Brazil is a predominantlyChristian country withIslam being a minority religion, first brought byAfrican slaves and then byLebanese andSyrian immigrants.[1] Due to thesecular nature ofBrazil's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build places of worship in the country. However, Islam is not independently included in charts and graphics representing religions in Brazil due to its very small size, being grouped in "other religions", which generally represent about 1% of the country's population. The number of Muslims in Brazil, according to the2010 census, was 35,207 out of a population of approximately 191 million people.[2] This corresponds to 0.018% of the Brazilian population.
The history of Muslims in Brazil begins with the importation of African slave labor to the country. Brazil obtained 37% of all African slaves traded. Over 3 million slaves were sent to Brazil. Starting around 1550, thePortuguese began to trade African slaves to work the sugar plantations once the nativeTupi people deteriorated. Scholars claim that Brazil received more enslaved Muslims than anywhere else in the Americas.[3]
During the days of the Barbary Wars, some native Brazilians came into interaction with Muslim lands. It was noted by Dr. Antonio Sosa, a Portuguese cleric held captive in North Africa in the 1570s, that the port ofAlgiers maintained one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world including Amerindians from Iberian colonies in the New World.[4]Barbary pirates were known to attack the shipping of slaves and merchandise while taking prisoners coming from the Americas. In 1673, 140 prisoners were taken from a Rio de Janeiro fleet, while a 1674 capture of a Brazilian ship contributed in the decision to increase naval protection.[5]
The Muslim uprising of 1835 inBahia illustrates the condition and legacy of resistance among the community ofMalês, as African Muslims were known in 19th-century Bahia. Most participants were Nago, the local designation for ethnicYoruba.Pacifico Licutan was one of the leaders of the revolt. Many of the "Malês" had been soldiers and captives in the wars betweenOyo,Ilorin and other Yorubacity-states in the early part of the 19th century. Other participants includedHausa andNupe clerics, along with Jeje orDahomean soldiers who had converted toIslam or fought in alliance withMuslims.[6]"
Beginning on the night of January 24, 1835, and continuing the following morning, a group of African born slaves occupied the streets ofSalvador and for more than three hours they confronted soldiers and armed civilians.[7][8]
Even though it was short lived, the revolt was the largest slave revolt in Brazil and the largest urban slave revolt in the Americas.[9] About 300 Africans took part and the estimated death toll ranges from fifty to a hundred, although exact numbers are unknown. This number increases even more if the wounded who died in prisons or hospitals are included.[8] Many participants were sentenced to death, prison, whippings, or deportation. The rebellion had nationwide repercussions. Fearing the example might be followed, the Brazilian authorities began to watch themalês very carefully and in subsequent years intensive efforts were made to force conversions toCatholicism and erase the popular memory of and affection towardsIslam.[10] However, the African Muslim community was not erased overnight, and as late as 1910 it is estimated there were still some 100,000 African Muslims living in Brazil.[11]
Following the revolt of theAfro-Brazilian Muslim community, the next period of Islam in the country was primarily the result of Muslim immigration from theMiddle East andSouth East Asia. Some 11 millionSyrian andLebanese (mostlyMaronite andOrthodox Christians) immigrants live throughout Brazil.[12] The biggest concentration of Muslims is found in the greaterSão Paulo region.[citation needed] There is also a growingBangladeshi Brazilian community, numbering in the thousands.[13]
Architecture and cuisine also bear the trademarks of the culture brought to the hemisphere by the Arabs. As an example, the second largest fast food chain in Brazil isHabib's, which serves Arab food. The diversity of influence also stretches to businesses such as the textile industry, which is mostly run by merchants of Syrian-Lebanese origin (mainly of Christian faith). The São Paulo city council has a Muslim Councillor by the name of Mohammad Murad, a lawyer.[14] A number of mosques dot the greater São Paulo area, the oldest and most popular of these being found onAvenida do Estado. Since its establishment, the mosque has added a Quranic school, library, kitchen and meeting hall for various functions.
According to theBraziliancensus of 2010[15] there were 35,167Muslims living in the country, primarily concentrated in the states ofSão Paulo andParaná, compared to 22,450 Muslims in 1990 and 27,239 in 2000.[16] There are significant Muslim communities in the industrialsuburbs of the city ofSão Paulo and in the port city ofSantos, as well as in smaller communities inParaná State in the coastal region and inCuritiba andFoz do Iguaçu in theArgentina-Brazil-Paraguay triborder area. The community is overwhelminglySunni; the Sunnis are almost completely assimilated into broader society. The recentShi'ite immigrants gravitate to small insular communities in São Paulo, Curitiba, and Foz do Iguaçu.
A recent trend has been the increase inconversions to Islam among non-Arab citizens.[17] A recent Muslim source estimated that there are close to 10,000 Muslim converts living in Brazil.[12] During the past 30 years, Islam has become increasingly noticeable in Brazilian society by building not only mosques, but alsolibraries, arts centres, andschools and also by fundingnewspapers.[18] The growth of Islam within Brazil is demonstrated in the fact that 2 of the 3 existing Portuguese translations of theQur'an were created by Muslim translators in São Paulo.[12]
According to theIBGE census, 83.2% of Muslims are self-declared as white, 12.2% are mixed, 3.8% black, 0.8% orientals and 0.04% indigenous. Almost all Brazilian Muslims (99,2%) have been living in urban areas. Despite 60% of Brazilian Muslims being men, 70% of converted Muslims are women.[19]
There are over 150mosques in Brazil and the number is growing.[20] As has been the case in many of the larger metropolitan mosques inSouth America, foreign assistance and individual effort have played major roles in the sustainability of the mosques in the greater São Paulo area. For example, the Imam of the Av. Do Estado Mosque is from the Middle East and often Imams are chosen jointly by the Mosques' management committees and the Arab governments that pay for the Imam's services. Ismail Hatia, a South African who came to Brazil in 1956, built a mosque inCampinas many years ago. Hatia, who also runs a language school, felt that the approximately 50 Muslim families in Campinas were in dire need of some community organization to help provide cohesion and direction for the Muslims. The Campinas mosque now holds regular Fridayjuma'at prayers.
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