By Juan Galvan

Assalaam alaykum,
On October 18, Latino Muslims from the Dallas area hosted a mosque open house in Spanish at the Dallas Central Mosque. The open house was organized by Latino Muslim brothers and sisters who meet every Saturday for a halaqa session at the mosque.

Upon entering the mosque, I quickly noticed flags from various South American and Caribbean countries. I was pleasantly surprised to a Mexican flag in a Texas mosque. Seeing the various flags was one more reminder of just how much our religion is unifying people from every part of the world.

After signing in at the registration table, visitors were given a name tag and program. Literature was also available at the registration table. From left-to-right is an African-American brother, Daniel Montenegro, and me. Daniel and some sisters welcomed visitors as they entered the mosque. Daniel along with other Latino Muslims gave visitors a tour of the mosque. Can you spot the young sister? MashaAllah.

These two Latino Muslims presented in the mosque’s gymnasium. Br. Mujahid Fletcher spoke about his conversion to Islam. Born in Columbia, he moved to Houston as a child. Sr. Ericka Perez spoke about women in Islam. She is a Mexican-American from the Dallas area. Presentations along with a question and answer session were repeated three times during the day for new visitors.

Five dawah tables were manned by Latino brothers and sisters in the gymnasium. Visitors could speak with Latino Muslims in either English or Spanish. Each desk had brochures and other Islamic literature in English and Spanish. Latino and nonLatino nonMuslims both benefited from the dawah tables. Carlos Puerto, leader of the Dallas Latino Muslim group, was among those who manned the dawah tables.

Comida! Food! Latina Muslims served drinks, snow cones, cotton candy, and taquitos. The cake reads, “Bienvenidos,” which means welcome. After eating a snow cone, I had a slice of cake. The cake was wonderful.

The mosque open house was a beautiful experience. I simply cannot describe my emotions. As more Latinos embrace Islam, you can expect to see even more Spanish open houses at mosques. I can hardly wait!