Well, the Latino community here in the
United States is the largest minority
group in the country. More than 50
million Hispanic Americans now live in
the United States. And while the
majority are brought up within the
Catholic Church, the latest US census
suggests many of them are turning to
Islam. There are now believed to be as
many as 200,000 Latino Muslims in
America. CCTV's Nick Harper has
details. Nadia Massedi became a Muslim a
year ago. Originally from Uruguay, she
thought her nationality would stand in
the way of exploring Islam. I didn't
even know there was like uh Latino
Muslims. She joined the mosque in Union
City in New Jersey, which is one of the
largest Latino Muslim congregations in
America. 30% of its members are
Hispanic. Everybody has always been
available to me. Anytime I needed
something, anytime I wanted to talk to
someone, they were always available to
me. And that's how I made friends, real
friends.
The mosque has seen so much interest
from the Hispanic community, it now
offers lessons in Spanish to help
converts learn about the Quran. The
Hispanic uh Muslim community is uh
growing very rapidly. Um in the last few
years, we have had many um people
entering Islam from South America,
Mexico, uh here in the US. Nahila
Morales works for the outreach group Y
Islam, which gives out Qurans in
Spanish. Brought up as a Catholic, she
became a Muslim after the 9/11 attacks
in the USA, an event that sparked her
interest to learn more about the
religion. Actually, a lot of people came
to Islam after 9/11. A lot of people
were um you know blindfolded. They had
no idea what Islam was. They had never
even heard of this religion. Much has
changed in America in the last 12 years
since 9/11 with hostility towards
Muslims and ignorance about Islam on the
whole lessening, but new Muslims like
Nadia still face suspicion from those
closest to them. A lot of people stopped
talking to me. Um, my boss told me that
I was [\h__\h] that I was brainwashed,
that something was wrong with me. I lost
my job.
As the face of America changes, this
minority within a minority is growing
and thriving. Nick Harper, CCTV, Union
City, New Jersey.