Mexico has a religious minority ofMuslims, mostly constituted by converts,[1] and Mexicans of African, Asian, European, and South American origin, as well as their children, born in Mexico.
Mexico is apredominantly Christian country, with adherents ofIslam representing a very small minority. But they are free toproselytize and buildplaces of worship in the country[2] due to thesecular nature of the state, established byMexico's constitution.
According to the 2010INEGI census, there were only about 2,500 individuals who identifiedIslam as their religion.[3] And the number of Muslims in Mexico had risen to more than 7,500 as of 2020.[4][5]
Muhammad Ruiz Al Meksiki, general director of the Salafi Center of Mexico (CSM), had estimated that in 2015, there were about 10,000 Muslims in Mexico and has been rapidly growing after due to excessive waves ofmass immigration fromAfrican,Arab, andSouth Asian countries with a minority ofEurasian andEuropean countries.[6]
During the MexicanPorfiriate, there was an open policy regarding investment and migration, mainly of people of European countries.
Although, some immigrants from other countries, such asTurkey,Syria,Lebanon andPalestine, also arrived during that period.
For the most part, they were Christians escapingreligious persecution of the Ottoman Empire; but there were a fewJews, somenon Sunni Muslims, and people ofother religions, also immigrating into Mexico due to economic opportunity or escape from religious persecution.
The muslims who immigrated during the Porfiriate however, decided to settle down in places such asYucatán,Veracruz,Nuevo León,Coahuila,Mexico City andPuebla; due to the economic opportunities said states had to offer.
Once there, several Islamic Organizations were formed, with most of them adhering to theSunni Branch ofIslam; however,Salafists,Shia's, andSufi muslims also have presence and mosques of their own.
Today, most Mexican Islamic organizations focus on grassroots missionary activities, which are most effective at the community level.
The most important Islamic organizations in Mexico include:
The Educative Center of the Muslim Community In Mexico:Sunni organization, which operates inMexico City. It runs an educational center, managed mainly by Muslims from Egypt and the Middle East, and is run bySaid Louahabi.
Cultural Islamic Center of Mexico:Sunni organization headed byOmar Weston, a British-born Mexican convert to Islam, which has been active in several cities of northern and central Mexico.
In the state ofMorelos, it operates amosque, called “Dar as Salaam”, and it also operates Hotel Oasis, a hotel that offershalal vacation alternatives for Muslim travelers and accommodation for non-Muslims sympathetic to Islam.
This group was the subject of a study carried out by British anthropologist Mark Lindley-Highfield, of the Department of Anthropology at theUniversity of Aberdeen.
Musalla Al-Ajirah: Run byMuhammad Abdullah Ruiz, a former deputy to Weston, theMusalla is considered to be the only center ofsalafists in the country.
Sufi Order in Mexico City: Sufi organization, which is a Mexican branch of theNur Ashki Jerrahi order, headed by two women,ShaykhaFatima Fariha andShaykhaAmina Teslima.
Al Hikmah Institute of Arabic Language and Culture:Sunni organization run byIsa Rojas. A Mexican convert to Islam, whostudied Islam in theUniversity of Medina, within the capital city.[7]
Amir al-Muminin Islamic Center:Twelver Shia organization which operates inMexico City,Mexico State, andMorelos. It hosts religious events for Mexican Shia Muslims, such as the commemoration ofMuharram,[8]Mawlid,[9]Fatimiyya,[10] among others.[11]
It also provideshalal food options for Mexican Muslims[12] and educative resources for Shia's, Sunnis, and non Muslims alike.[13]
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: Using 2o10 data. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2025) |
Islam represents less than 0.01% of the population in Mexico.[14]
The approximate number of Muslims by State goes as follows:
| Federal Entity | Muslim Population (2010[update]) |
|---|---|
 Mexico (whole country) | 2,000 |
 Aguascalientes | 32 |
 Baja California | 190 |
 Baja California Sur | 20 |
 Campeche | 32 |
 Coahuila | 70 |
 Colima | 16 |
 Chiapas | 650 |
 Chihuahua | 78 |
 Durango | 34 |
 Guanajuato | 100 |
 Guerrero | 26 |
 Hidalgo | 38 |
 Jalisco | 202 |
 México (state) | 117 |
 Michoacán | 200 |
 Morelos | 98 |
 Nayarit | 15 |
 Nuevo León | 126 |
 Oaxaca | 758 |
 Puebla | 106 |
 Querétaro | 100 |
 Quintana Roo | 142 |
 San Luis Potosí | 56 |
 Sinaloa | 200 |
 Sonora | 45 |
 Tabasco | 13 |
 Tamaulipas | 63 |
 Tlaxcala | 19 |
 Veracruz | 86 |
 Yucatán | 43 |
 Zacatecas | 13 |
 Mexico City | 500 |
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Islam gained significant popularity in Indigenous communities in the1930s due to mass Spaniard and Moroccan settlement, resulting in Mayans becoming indentured servants for the two, for some periods of time as well as business owners interbreeding with the Native women. By1957, about 200 people of Mayan descent had been involved with Islam. This amount did not significantly rise until the late1970s but practicing stayed stagnant within the communities.[15]
In1978 The SpanishMurabitun community, now based in Granada, Spain, had one of its missionaries involved in thespread of Islam throughout the1980s and1990s.[16]
Muhammad Nafia (formerly Aureliano Pérez), arrived in the state ofChiapas shortly after theZapatista uprising and established a commune in the city of San Cristóbal.
The group, characterized asanti-capitalistic, entered an ideological pact with the socialistZapatistas[17] group. ThePresidentVicente Fox voiced concerns about the influence of thefundamentalism and possible connections of theZapatistas to theBasque terrorist organizationEuskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), but it appeared that most converts had no interest in political extremism.[18]
By 1994, manyindigenousMayans and more than 700[19]Tzotzils had converted to Islam.[20][21]
In San Cristóbal, theMurabitun established a pizzeria, a carpentry workshop[22] and aQuranic school (madrasa) where children learnedArabic and prayed five times a day in the backroom of a residential building. It is reported that women inheadscarves had become a common sight by then.[18]
Nowadays, most of the Mayan Muslims[23] have left theMurabitun and established ties with the CCIM, now following theorthodox Sunni school of Islam. They built theAl-Kausar Mosque in San Cristobal de las Casas. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Native Mexicans today are not muslims.
This is a list of some, but by no means allmosques and Islamic meeting centers in Mexico.[citation needed]
InChiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, a fountain, known locally as "La Corona" or "La Pila" was built to provide the population with water.
This architectural work was built in annealed brick with a strongMudejar influence.[26] It was built by the Spanish Dominican friars during the Colonial era in the sixteenth century.[27]
TheMorisco Kiosk (Moorish Kiosk) inColonia Santa María la Ribera was made by José Ramón Ibarrola for the Universal Exhibition of New Orleans from 1884-1885, in the neo-Mudejar style that was prevailing in Spain in the 19th century.[28][29]
Fitra Ismu Kusumo,Indonesian artist living inMexico.
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