Islam in Puerto Rico

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Islam in Puerto Rico: 2004 official data estimated there are 5,091 Muslims in Puerto Rico, representing about 0.13 percent of the population, although many Muslims on the island claim the numbers are much larger. The early Muslim community largely consisted of Palestinians who arrived between 1958 and 1962. At the time, the vast majority of Puerto Rico's Muslims lived in Río Piedras – a crowded suburb of San Juan – where they operated restaurants, jewelry stores and clothing outlets. For years a storefront mosque on Calle Padre Colón served the entire community. Today there are mosques and Islamic Centers in Aguadilla, San Juan, Hatillo, Ponce, Arecibo, and Río Piedras. The American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA) also has an office in Cayey. Similar to their counterparts in the United States (particularly New York), large numbers of indigenous Puerto Ricans are becoming interested in Islam.

In February 2003 almost a thousand people, including many Muslims, gathered in San Juan to join international demonstrations against the U.S. war in Iraq. Sheikh Abu Majer, a Palestinian who leads a mosque in Arecibo, said an attack against Iraq also threatens Islam and all religions.

[edit] See also

• Islam by country

[edit] References

• America's Alternative Religions Timothy Miller State University of New York Press, 1995
• Saudi Aramco World, December 1987