Islam in Mexico

File:Mezquita soraya.JPG, the first mosque ever in Mexico]]

During the Mexican Porfiriate, there was an open policy regarding investment and migration, mainly of people of European countries.

Although, some immigrants from other countries, such as Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, also arrived during that period.

For the most part, they were Christians escaping religious persecution of the Ottoman Empire; but there were a few Jews, some non Sunni Muslims, and people of other religions, also immigrating into Mexico due to economic opportunity or escape from religious persecution.

The muslims who immigrated during the Porfiriate however, decided to settle down in places such as Yucatán, Veracruz, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Mexico City and Puebla; due to the economic opportunities said states had to offer.

Once there, several Islamic Organizations were formed, with most of them adhering to the Sunni Branch of Islam; however, Salafists, Shia's, and Sufi muslims also have presence and mosques of their own.

Today, most Mexican Islamic organizations focus on grassroots missionary activities, which are most effective at the community level.

The most important Islamic organizations in Mexico include:

The Educative Center of the Muslim Community In Mexico: Sunni organization, which operates in Mexico City. It runs an educational center, managed mainly by Muslims from Egypt and the Middle East, and is run by Said Louahabi.

Cultural Islamic Center of Mexico: Sunni organization headed by Omar Weston, a British-born Mexican convert to Islam, which has been active in several cities of northern and central Mexico.

In the state of Morelos, it operates a mosque, called “Dar as Salaam”, and it also operates Hotel Oasis, a hotel that offers halal vacation alternatives for Muslim travelers 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.

Musalla Al-Ajirah: Run by Muhammad Abdullah Ruiz, a former deputy to Weston, the Musalla is considered to be the only center of salafists in the country.

Sufi Order in Mexico City: Sufi organization, which is a Mexican branch of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi order, headed by two women, Shaykha Fatima Fariha and Shaykha Amina Teslima.

Al Hikmah Institute of Arabic Language and Culture: Sunni organization run by Isa Rojas. A Mexican convert to Islam, who studied Islam in the University of Medina, within the capital city.{{Cite web |date=2012-01-01 |title=EL ISLAM EN MEXICO |url=http://www.islammexico.net/IslamMexico.htm |access-date=2024-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101202721/http://www.islammexico.net/IslamMexico.htm |archive-date=1 January 2012 }}

Amir al-Muminin Islamic Center: Twelver Shia organization which operates in Mexico City, Mexico State, and Morelos. It hosts religious events for Mexican Shia Muslims, such as the commemoration of Muharram,{{Cite web |last=Admin |first=Islam en México |date=2024-07-24 |title=Conmemoración de Muharram y 7° marcha Anual de Ashura en México |url=https://www.islamenmexico.org/actividades-comunidad/conmemoracion-de-muharram-y-7-marcha-anual-de-ashura-en-mexico/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Islam En México |language=es}} Mawlid,{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DAJfI7_AM1Z/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=www.instagram.com}} Fatimiyya,{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DCXC8hPN7DC/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=www.instagram.com}} among others.{{Cite web |title=Actividades de la Comunidad archivos |url=https://www.islamenmexico.org/category/actividades-comunidad/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Islam En México |language=es}}

It also provides halal food options for Mexican Muslims{{Cite web |title=Halal |url=https://www.islamenmexico.org/halal/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Islam En México |language=es}} and educative resources for Shia's, Sunnis, and non Muslims alike.{{Cite web |title=Halal |url=https://www.islamenmexico.org/halal/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Islam En México |language=es}}

{{Update section|date=April 2025|reason=Using 2o10 data}}File:Torres_y_Minarete_de_Agua_Caliente.jpg

File:Construccion_masyidalislam.jpg

Islam represents less than 0.01% of the population in Mexico.{{cite news|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-02-13/mexican-catholics-find-god-islam|title=Mexican Catholics find God in Islam|date=13 February 2014|access-date=19 March 2017|publisher=Public Radio International}}

The approximate number of Muslims by State goes as follows:

File:Image of Moor (Muslim) Being Trampled by Conquistadors Horse - Museo Nacional del Virreinato - Tepotzotlan - Mexico.jpg's horse at the National Museum of the Viceroyalty in Tepotzotlan.]]

Islam gained significant popularity in Indigenous communities in the 1930s due to mass Spaniard and Moroccan settlement, resulting in Mayans becoming indentured servants for the two, for some periods of time as well as business owners interbreeding with the Native women. By 1957, about 200 people of Mayan descent had been involved with Islam. This amount did not significantly rise until the late 1970s but practicing stayed stagnant within the communities.

In 1978 The Spanish Murabitun community, now based in Granada, Spain, had one of its missionaries involved in the spread of Islam throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Muhammad Nafia (formerly Aureliano Pérez), 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{{Cite news |last=Glüsing |first=Jens |date=2005-05-28 |title=Praying to Allah in Mexico: Islam Is Gaining a Foothold in Chiapas |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/praying-to-allah-in-mexico-islam-is-gaining-a-foothold-in-chiapas-a-358223.html |access-date=2024-11-17 |work=Der Spiegel |language=en |issn=2195-1349}} group. The President Vicente Fox voiced concerns about the influence of the fundamentalism and possible connections of the Zapatistas to the Basque terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

But it appeared that most converts had no interest in political extremism.{{cite news|last=Glüsing|first=Jens|title=Islam Is Gaining a Foothold in Chiapas|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,358223,00.html|access-date=13 November 2011|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=28 May 2005}}

By 1994, many indigenous Mayans and more than 700{{cite news|url=https://chiapas.quadratin.com.mx/principal/Indigenas-musulmanes-abren-platica-sobre-el-Islam-en-San-Cristobal/|title=Indígenas musulmanes abren plática sobre el Islam en San Cristóbal|date=22 August 2015|access-date=19 March 2017|publisher=quadratin.com}} Tzotzils had converted to Islam.[http://www.revistaacademica.com/TIV/C05.pdf Lara Klahr, Marco. 2002. “¿El Islam en Chiapas?: el. EZLN y el Movimiento Mundial Murabitun,”. Revista Académica para el Estudio de las. Religiones 4(2002): 79-91] {{in lang|es}}

In San Cristóbal, the Murabitun established a pizzeria, a carpentry workshop{{cite web|title=Islam is the new religion in rebellious Mexican state Chiapas|url=https://www.rnw.org/archive/islam-new-religion-rebellious-mexican-state-chiapas|website=RNW media|access-date=27 November 2015}} and a Quranic school (madrasa) where children learned Arabic and prayed five times a day in the backroom of a residential building. It is reported that women in headscarves had become a common sight by then.

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 not muslims.File:SubMarcosHorseFromAfar.jpg of the Zapatistas entered into an alliance with Chiapas Muslims in the 1980s.|left]]

{{Main|List of mosques in Mexico}}

This is a list of some, but by no means all mosques and Islamic meeting centers in Mexico.

• Centro Islámico del Norte. Av. Benito Juárez 603, Centro, 66230 San Pedro Garza García, N.L.
• Suraya Mosque in Torreon, Coahuila.
• Dar es Salaam Mosque in Tequesquitengo, Morelos.
• Tahaarah Mosque in Comitan, Chiapas.
• Al Kautsar Mosque in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.
• Al Medina Mosque in San Cristobal de las casas, Chiapas
• Musala Tlaxcala #30 San Critobal de las Casas, Chiapas
• Murabitun Mosque San Cristobal de las casa, Chiapas
• Salafi Mosque Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab in Mexico City.
• Mezquita/ tekke de la Orden Jalveti Yerraji instituto Luz Sobre Luz in Mexico City.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190221113323/http://www.icofbaja.org/ Masiid Omar, Centro Islamico] Tijuana Beaches, Baja California, Mexico.
• [http://www.alhikmah.net Al-Hikmah] Ciudad de México, Aragón, Mexico.
• Mezquita Euclides Euclides 25, Col. Anzures, Polanco, Ciudad de México.
• Mezquita Abu Bakr Don Luis 10, Nativitas, Benito Juàrez, Nativitas, Metro, 03500 Ciudad de México, CDMX
• Mezquita de guadalajara Centauro 2912, La Calma, 45070 Zapopan, Jal. Guadalajara.
• Musalah Al Ajirah in Margarita # 5 local, colonia Santa Maria la Ribera, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, CP 06400, Mexico City.{{cite web|url=https://wego.here.com/meksiko/cuauht%C3%A9moc/street-square/musalah-al-ajirah--e-eyJuYW1lIjoiTXVzYWxhaCBBbCBBamlyYWgiLCJhZGRyZXNzIjoiTWFyZ2FyaXRhICMgNSBsb2NhbCwgY29sb25pYSBTYW50YSBNYXJpYSBsYSBSaWJlcmEsIERlbGVnYWNpXHUwMGYzbiBDdWF1aHRcdTAwZTltb2MsIENpdWRhZCBkZSBNXHUwMGU5eGljbyIsImxhdGl0dWRlIjoxOS40NDE0NywibG9uZ2l0dWRlIjotOTkuMTU4MywicHJvdmlkZXJOYW1lIjoiZmFjZWJvb2siLCJwcm92aWRlcklkIjoxNjQ3MDgyMjg1NTM4NTE0fQ==?map=19.44147,-99.1583,15,normal&fb_locale=id_ID|title=Musalah Al Ajirah - Cuauhtémoc - HERE WeGo|work=HERE WeGo|access-date=31 October 2017}}
• Amir al Muminin, Rubens 46, colonia San Juan, Alcaldía Benito Juárez, Ciudad de México.{{Cite web |title=¿Quiénes Somos? |url=https://www.islamenmexico.org/sobre-nosotros/quienes-somos/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Islam En México |language=es}}

File:ChiapadeCorzoFuenteColonial.jpg in the main square of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas.]]

File:KioscoMorisco_DistritoFederal-Mexico.jpg in Colonia Santa María la Ribera neighborhood.]]

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.colegiomexsur.edu.mx/dc_chdc.html |title=Chiapa de Corzo |publisher=Secretaría de Turismo de Chiapas |location=Chiapas, Mexico |language=es |access-date=May 11, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119224350/http://www.colegiomexsur.edu.mx/dc_chdc.html |archive-date=January 19, 2011 }} It was built by the Spanish Dominican friars during the Colonial era in the sixteenth century.{{cite web|url=http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/chiapas/municipios/07027a.htm |title=Chiapa de Corzo |year=2005 |work=Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Estado de Chiapas |publisher=Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal and Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas |location=Mexico |language=es |access-date=May 11, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327111820/http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/chiapas/municipios/07027a.htm |archive-date=March 27, 2012 }}

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.{{cite news |title= Santa María la Ribera, colonia centenaria |author= Arturo Reyes Fragoso |url= http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estilos/49725.html |newspaper=El Universal |date=August 13, 2006 |location=Mexico City |access-date=May 11, 2020 |language=es |trans-title=Santa María la Ribera, the century colonia }}{{cite web |title=El Kiosco Morisco de Santa María la Ribera, ícono de la CDMX |url=https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/el-kiosco-morisco-de-santa-maria-la-ribera-cdmx.html |website=mexicodesconocido.com.mx |date=May 2018 |access-date=11 May 2020}}

Fitra Ismu Kusumo, Indonesian artist living in Mexico.

{{Portal|Islam|Mexico}}

• Latin American Muslims
• Religion in Mexico
• Latino Muslims

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081202130558/http://www.islam.com.mx/islam/home.html Centro Cultural Islamico de México, A.C.] (Spanish)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120211031804/http://islamenmexico.org/nuevo/index.php Centro Educativo de la Comunidad Musulmana A.C] (Spanish)

[http://www.islam-mexico.net Centro Salafi de México]

{{Religion in Mexico}}

{{Islam in the Americas}}

{{Mosques in Central America}}

Mexico