Islam in Nicaragua
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According to 2007 statistics released by the
Background
Early Immigration
Muslim immigration occurred in moderate numbers in Nicaragua in the late 19th century. The majority were Palestinian Arab Muslims; the immigration constituted one of the largest waves of immigration to Central America. Although the exact number of Palestinians is not available, Guzmán writes "it is possible that from the end of the nineteenth century until 1917, when the Ottoman Empire entered its final decline, during World War I, 40 Palestinian families arrived in Nicaragua".[2]
This early wave of immigrants quickly lost their Islamic roots and blended into the local population, often by adopting a Christian heritage due to intermarrying and government pressure. At different points during the 1890s to the 1940s Nicaragua, and many other Latin American countries, established laws or issued ordinances that restricted the entry of Arabs, forbade the stay of Arabs already present in the country and curtailed the expansion of their commercial activities.[3]
Immigration: 1960s through 2000
The second group of immigrants in the 1960s was better educated, but not any more oriented towards Islam than the first. This group was affected by two major events in Nicaragua: the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake, and the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979. At that time, many of the former Palestinians immigrated to North America or returned to Palestine. Those that stayed suffered greatly and their families were further assimilated into Christianity. The latest and smallest group of émigrés was in the early 1990s. Many of these were immigrants returning to Nicaragua who had since become more aware of their Muslim heritage from exposure in North America or Palestine. These immigrants also possessed a stronger Islamic identity than previous groups, enabling an Islamic reawakening by the community.[4]
By 2000 it was estimated that there were 500 families of Palestine Arabs and Palestinian descendants in Nicaragua. The Palestinians that arrived in Nicaragua were mostly Christians and a small number of Muslims, the majority of which came from rural villages near Ramallah, Jerusalem, Beit Jala and Bethlehem. The total population of Palestinians in Nicaragua ranks as the largest Arab community in Central America.
Recent developments
According to Fahmi Hassan, President of the 'Asociación Cultural Nicaragüense-Islámica, the
See also
References
- ^ International Religious Freedom 2007 Archived 24 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Released October 2007, covers period of June 2006 to May 2007)
- ISBN 9977-67-587-2.
- ISBN 0-7914-6601-9.
- ^ The Islamic Bulletin, Islam in Nicaragua Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Edwin Sánchez, Primer Imán de Nicaragua Archived 10 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine. El Nuevo Diario. Domingo 14 de Marzo de 2004
- ^ Elhamalawy, Salma Celebrating Ramadan from Chile to China. October 2003
External links
- Latino Dawah
- El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish)
- Valeria Imhof (2003). Urcuyo calma a los árabes. El Nuevo Diario
- Edwin Sánchez (2006). El respeto al profeta ajeno es la paz. El Nuevo Diario
- Elhamalawy, Salma (2003), Celebrating Ramadan from Chile to China.
- Mauricio Pineda Cruz, Carlos (July 2005). Al-Qaeda's Unlikely Allies in Central America. Terrorism Monitor Vol. 3, Issue 1
- Marín-Guzmán, Roberto (2000). A Century of Palestinian Immigration into Central America: A study of their economic and cultural contributions. San Jose, CR: Universidad de Costa Rica.
- International Religious Freedom Report 2005, U.S. Department of State
- International Religious Freedom Report 2001, U.S. Department of State
- The Islamic Bulletin, Islam in Nicaragua
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