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April - June 2003, Latino Muslims

Latinos In Atlanta

By Siri Carrion

A reporter’s name and email address was forwarded to me recently. The reporter wanted to do a story about Latino Muslims in Georgia and their views on the war. My first thought was no. However; my curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to know who else lived in Atlanta, Georgia that was Latino and Muslim besides me, my husband, my bestfriend, and my brother. I refuse to believe there are only four people in the state of Georgia who is Latino and Muslim!

Consequently, I called the reporter and introduced myself to her. I also asked her about others she had on her contact list because I would like to meet them. I was excited at the thought of more Latino Muslims! She told me I was the only person so far that contacted her. I can’t be the only person! That same night I sent out a mass email to all the people I knew and requested them to ask around about Latino Muslims. The very next day I got a hit! A sister that lives around the corner emailed me. She was just as excited as me to know that other Latino Muslims in Atlanta exist. She said she knew a couple of more Latina sisters who don’t speak much Spanish. I told her, “I don’t care just pass my email along to them.”

The next day, I got another hit! So, now I am counting: four, five, six, seven. There are now seven Latino families in Atlanta! Alhamdulillah !!! I actually had tears in my eyes. I knew there were more of us out there. Just today, I had a sister email me from Athens, Georgia who is interested in meeting some Latino Muslims.

Now my thoughts are on, “What are we going to do as a group?” Inshallah, in the future, I would like to see this group grow into an organization that will reach out to the general Latino community and gather those who are lost or curious about Islam and welcome them into our Latino Muslim family. I would pray that we as Latinos can show the general Latino population a new way of life and a more humble way to worship Allah (swt). I would like to see us Latino Muslims grow into a source of support for new Muslims. New Muslims need someone or something to turn to for help in their Deen. InshAllah, this organization will strengthen their Taqwa in Allah (swt). When you feel that you actually belong to a community, this sense of community makes life a little more pleasant.

I would like to see this new community of Latino Muslims do tons of things in the future. But for right now, I am just excited to know there are more people in Georgia like me that are both Muslim and Latino. I would like to plan a get together for the Latino community in Atlanta. We are now seven families strong. Inshallah, together we can let all Muslims know that there is a young Latino community in Atlanta, Georgia that is ready to blossom.