Mexico: Spreading the Message of Islam

The Metro subway system in Mexico City is one of the busiest in the world, and approximately 4.5 million people use this form of public transportation on a daily basis. Due to this high volume of traffic, it has become a place for a group of Mexican Muslims to practice Da'wah, which is a way of preaching the religion of Islam.

In this video, Mustafa, shows some of the advertisements that have recently been placed inside the subway cars inviting people to learn about the religion. The advertisement is from the Islamic Cultural Center in Mexico City [es], which offers a weekend cultural event.

Another effort to spread the message of Islam took place on the streets of Mexico City. This other video shows a van driving up and down the streets of this neighborhood inviting people to a conference.

According to the most recent census, Mexicans are overwhelming Roman Catholic at a figure of 88% of the population. The 2008 Census indicates that there are 25,000 Muslims in the country, which represents .02% of the total population.

While much of the activities and public events take place in the Federal District, there have been some recent coverage on a small group of converts in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Journalist and blogger Franc Contreras of Mexico Monitor, also works for Al Jazeera English. In 2008, he traveled here to produce a report on a group of Mayan indigenous that converted to Islam. Watch the video report here.

There are also Mexican Muslims, who also use blogs to connect with others and to help spread the message of Islam. Carlos Alberto Rojas, also known as Isa, studied at the Islamic University of Madinah. He also maintains a blog where he offers up his assistance and support for those with questions. He publishes his phone numbers and the times that he is available to speak [es] with anyone with questions on Islam, fasting or to inquire about future events.

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