This is sputniknews.com‘s closer look to an Islam community that lives in the heart of the state of Chiapas, Mexico.
Few would be surprised at seeing a girl wearing a hijab in Mexico’s San Cristóbal, as for more than 20 years there have been Muslim communities living there. Today the city may be considered the unofficial center of Muslims in the state of Chiapas.
The history of Islam in Chiapas is linked, oddly enough, to the 1994 Zapatista uprising. Shortly after the rebellion, a group of Spanish preachers suggested converting the rebels to Islam to Subcomandante Marcos, the main ideologist of the group.
However, the Zapatista leader refused to meet with the preachers from Spain and hence they started converting local people on their own.
A Muslim indigenous woman walks at a mosque in the outskirts of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas state, Mexico
Over time, the local Muslims separated into four groups. Among the members of the Chiapas Muslim community, the majority consists of Maya and Tzotzil peoples.
A Muslim indigenous woman prays at a mosque in the outskirts of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas state, Mexico
According to the last census of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in 2010 there were 3,760 Muslims in the country, 110 of whom lived in Chiapas.
However, these data may be considered obsolete. According to some Muslim groups, there are currently around 12,000 Muslims in Mexico. However, these figures are pending confirmation.
Source: https://sputniknews.com/