05 June 2006
A Clash of Culture, Faith Latinas Balance Catholic Upbringing, Adoption of Islam
Every morning, Jackie Avelar wakes up to a predicament. On one side of her bed is a clock that sounds the Islamic call to prayer five times a day. On the other side is a statue of Mary. As a Muslim, she wants to remove it. As a Latina, she can't.
"I have to respect him," Avelar said.
So she has found a comfortable balance: She covers the statue with a photo of her family.
Avelar, 31, constantly struggles to find balance within her family, within the outside world, within herself. Growing up, she was a beach-going, tank top-wearing, salsa-dancing girl. Now, she's a devout Muslim who favors Islamic garments and avoids socializing with men.
Her father, who is a Catholic from El Salvador, wants the statue to stay.
"I have to respect him," Avelar said.
So she has found a comfortable balance: She covers the statue with a photo of her family.
Avelar, 31, constantly struggles to find balance within her family, within the outside world, within herself. Growing up, she was a beach-going, tank top-wearing, salsa-dancing girl. Now, she's a devout Muslim who favors Islamic garments and avoids socializing with men.
She is the first Muslim in a family that has never known any religion but Catholicism.
Across the nation, thousands of Latino immigrants are redefining themselves through Islam, including a few hundred in the Washington region, according to national Islamic groups and community leaders. Precise numbers are not available, but estimates range from 40,000 to 70,000.
The conversions speak to a larger evolution of immigrant identity, as a new generation ingests a cultural smorgasbord of ideas they were rarely exposed to in their homelands. Today, it's easier than ever to learn about Islam from Spanish translations of the Koran, Islamic magazines and Web sites.
But as they embrace a new faith, Latinos face struggles, ranging from guilt to discrimination, as Muslims in a post-Sept. 11 America.
"Sometimes you feel like you are betraying who you are, that you are abandoning your family," said Avelar, who is small and round-faced with a soft voice.
The converts hail from throughout Latin America. In Islam, some say they see a devoutness and simplicity they find lacking in Catholicism. Like the tightknit Latino culture, Islam places emphasis on family, which can make it easier for converts to adjust.
Yet some are as motivated by feelings of alienation in a nation that is divided over immigration. Latino women find what most westerners rarely see -- a respect for women, unlike, some converts say, the machismo culture in which they were raised
. READ MORE http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006...
17:00 | Permalink | Comments (1) | 
Facebook |
Comments
As a latino (Chileno/mestizo to be exact) I don't know if you could even call these people 'latino' anymore. The reason I say this is that this is like selling latino people and culture out. They are just as bad as the latinos who marry a gringo/a and only speak english from then onwards (and then do the same with their children). If these people are taking on Arabic names and wanting to speak Arabic that shows that they want to be something else than latino. It's funny that the women in the article talk about not being discriminated against, maybe they should go to a Middle Eastern country and see how free they will be as women there. Anyway it's just sad to see that latinos instead of looking towards their Indigenous or African heritage embrace something foreign.
Posted by: Alsario | 09 June 2006
The comments are closed.