For Caribbean Muslims, new converts bring new challenges

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - The Nur-e-Islam masjid, a sprawling green and white building running along a side street in a busy, crowded town on the outskirts of the capital, has approximately 5,000 members and is probably the biggest mosque in the country. It may not be for long.

“There are bigger ones being built,” said Nur-e-Islam Imam Sheraz Ali. Seated behind his desk, his large, commanding presence made his small office look even smaller. He didn’t seem to mind his mosque losing its size supremacy. His voice had a hint of glee.

This small island state of a little more than one million people has 126 mosques and counting, according to one of the administrators of trinimuslims.com, a web site that keeps a tally. The country’s Caribbean neighbour Guyana, with a population of a little more than 700,000, sees “two to three” new mosques a year, said a representative of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana.

The pace of construction is evidence of the growing influence and visibility of Caribbean Muslims in recent years, a visibility that is both the cause and result of a slew of new converts from various walks of life.

They’ve changed the Caribbean Muslim community from one that was dominated by the descendents of indentured labourers from India who were born into the faith, to one that is more diverse with a growing proportion of converts.

The change brings with it challenges in how Caribbean Muslims relate with non-Muslims and each other.

“Ten years, ago no one would conceive of the idea of having a black imam,” said Khaleel Wahab, imam of the New Mosque in Georgetown, Guyana. It’s probably the fastest growing in the country, said Wahab. A decade ago, he said, its congregants were predominantly Indian-Guyanese, now they’re African-Guyanese.

“I’m the first black imam in the history of the masjid itself,” he said.

Guyana, which like Trinidad and Tobago has large Indian and African populations, has a history of racial problems that Muslim leaders have tried to keep out of their congregations, said Wahab. He admitted that they persist nevertheless.

“I don’t want to sweep the dust under the carpet as though the place is clean. This is one of the things which they go through,” Wahab said of converts, the majority of whom are of African descent.

Wahab himself converted as a teenager, when black people first embraced Islam because of its association with the Black Power movement in the 70s. Modern black conversions are in part influenced by a back-to-roots movement that found many slaves came from Muslim tribes in Africa, said Shaikh Moeen ul Hack of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana.

Most modern converts practice orthodox Islam rather than the more racially politicised brand promoted by American figures like Elijah Mohammed and Malcolm X, said Wahab. The racial tension is motivated by other factors.

“There’s this perception that when the Africans come to Islam – most of them come from impoverished backgrounds - they come in to get the money of the more economically sound Indian brothers,” said Wahab.

Many new converts who attend Trinidad’s Nur-e-Islam come from the crime-ridden, low-income communities in the vicinity of the mosque. They’re “looking for some direction,” said Imam Ali. But he admitted some birth-Muslims question their motives.

“In some areas, we hear that you’re safer if you’re a Muslim, you’re less likely to be attacked,” said Ali. “And we’ve also heard there are people who dress as Muslims so they can get away with illegal activities. The acceptance of Islam is just uttering a few words. Nobody knows what’s really in a person’s heart.”

But time reveals the less committed, said Ali. And Indians and Africans worship side by side at his mosque.

“The practicing of Islam takes a little effort,” he said. “Those who are not sincere usually realise they won’t really be accepted unless they are practicing.”

Aggravating the birth-Muslim-convert tension and bringing unwelcome attention to the Caribbean Muslim community within the last two decades has been the association of some Caribbean Muslim converts with violent political acts.

In 1990, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jamaat al Muslimeen, an organization made up primarily of black converts, violently attempted to overthrow the government. Since then it’s had a number of confrontations with the law and the state. Its leader, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, is currently on trial for “promoting a terrorist act” and sedition for comments made during a sermon four years ago.

In 2007, a Trinidadian and two Guyanese men were arrested for plotting to blow up a part of the JFK airport in New York. The men were said to have links with the Jamaat al Muslimeen.

At the time New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the Caribbean “is rarely thought of in terms of terrorism but is of increasing concern to us as a crucible in the foment of Islamic radicalism.”

Shaikh Hack of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana said it and other Muslim groups in Guyana work to curb extremism.

“Anytime an idea comes up that will sew the seeds of discord and dissension and create problems, we nip it in the bud. We do not encourage it to germinate and to grow into a plant,” he said.

Other Caribbean groups have a more practical approach to both quelling radicalism and reassuring the public that they don’t support violence.

“We’re in dialogue with (National) Security personnel,” said Imam Mustafa Muhammad of the Central Mosque in Jamaica. “We let them know that if we find someone with certain rhetoric in the community, we would not hesitate to report this person.”

The years following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US by Muslim extremists and subsequent attacks or attempted attacks by Muslims in that country and others have been some of the most challenging for Caribbean Muslims, as they dealt with negative publicity and the constant fear of backlash.

Despite or because of this, it seems the faith has become more empowered. Trinidad and Tobago now has two 24-hour Islamic television networks. And Caribbean Muslims have developed a strong presence on the Internet. The Nur-e-Islam has a Facebook page.

“There’s a lot about Islam in the media - unfortunately a lot of negativity - but generally also, for our part, we’ve been doing a lot more outreach in terms of the media and speaking about what Islam is,” said Suleiman Bulbulia, secretary of the Barbados Muslim Association.

Generally, the multi-religious Caribbean is believed to be tolerant of religious diversity and a welcoming place for Muslims. Caribbean Muslims consider themselves in a much better position than most members of their religion outside the Muslim world.

They watched with bemusement as the French government banned the wearing of the Islamic head scarf in public schools and, more recently, as Swiss voters supported a ban on the construction of mosque minarets. They don’t fear similar state action here.

“These are countries you would have expected to overgrow or overcome all of these negatives. It is surprising that they are the ones facing all these problems,” said Muhammad.