Latino Post
By Nicole Akoukou · Feb 13, 2014
By and large, Latino Americans are Catholic; a majority of the 52 million Hispanics living in the United States belong to the Catholic Church and many of their traditions are rooted in its teachings. However, Cathedrals are emptying, and former occupants have taken to worshiping in mosques... or at least that's the case in the Latin American community. Latinos are flocking to the Islamic faith at an unconfirmed rate, and there's an estimated 100,000-200,000 (though competing sources says 15,000 to 50,000) Latino Muslims in the United States. Six percent of U.S. Muslims population is Latino, and one-in-five new converts to Islam are Hispanic.
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Houston Chronicle
By Ken Chitwood · Jul 5, 2012
Growing up in New York and Houston, Isa Parada was always part of a vibrant faith community. An altar boy in his family's Roman Catholic parish, his family regularly prayed and read Scripture together. Today it is no different for Parada, save for one thing: He is now a Muslim imam.
A convert since 1996, Parada is fluent in Arabic and was educated in Muslim theology in Saudi Arabia. With family roots in El Salvador, Parada is part of a growing number of Hispanic converts to Islam.
Mujahid Fletcher runs a Houston-based nonprofit called IslamInSpanish that produces a Web site, DVDs, and a radio program designed to educate the small but growing number of Latino Muslims. Fletcher sees the organization as a tool to counteract some of the misconceptions about Islam that he initially encountered among his own friends and relatives.
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