Islam in Peru

In 1560, the Spanish rulers of Peru sentenced Lope de la Pena, described as a "Moor from Guadalajara", to life imprisonment for the crime of "having practiced and spread Islam" in Cuzco and was also required to wear the Sanbenito around his neck for his entire imprisonment.Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history: the Black experience in the Americas, Volume 4, page 1561Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas, Page 147Central Institute of Islamic Research, Pakistan, Islamic studies, Volume 45, Issues 1-2, 2006 Other sources give his name as Alvaro Gonzalez.Lea, Henry Charles. "Inquisition of the Spanish Dependencies", Page 321

His colleague, the mulatto "son of a Spaniard [Juan Solano] and a black woman",Bowser, Frederick P. "The African Slave in Colonial Peru", Page 251Louis Cardaillac, "[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/casa_0076-230x_1976_num_12_1_2230?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard& Le Probleme Morisque en Amerique], Page 293 Luis Solano was similarly convicted of spreading Islam, but was executed for the offence.The African Slave in Colonial Peru 1524-1650 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974), 251.

As persecution increased in the Spanish dependencies, Muslims ceased identifying themselves by their religion and became nominal Christians; eventually Islam disappeared from the country entirely.LAMU, [https://archive.today/20040202113944/http://www.latinmuslims.com/history.html History of Islam in Peru]

In 1911, Stuart McNairn, a British missionary based in Cusco, wrote about "God's call to His Church to go in and possess the land [in] Africa, in view of the great Moslem advance. We must take the Light to the Dark Continent before the apostles of Mohammedanism enshroud it in yet greater darkness".Wherry, E. M. "Islam and Missions", 1911{{page needed|date=January 2024}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}

Islam was reintroduced to Peru in the 1940s during the Palestinian exodus by Palestinian and Lebanese Muslims fleeing from the Arab-Israeli war.

In 1974, the Nation of Islam, through its counterpart in Belize, began importing Pacific Whiting fish from Peru to the United States, where it was sold as an Islamic alternative to mainstream fish markets.Curtis, Edward E. "Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam", Page 105

A Peruvian by the name of Louis Castro converted to Islam and later studied at the Islamic University of Madinah in the 1980s.{{cite journal|author=Ahsani, S. A. H.|title=Muslims in Latin America: A Survey—Part I.|journal=Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs|issue=5|year=1984|page=458}} In 1993, the Muslim community opened a masjid in the Jesús María District of the capital, but it was later closed due to financial difficulty. Another location was opened in the Villa El Salvador district, but met with similar difficulties and also closed.

{{Historical populations

|align = left

|pop_name = Population

|source = {{Cite web |url=http://www.mrnet.org/system/files/library/islam_in_latin_am.pdf |date=March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232511/http://www.mrnet.org/system/files/library/islam_in_latin_am.pdf|title=Islam in Latin America|author=Cook, Matt|archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}

|1980 |5,000

|1992 |15,000

}}

There are a handful of Islamic organizations in Peru, including the Asociación Islámica del Perú, the Musulmanes Peruanos of Naqshbandi Haqqani Tariqa and Asociación Islam Peru, in Lima.

In 2007, there were unsubstantiated claims that Islamist militant sympathisers were helping arrange entrance to the United States through their country.http://www.livinginperu.com/news-4948-law-order-us-target-muslim-terrorist-o{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The Latin American Muslim Unity (LAMU) organization, based in Fresno, California, United States, has drawn up a proposal for the first Islamic orphanage in Peru, although it has not yet materialized.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

In January 2011, Peru joined a number of other Latin American countries in announcing its recognition of the State of Palestine as a legitimate nation.{{cite web |title=Peru recognizes Palestinian state |website=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215174855/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-peru-idUSTRE70N5ZW20110124 |archive-date=2022-12-15 |url-status=live |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-peru-idUSTRE70N5ZW20110124}} This decade also marked a migration of Muslims from Bangladesh and other Asian countries to Peru as well.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 2016, Lebanese group Hezbollah announced the establishment of a local branch, based in Apurímac.{{Cite AV media |title=Hezbollah: llegó al Perú y anuncia inscripción de partido político |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLS3Ba_T6NA |date=2016-06-19 |type=News report |language=es |publisher=Latina Noticias |via=YouTube}}

{{Portal|Islam|Peru}}

• Latin American Muslims
• Arab Peruvians
• Mosque of Lima
• Latino Muslims
• Religion in Peru

• [http://www.islamperu.com Information about Islam en Perú] (Spanish)

{{Commons Category}}{{Peru-stub}}{{Islam-stub}}{{Mosques in South America}}

{{Islam in the Americas}}

Peru

Peru

Category:Religion in Peru