Is your native language Italian, Greek, or Hindi? Great! Translations will allow my book to reach a greater audience. Please note that my book has already been translated to Spanish and is currently available on Amazon.
“This book will make you cry, laugh, contemplate, feel empowered and peaceful. It’s an excellent introduction of role models to a younger generation of Muslims.” – Camilla Stein
“Here is a book that will fill your ears with a chorus of voices you may never have heard so clearly. What I love about this carefully introduced, large collection of testimonial essays is its variety, its unsettledness, its openness, its range.” – Michael Wolfe, author of The Hadj: An American’s Pilgrimage to Mecca.
Discover an insightful collection of profound stories about people’s personal journeys to Islam.
Inside this book, you’ll uncover a collection of powerful, personal stories about everyday Latino people’s journey to the truth. It recounts their struggles, their discoveries, and their revelations during this often long and arduous journey, told with raw emotion and honesty, ending with them finally accepting their peace within Islam.
While some tales are of love and acceptance, filled with the positivity of supportive family, others are marred with angst and conflict as the author struggles with their new faith and place in the world.
With insightful reflections on Islam and the Latino community, as well as a wealth of information on the Quran and the Islamic faith itself, this powerful book is an open and honest look at the lives of Latino Muslims and how their faith shaped them.
Genre: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Hispanic American StudiesMy book sales aren't great, but the people who have read it have been inspired. You can read reviews and check out its ranking at https://amzn.to/37fzaMF. The book is also a great resource for academia as discussed in this review -http://latinomuslims.net/reviews. It has been mentioned in numerous scholarly publications.
Introduction
The shahadah is the first of Islam’s five pillars. It is the testimony in the belief of a single God and Muhammad being the Messenger of God; what makes someone a Muslim. By taking shahadah, new Muslims pledge to live by the precepts of Islam. Although the destination for those who recite the Shahadah is the same, each person’s distinctive life experiences influence the unique path they take towards Islam. No group embodies this reality better than the diverse, dynamic, and ever-growing Latino Muslim population.
When learning of the increasing number of Latinos embracing Islam, many Muslims and non-Muslims react with surprise. Some hold the belief that being Latino and Muslim are incompatible. One can only imagine a similar response from the non-Muslims of the Arab Peninsula when witnessing the rapid spread of Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. Why would a people dominated by pagan practices reject all of their deities and accept the belief in a single God?
The earliest converts to Islam, the Sahaba, were loyal companions of the Prophet who came to Islam in different ways. Some staunchly fought Islam until their conversion, such as Omar. Some came to Islam early and freely, such as Abu Bakr. The Sahaba sacrificed much of their old lives and had to accustom themselves to a new, altered identity. In many ways, the stories of Latino Muslim converts are very similar. Although certainly not at the level of practice of the Sahaba, many Latinos who choose to follow Islam face the same struggles assimilating into a new reality. The story of the Sahaba is a fundamental way of understanding the idea behind this endeavor.
| Language | Status |
|---|---|
|
Italian
|
Translation in progress.
Translated by A. Louki
|
|
Swedish
|
Translation in progress.
Translated by Amal H Shamsudin
|
