Islam and Muslims in South America

Abstract

Islam has a religious presence with growing numbers and visibility in all South American societies. While there was already a Muslim presence in the subcontinent in the early times of European colonization, the first Islamic institutions in South America were created in the early twentieth century, aiming to transmit the Muslim identity to the new generations born in South America. The end of mass immigration and the cultural assimilation of new generations led to a gradual decline of the Muslim communities. This situation lasted until the 1980s when a process of conversion of individuals without Muslim background to Islam started, as well as a movement of updating and revival of traditions in several Muslim communities. In the 2000s, the Muslim religious landscape was diversified by converts and by the arrival of new immigrants and transnational Islamic movements. Therefore, the Muslim communities of South America entered the twenty-first century marked by dynamics of expansion and pluralization, as well as by their strong integration in the local and national societies where they exist.