Islam in Colombia

The statistics for Islam in Colombia estimate a total Muslim population of 10,000, representing 0.02 percent of the population [ [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90247.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2007 - Colombia] ] . There are a number of Islamic organizations in Colombia, including Islamic centers in San Andrés, Bogotá, Guajira, Nariño, and Santa Marta. There are also primary and secondary Islamic schools in Bogotá and Maicao. Maicao plays host to the continent's second largest mosque, the Mosque of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab.

Over the past few years, Islam and the Arab-Muslim world seem to have entered even more poignantly into the Colombian imagination, gaining a presence in political discourse and strongly influencing popular culture. This Arab cultural influence in Colombia is often attributed to the Brazilian telenovela "El Clon"Fact|date=October 2007 and Lebanese-Colombian pop icon Shakira. But Arab-Muslim influence in Colombia preceded Shakira: the protagonist of Gabriel García Márquez's novel "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," for example, is half-Arab.Fact|date=October 2007

It should be noted that most Arab immigrants to Colombia came during the first half of the 20th century and were Maronite Christians mainly from Lebanon.Fact|date=October 2007

ee also

*Arab diaspora in Colombia
*Palestinian Colombian

References