From Cuba to the Ka’ba: A Glimpse Into the Past, Present, and Future of Islam in Cuba
Written by Wendy Díaz
Islam is increasing at a faster rate than ever before in Latin America and the US, where it is estimated that the population of Latino Muslims combined is well over four million (Muslims in Latin America, Muhammad Yusuf Hallar), with 265,000 of those living in the US (Pew Research Center). As such, it is no wonder that Islam has found fertile ground in Cuba, located in the Caribbean Sea, only 90 miles away from Florida. For years, Muslim international students have interacted with the locals and taught them about their religion, some even establishing spaces for worship in private residences. While Islam is not a completely new movement in the island nation, its expansion has been the most consistent in the last two decades.
Cuba has a complicated history, being the only Communist nation in the western hemisphere, it has endured a strained relationship with the United States since Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959. Castro’s increasingly close relationship with the Soviet Union sparked a stringent US-ran embargo which led to Cuba and the US breaking off diplomatic relations in 1961. Many immigration initiatives and tense confrontations ensued, including failed attempts to overthrow and assassinate Castro, as well as the Cuban missile crisis, one of the most dramatic incidences of the Cold War. Recently, however, after the transfer of power from leader Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul Castro in 2008, the relationship between the two nations has improved. Diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba were just restored during the Obama administration.
This has given way to increased travel accessibility to Cuba. Something which Abdul-Malik Ahmed and his family took advantage of in their recent visit to Havana last September 2016. Ahmed, a member of the internationally acclaimed nasheed band, Native Deen, is a Cuban-American Muslim, whose Cuban father and Aruban mother met in the US in the 1970’s through the Nation of Islam. He documented his travels to Cuba through the Islamic online channel DeenTV, in a 6-part series entitled “Rihla (Journey) to Cuba.” The program provides a glimpse into the everyday lives of Muslims in the Cuban capital, Havana, as well as the historical influences of Islam in Cuba.
Ahmed’s father was born in Cuba and some of his distant relatives still live on the island. During his travels, he was able to connect with his roots and tour the Islamic community in Havana. In one of his first stops in Cuba, Ahmed visited a museum called Casa de los árabes, or the “House of the Arabs.” This picturesque cultural center showcases Islamic exhibitions complete with ceramics, textiles, furniture, carpets, clothing, and antique weaponry. It was founded in 1983 and until recently, it housed the only mosque in Havana, with a modest musalla where Muslims held congregational prayers. Explaining the history of Islam in Cuba, Ahmed said, “Islam in Cuba is a fascinating subject. Most of the native Muslims in Cuba converted to Islam because of students who came to study from Muslim countries. However, a good number of Cuban (Africans) that were enslaved were Muslim, and some elements of Islamic culture can be seen through that, as well as the Muslim influence from the Moros (Moors) in Spain.”
The Spanish Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula under the leadership of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela, which crushed the final Muslim stronghold in Granada, took place in 1492, just prior to Christopher Columbus’s accidental voyage to the New World. While Muslims were being expelled from Spain or forced to convert to Christianity, Columbus set sail, looking to find a direct trade route to India, and instead discovering the islands of the Caribbean. Indeed, some historians say that Muslims were among the crew members on board his three ships and others migrated to the Americas fleeing the Spanish Inquisition or were taken there as servants or prisoners. Likewise, Muslim Africans arrived in the Americas as slaves and, although the religion of Islam was suppressed by the Spanish settlers, many Islamic traditions and customs continued to live on.
“The enslaved Africans who were brought to Cuba were forced to convert to Catholicism. However, many of them mixed African polytheistic beliefs with Catholicism and created a hybrid religion called Santería or “the way of the saints,” said Ahmed, “However, despite the strong influence of African pagan beliefs in Cuba, remnants of African Muslim culture emerge through common Cuban names such as Ibrahim, Jamila, Medina, Omar, Mina and even in some of the music and the rituals of Santeria. There are several traditional songs that have Arabic and Islamic influence. Some of the songs of Santeria which have African roots also have Islamic influence.” On Rihla to Cuba, samples of these songs were played, and Arabic words such as “Bismillah,” “As salaamu alaikum,” “Wa alaikum salaam,” and “Qur’an” resound clearly as a testimony to the historical ties between Cuba and Islam. Astoundingly, although these lyrics are a clear indication of their Islamic roots, the general non-Muslim population seems completely unaware.
The number of Muslims in Cuba in 2009 was 9,000, per research by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life entitled, Mapping the Global Muslim population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population, published in October of that same year. That figure is said to have increased to at least 10,000, however, the percentage of Muslims in Cuba remains below 1% of the total population. Most Cubans identify as Catholic although the majority are non-practicing.
Jamal Ahmad Abdul-Karim is a convert of Afro-Cuban descent currently residing in Maryland. He, like Abdul-Malik Ahmed of Native Deen, lives in the US, but has family in Cuba. Abdul-Karim, who hails from Manhattan, has over four decades of experience as an educator, and is presently a history teacher at a private Islamic school. His interest in the historical presence of Islam in the Americas stems from his cultural background. “As a young adult, I was more actively interested in Islam after seeing Al-Hajj Malik Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, following his influence in the media, and later through meeting other so-called orthodox Muslims,” he recalls, “This also coincided with my student activism during my primary college years, the Civil Rights Era, and the Vietnam War period… Then through other personal experiences I endeavored to make my shahada (testimony of faith to embrace Islam), under the late Shaykh Daud Faisal, Imam and founder of the State Street Masjid / American Islamic Mission in Brooklyn, NY.” Although Abdul-Karim, like other Cuban Americans had been brought up as a Christian, he and some other relatives are now practicing Muslims.
Christianity, mainly Roman Catholicism, became the official religion in Cuba after its colonization by Spain. Abdul-Karim feels that embracing Islam reconnected him to his Afro-Cuban roots. He said, “Concerning African peoples that were slaves on the island, Christianity was forced upon them, while in other cases Africans continued to clandestinely practice paganist rituals and beliefs, or they could do so in smaller communities that were formed, when slavery spread throughout the island, and finally ended. Often, traditions, customs, and practices merged into outwardly recognizable ‘Catholic rituals,’ but there remained an African undertone at the core. This was especially true with Africans that were forcefully converted to Christianity.” For Cuban Muslims, learning about Islam is discovering a part of the past that was lost or obscured, and rebelling against a lifestyle that was imposed by Spanish colonial rule.
While Cuba finally gained its independence from Spain in 1902, by the mid 1960’s, religion in general was suppressed by leader Fidel Castro, because it was considered contrary to the spirit of the revolution. Likewise, the Catholic Church was deemed a threat or rival to the new government’s authority. Cuba became a secular state which promoted atheism and church members were not allowed to join the ruling party, although the general public had the right to worship how they pleased. For these Cubans living on the island, who were raised under the banner of a communist and Marxist/Leninist ideology, and who may have never been exposed to any practicing Muslims, a quest to fill a spiritual void or to discover a new religion, especially one as foreign as Islam, was very difficult.
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, only slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania, and considered one of the largest island countries in the world. The capital of Cuba, Havana, is situated in the northwest, and is the most populated city, followed by Santiago and Holguín. Ariadna Guerrero Pérez is a resident of Holguín, and hails from Camagüey, to the east, with Holguín being closer to the southeastern part of Cuba. Guerrero works as a television news reporter and journalist, and found Islam through independent research more than 10 years ago. She took an interest in the field of religious sciences and comparative religion, exploring world religions hoping to find a faith that resonated with her own logic. Through the internet, she was able to contact Muslim Arabs living in Cuba, and eventually a family of Cuban converts who lived in her province. They provided her with information on Islam and her first copy of the Qur’an.
Guerrero declared her shahada during the month of Ramadan in 2008. During that time, there were less than eight Muslims of Cuban origin living in her area. Even to this day, there is no official Islamic center even remotely close to Holguín. According to Guerrero, the prospect of Islam spreading in Cuba seemed impossible until recent times. She said, “Because of the geographic characteristics of isolation, the cultural, economic and political factors that prevailed in Cuba, it would have been too difficult to believe that a Muslim community could actually be created on the Island. Furthermore, due to its own history and the idiosyncrasies and traditions of the Cuban people; Islam is simply a religion too far removed from island reality.” Nevertheless, Castro’s approach to religion may have proven to be a help rather than a hindrance in allowing Islam to grow in Cuba.
Although, for the most part, communism has been opposed to religion, per its constitution, Cuba guarantees its citizens the right to religious freedom. Guerrero explained, “Fidel (Castro) did not personally declare war on religion, but for a long time the Cuban government viewed religious institutions, especially Catholic and Protestant Christians, who were at one point opposed to the Cuban revolution, with distrust.” Moreover, Castro maintained close ties and sympathized with majority Muslim countries like Palestine, Syria, Algeria, Iran, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Egypt, and Pakistan. He found a common ground with other Muslim or Arab nations at odds with the US and formed alliances with them, allowing students from these countries entrance to Cuba to study medicine and other professions while Cuban students were given similar opportunities in their lands. “As a result of the arrival of these young people who brought with them their customs, culture and religious rituals, Islam began to be known in Cuba,” Guerrero described, “Through the dawah (propagation) exercised by the foreigners who studied and still study in Cuba, the Cubans began to see and understand the Muslim religion more closely.” Undoubtedly, Cuban foreign exchange students began to share their experiences in Muslim lands upon their return, further encouraging others to study Islamic religion and culture.
Countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan have provided aid to the growing Islamic presence in Cuba through monetary donations and distribution of Islamic materials, including copies of the Qur’an and other books. While other non-governmental organizations from varying countries provide literature, prayer rugs, clothing, and even dates during the month of Ramadan to the Cuban Muslims. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan proposed to fund and build a Turkish-styled mosque in Cuba during his visit to the island in February 2015. Saudi Arabia made a similar proposition beforehand and is set to soon finance the construction of a mosque in Old Havana.
In Rihla to Cuba, Ahmed visits and sits with fellow believers at Masjid Abdullah, a fairly new mosque close to Casa de los Árabes. Although Havana is the only city which houses an official mosque in Cuba, there are prayer spaces or musallas scattered there and throughout the island. One of these is El Centro de estudios islámicos Al-Masumin, which is predominately Shia, also located in the capital. Bilal Castillo, a Cuban convert of 8 years, was the imam in Al-Masumin. He notes, “My community, Al-Masumin, was the first Islamic center to be inaugurated in Cuba. It has been operating for several years and interacting with the community… and has been involved in multiple cultural projects in addition to hosting religious meetings and services.” Imam Castillo believes that Islam in Cuba is still in its very early stages, but hopes that with increased awareness of the growing Muslim presence, things will change. “Cuba has been one of the last Latin American countries to accept Islam. It makes the island's Muslims a socio-cultural-religious phenomenon with little history or academic focus,” he said, “Although in recent years there has been much interest on the part of researchers and intellectuals about this group.” Now with growing academic and media interest and foreign investors promising suitable places of worship for the increasing Muslim community of Cuba, it appears that Islam will continue blooming under the tropical Caribbean sun.