Mexico: Muslims in Mexico City; Muslim groups in Chiapas proselytizing among indigenous people, including services for the needy, literacy programs, conversion of indigenous persons, and possible related controversies

Descriptions of the Muslim community in Mexico City can be found in the WebIslam Internet portal (in Spanish) based in Spain, and in the Website published by the Muslim Cultural Centre of Mexico (Centro Cultural Islámico de México A.C., CCIM; A.C. stands for Asociacion Civil, or Civil Association), both cited below.

According to WebIslam, the first Muslim activities in Mexico began in the 1980s with a small group of foreign diplomats who gathered initially at the "Egyptian Club" (club egipcio), and later at the embassy of Pakistan (19 June 1999). Because of a certain religious tolerance and the country's proximity to the United States that facilitated business opportunities, some relatives and friends of the foreign diplomats migrated to Mexico; the growth of this small community and their proselytism allowed some Mexicans to get acquainted with Islam (ibid.). The small group of Mexican Muslims organized themselves under the leadership of Omar Weston, who was described as "recently arrived from the University of Medina" (ibid.). In 1993, the first Muslim Office (oficina del Islam) was opened in Mexico City, with the CCIM becoming a legally registered organization in 1995 through the support of the local community and foreign countries (ibid.). The group has continued its proselytism and promotional activities through book fairs and other activities, and as of 1999, WebIslam estimated the number of Muslims in Mexico at 200, approximately half of them Mexican (ibid.).

The CCIM provides the following information on Islamic organization and activities in Mexico, specifically in Mexico City, both before and after the CCIM was established:

When Br. Mark (Omar) Weston founder and director of Centro Cultural Islamico de Mexico AC (CCIM) became Muslim in 1988 at Orlando Florida's central mosque he returned to Mexico (where he has resided since 1973 as a British subject).

Upon his return to Mexico he was unable to find the Muslim community. He visited various Muslim embassies in Mexico City seeking a gathering of Muslims. The only embassy that opened its doors was the Iranian embassy who gave him plenty of information on the Iranian revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini. Within the literature received was a compendium of lectures given at a conference held by WAMY (World Assembly of Muslim Youth) in 1988 at Mexico City. In this book he found the name of Yaseen Ramirez, a Mexican Sufi who had a small group of brothers who united to read about Islamic and Sufi literature. The brother and his group had no clear Aquida (Islamic doctrine), some days they read from Shiite sources, other days from Sunni or Sufi and even from Qadiyani sources. Yaseen´s group didn't pray Jumah (Friday) prayers so Br. Omar Weston was informed about a small group of diplomats that used to pray Jumah prayers at the Egyptian Club. A small apartment in a residential area of Mexico City rented by the Egyptian Embassy who at the same time rented it to the few Muslims for about 100 USD a month.

Every Friday a brother from Chile Muhammed Rumi used to open the small place and a few brothers used to arrive and sit on a couple of sofas until Muhammed Rumi gave a short lecture in Spanish, then from a group of no more than 10 brothers someone was put forward to lead the Salat. This group of brothers had been uniting for about two years before Br. Omar Weston´s participation. Br. Omar who had observed Dawa programs in the US started implementing some of the skills he learnt and started visiting brothers known to be Muslim and started inviting them to Salat. The Siddique family and a medical student Fayyaz Ullah from Pakistan supported Omar´s efforts and managed to gradually increase attendance for prayer. Not long after Br. Omar was opening up the small apartment in Polanco to pray during the week that Muhammed Rumi broke the news that the rent had practically tripled so the Pakistani Embassy offered a small room in its embassy to pray Jumah there.

Br. Omar Weston continued to visit Muslims and started giving Dawa to non Muslims forming a group at his home of approximately 10 brothers both converts and immigrants. In 1990 the Pakistani Embassy allowed Mr. Weston to use the Embassy's prayer room in the evenings. The study circle around him grew and with the help of Allah and secondly of a few visiting Dawa groups they managed to start finding more Muslims. In 1992 before Br. Omar went to study Islam in Medina Saudi Arabia the Jumah attendance consisted of approximately 35 brothers and a few sisters.

The then Pakistani Ambassador in 1993 tried forming a trust of various Muslim embassies to present to the Mexican government an appeal for a piece of land to build a Masjid. The Mayor of Mexico City (Camacho Solis) offered this small trust a piece of land but due to a lack of initiative and coordination they lost the opportunity.

In May 1994 Br. Omar Weston returned from Medina and Niaz Sidiqui lent him an apartment in Polanco to start daily prayers and recover the activities that had been abandoned [while] he was at Medina. Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers were established and Arabic and Islamic lessons were held after prayers. In September 1994 they were obliged to move from the apartment and they started selling a few possessions and working hard to finance a new place in Colonia del Valle, a middle class residential area in Mexico City. After nearly a year of struggling and growing in mid 1995 ... all five prayers were attended and various Mexicans converted to Islam.

...

In September 1995 Centro Cultural Islamico de Mexico AC (CCIM) was registered as a non profit organization. From 1995 to 1997 CCIM managed to establish the five prayers in congregation on a daily basis, the attendance gradually increased and new people started accepting Islam. The new Muslims as well as some of our young children started receiving lessons on the fundamentals of Tawheed and the essentials of Fiqh. Monthly meals and weekly gatherings were held at the Center for all the Muslims. Visits to Muslims in the [capital] and other cities around the entire country took place, looking for Muslims and giving Dawa. Islam for the first time started having contact with the general public. Talks about Islam were held once a week on National Radio. Book stands in the International Book Fairs of Mexico City were organized in various occasions allowing thousands on Mexicans to learn about Islam. Conferences on Islam in prestigious universities around Mexico were given, Islamic texts were placed into major libraries and book stores in the country as well as articles on Islam in some major newspapers and magazines, and as for expanding to other cities at the moment CCIM established Musallahs in Monterey, Guadalajara and Ciudad Obregon.

In 1997 Mr. Hasan T. Nadhir was appointed as Saudi's ambassador for Mexico, upon his arrival he contacted Br. Omar Weston and presented him his interest to build a Mosque in Mexico City. They joined efforts to improve the condition of Muslims in Mexico. The Saudi Ambassador rented a big house in Polanco (an expensive residential area in Mexico City) with plenty of parking, Br. Omar managed to convince the Pakistani Embassy to stop hosting the Jumah Salats so we all united in Mexico City at one location. In the past three years to today's date August 2000 the Jumah attendance is close to 200 people.

Besides Br. Omar officially having a Dawa office at the new place, CCIM is facing the problem of not having an official location to call freely to Islam, to start with Dawa was given freely at the new location but lately the Saudi Embassy has been informed that it is not allowed by the Mexican Government to openly invite people to Islam. The house for the Mosque is rented as an extension of the Saudi Embassy, so since that notice CCIM has been doing all its Dawa to non-Muslims outside the Mosque, it gives Dawa every Sunday at the Zocalo (the main Square downtown Mexico City), it rents auditoriums and still gives talks on the radio. Today CCIM has a follow up list of close to 200 Mexican Muslims that have accepted Islam since CCIM's official foundation in 1995 (CCIM 11 Apr. 2001).

The Muslim Center de México S.A. de C.V., or MCM, is a company that has the same addresse, Internet Website, contact names and numbers as the CCIM and provides companies with "Halal" inspection of manufacturing sites and products to facilitate their exports to Muslim countries (CCIM 11 Oct. 2001).

Information on Muslim groups in Chiapas, their activities and controversies related to them, can be found in MEX38248.E of 28 February 2002. However, no references to literacy or other outreach or community assistance programs by a Muslim group in Chiapas could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Centro Cultural Islámico de México A.C. (CCIM), Mexico City. 11 October 2001. "Certificación Halal." [Accessed 18 Feb. 2002]

_____. 11 April 2001. "Mexico Fertile Soil for Islam." [Accessed 18 Feb. 2002]

WebIslam [Cordoba, Spain]. 19 June 1999. Muhammed Abdullah Ruiz. "El Islam en México." [Accessed 14 Feb. 2002]