiz, he claimed that the active members in Mexico city are around 200 members, which half of it are Mexican converts. [6] This number does not included the Sufis, Muslims from other organizations, and non practitioners. [6]
Muhammad Ruiz Al Meksiki, general director of the Salafi Center of Mexico (CSM), estimates that in 2015, there are about 10,000 Muslims in Mexico. [7]
Islam represents less than 0.01% of the population. [8]
Federal Entity | Muslim Population (2010 [update] ) |
---|---|
Mexico (whole country) | 2,000 |
Aguascalientes | 32 |
Baja California | 190 |
Baja California Sur | 20 |
Campeche | 32 |
Coahuila | 70 |
Colima | 16 |
Chiapas | 650 |
Chihuahua | 78 |
Durango | 34 |
Guanajuato | 100 |
Guerrero | 26 |
Hidalgo | 38 |
Jalisco | 202 |
México (state) | 117 |
Michoacán | 200 |
Morelos | 98 |
Nayarit | 15 |
Nuevo León | 126 |
Oaxaca | 758 |
Puebla | 106 |
Querétaro | 100 |
Quintana Roo | 142 |
San Luis Potosí | 56 |
Sinaloa | 200 |
Sonora | 45 |
Tabasco | 13 |
Tamaulipas | 63 |
Tlaxcala | 19 |
Veracruz | 86 |
Yucatán | 43 |
Zacatecas | 13 |
Mexico City | 500 |
Islam has been present in Mexico since the mid-1950s due to mass Spaniard and Arab settlement. The Spanish Murabitun community, the Comunidad Islámica en España, based in Granada in Spain, and one of its missionaries, Muhammad Nafia (formerly Aureliano Pérez), now emir of the Comunidad Islámica en México, arrived in the state of Chiapas shortly after the Zapatista uprising and established a commune in the city of San Cristóbal. The group, characterized as anti-capitalistic, entered an ideological pact with the socialist Zapatistas group. [9] President Vicente Fox voiced concerns about the influence of the fundamentalism and possible connections to the Zapatistas and the Basque terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), but it appeared that most converts had no interest in political extremism. [9] By 1994, many indigenous Mayans and more than 700 [10] Tzotzils have converted to Islam. [11] In San Cristóbal, the Murabitun established a pizzeria, a carpentry workshop [12] and a Quranic school (madrasa) where children learned Arabic and prayed five times a day in the backroom of a residential building, and women in head scarves have become a common sight. [9] Nowadays, most of the Mayan Muslims have left the Murabitun and established ties with the CCIM, now following the orthodox Sunni school of Islam. They built the Al-Kausar Mosque in San Cristobal de las Casas. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Native Mexicans today are non-Muslims.[ citation needed ]
This is a list of some but by no means all mosques and Islamic meeting centers in Mexico.
In Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, a fountain, known locally as "La Corona" or "La Pila" was built to provide the population with water. This architectural work was built in annealed brick with a strong Mudejar influence. [14] It was built by the Spanish Dominican friars during the Colonial era in the sixteenth century. [15]
The Morisco Kiosk (Moorish Kiosk) in Colonia Santa María la Ribera was made by José Ramón Ibarrola for the Universal Exhibition of New Orleans from 1884-1885, in the neo-Mudejar style that was prevailing in Spain in the 19th century. [16] [17]
Fitra Ismu Kusumo, Indonesian artist living in Mexico.
Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities as of September 2017 and its capital and largest city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Other important population centers in Chiapas include Ocosingo, Tapachula, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, and Arriaga. Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico, and it borders the states of Oaxaca to the west, Veracruz to the northwest, and Tabasco to the north, and the Petén, Quiché, Huehuetenango, and San Marcos departments of Guatemala to the east and southeast. Chiapas has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the southwest.
San Cristóbal de las Casas, also known by its native Tzotzil name, Jovel, is a town and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was the capital of the state until 1892, and is still considered the cultural capital of Chiapas.
Chiapas is a state in Southwest Mexico. According to the 2020 Mexican census, it has the eighth largest population of all states with 5,543,828 inhabitants and the 10th largest by land area spanning 73,560.47 square kilometres (28,401.86 sq mi). Chiapas is officially divided into 124 municipalities, although the establishment of municipal authorities in Belisario Domínguez was suspended in 2015 pending the resolution of a territorial dispute between Chiapas and the neighbouring state of Oaxaca. In 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court resolved this dispute in Oaxaca's favour, and annulled the 2011 decree that had created Belisario Domínguez.
The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, officially known by its ecclesiastical name of Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and located in the Spanish region of Andalusia. Due to its status as a former mosque, it is also known as the Mezquita and as the Great Mosque of Córdoba.
El Salvador is a predominantly Christian country, with adherents Islam being a minuscule minority. Due to the secular nature of the country's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country.
Venezuela is a predominantly Christian country, with Islam being a minority religion. There are approximately 100,000 Muslims in Venezuela which make up 0.4 percent of the nation's population. Venezuela has a small but influential Muslim population. Many of them are Arabs of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian and Turkish descent.
Honduras is a predominantly Christian country, with Islam being a small minority religion. Due to secular nature of the country's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country. The statistics for Islam in Honduras estimate a total Muslim population of 11,000 representing 0.1 percent of the population.
Chile is a predominantly Christian country, with adherents of Islam being a minuscule minority. Due to the secular nature of Chile's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country. The statistics for Islam in Chile estimate a total Muslim population of approximately 5,000, representing less than 0.02% of the population. There are a number of Islamic organizations in Chile, including the Muslim Society of Chile and As-Salam Mosque in Santiago, Bilal Mosque in Iquique, the Mohammed VI Cultural Center in Coquimbo, and Islamic Foundation of Chile in Santiago.
Almoloya de Juárez is a town in the State of Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Almoloya de Juárez. The name Almoloya comes from the Nahuatl, that is properly Almoloyan, composed of: atl, "water"; molo "impersonal voice of moloni, to flow the source" and yan, "place"; that it means "place where flows the water source".
The Albaicín, also known as Albayzín, is a district of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is centered around a hill on the north side of the Darro River which passes through the city. The neighbourhood is notable for its historic monuments and for largely retaining its medieval street plan dating back to the Nasrid period, although it nonetheless went through many physical and demographic changes after the end of the Reconquista in 1492. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1994, as an extension of the historic site of the nearby Alhambra.
Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport, officially known as Aeropuerto Internacional Ángel Albino Corzo, is an international airport situated in the municipality of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. It serves air traffic for Tuxtla Gutiérrez and a significant part of the State of Chiapas, including San Cristóbal de las Casas and Comitán.
The Islamic Cultural Center "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd in Argentina" is a mosque and center for Islamic culture located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is named after King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.
Diego de Mazariegos y Porres ( conquistador. He conquered Chiapas in Mexico, and in 1528, together with Andrés de la Tovilla, founded San Cristóbal de las Casas and Chiapa de Corzo. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of Chiapas from 1528 to 1529.
Chiapas handcrafts and folk art is most represented with the making of pottery, textiles and amber products, though other crafts such as those working with wood, leather and stone are also important. The state is one of Mexico's main handcraft producers, with most artisans being indigenous women, who dominate the production of pottery and textiles. The making of handcrafts has become economically and socially important in the state, especially since the 1980s, with the rise of the tourist market and artisans’ cooperatives and other organizations. These items generally cannot compete with commercially made goods, but rather are sold for their cultural value, primarily in San Cristóbal de las Casas.
The Al Ahmad Mosque is an Islamic place of worship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, opened in 1985. It is the second oldest mosque in Buenos Aires but it is the oldest building with Islamic architecture in Argentina and it was designed by Ahmed and Elia Ham.
The Río Piedras Mosque or Puerto Rico Islamic Center is a mosque in Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico.