ISLAM IN AMERICA
Representation Matters Latino Muslims need to be seen as part of the global Muslim community BY WENDY DÍAZ
F
ifteen years ago my husband and I, both Latino converts, welcomed our first son into this world. He was the first Muslim child born into our two families, a blend of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian heritages, living here in the U.S. His fitra, that innate faith in one Supreme Creator, was untainted. Unlike us, he did not have to discover Islam later in life. We named him Uthman, after the “bearer of the two lights” who was both a son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi was sallam) and the third righteously guided caliph. And so began our Muslim parenting journey, one that we are still striving to navigate efficiently as more and more challenges and blessings present themselves. As convert parents, our objective is to raise righteous Muslims by God’s will; as Latinos, we endeavor to preserve our culture within the Islamic framework. We learned early on that despite what we heard from some well-intentioned Muslims, Islam did not come to take away our identity. In fact, Islam is part of our rich history as Latinos — an inheritance left by our ancestors that has been largely buried and forgotten. Unfortunately, this reality remains largely unexplored in contemporary circles of knowledge because non-Latino Muslims do not consider Latin America part of the Islamic narrative. Yet, as more of us return to Islam, we are unearthing this truth and are eager to pass it on to our children with pride. When we began searching for Islamic books and material to teach our first son in our native language, we were unsuccessful. However, as a mother who wanted to instill a love of reading in my child, I settled by purchasing books in English and translating them simultaneously to Spanish as I read them to my son. I soon began reaching out to publishing companies that specialized in Islamic books and offered to translate their children’s books. After receiving no response or downright rejection because as they said, there was “no market for Spanish material,” I realized that if I wanted books for my children, I WE LEARNED EARLY THAT DESPITE WHAT would have to write them. WE HEARD FROM SOME WELL-INTENTIONED Thankfully, I love writing as much as I love reading. However, I also knew from MUSLIMS, ISLAM DID NOT COME TO TAKE AWAY my experience with traditional Islamic OUR IDENTITY. IN FACT, ISLAM IS PART OF OUR publishers that they would most likely RICH HISTORY AS LATINOS — AN INHERITANCE reject my manuscripts. My husband and I investigated self-publishing and, after LEFT BY OUR ANCESTORS THAT HAS BEEN investing our own capital, published our LARGELY BURIED AND FORGOTTEN. first bilingual Islamic children’s book: “A Veil and a Beard” (2010). Other books followed, including a series on the prophets, a book on Ramadan and another one on the Friday congregational prayer, a 30 ISLAMIC HORIZONS JULY/AUGUST 2021
