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From The San Antonio Express-News Jan25,’ 05
Curiosity spawned by 9-11 leads some to convert to Islam. Islam now is converting 20,000 per year in the U.S. An estimate shows 8 million Muslims in the U.S. now.
Of the 20,000 converts per year the Council on American-Islamic Relations 6 % are Hispanics, mostly Catholics.Edwin Hernandez director for the Center of Latino Religion at Notre Dame University calls this a religious phenomenon. In the U.S. there are approximately 50,000 Latino Muslim converts.Y
Yousef Said, the Imaam of the San Antonio Islamic Center said,“People came to us wanting to know what Islam is. When they heard the truth about Islam, they started believing and then they joined us”.
Juan Galvan grew up in West Texas ( Lubbock) and attended the University of Texas (Austin). He had been Baptised and Confirmed a Catholic. He drifted away from the Church as a teen ager. He Was introduced to Islam while a student in Austin. His friends thought he, a Mexican-American American would not become a Muslim. But he did. Now he is the vice-president of the Latino American Dawah Organizarion. It was founded in New York in 1997. Galvan is now authoring a book on thee topic.
Doria Garza was raised in a Catholic home in San Antonio. She is 40 aand became a Muslim at age 28. She said she like the way Muslims treat women with respect. In fact most of thee converts to Islam are women.
Linguistic and cultural obstacles are problematic. Stereotyping aand even harrasment occurs. Going into a supermarket with a head covering and the long loose dresses cause a lot of quizical looks ffor the new Moslim. Doria says she is embarrased and goes at night when there are fewer customers. She says she has been told that she wouldn’t be a Muslim for long because Mexicans are promiscuous. Shee’s been told she wasn’t a real Muslim.
Curiosity spawned by 9-11 leads some to convert to Islam. Islam now is converting 20,000 per year in the U.S. An estimate shows 8 million Muslims in the U.S. now.
Of the 20,000 converts per year the Council on American-Islamic Relations 6 % are Hispanics, mostly Catholics.Edwin Hernandez director for the Center of Latino Religion at Notre Dame University calls this a religious phenomenon. In the U.S. there are approximately 50,000 Latino Muslim converts.Y
Yousef Said, the Imaam of the San Antonio Islamic Center said,“People came to us wanting to know what Islam is. When they heard the truth about Islam, they started believing and then they joined us”.
Juan Galvan grew up in West Texas ( Lubbock) and attended the University of Texas (Austin). He had been Baptised and Confirmed a Catholic. He drifted away from the Church as a teen ager. He Was introduced to Islam while a student in Austin. His friends thought he, a Mexican-American American would not become a Muslim. But he did. Now he is the vice-president of the Latino American Dawah Organizarion. It was founded in New York in 1997. Galvan is now authoring a book on thee topic.
Doria Garza was raised in a Catholic home in San Antonio. She is 40 aand became a Muslim at age 28. She said she like the way Muslims treat women with respect. In fact most of thee converts to Islam are women.
Linguistic and cultural obstacles are problematic. Stereotyping aand even harrasment occurs. Going into a supermarket with a head covering and the long loose dresses cause a lot of quizical looks ffor the new Moslim. Doria says she is embarrased and goes at night when there are fewer customers. She says she has been told that she wouldn’t be a Muslim for long because Mexicans are promiscuous. Shee’s been told she wasn’t a real Muslim.
- Now here is what I want to ASK. All of these Hispanics were Catholic from birth. All drifted away from the Catholic Church. All became Muslims. WHY? I ask WHY? How did the Catholic Church fail? You will have to admit she failed these people?
(addendum) I have been living in the same house for 44 years, and not once has a priest, another Catholic or committee member has come to this house or - even phoned. No one encouraged me to keep going to my Church. There are about 3000 members so I guess I got lost. But for those Hispanics who went to Muslimism I bet no one ever talked to them either. Do we Catholics act to stand- offish? How to slow down the # of converts to Islam.
. History is repeating itself in Europe in regard to muslims.
