View source for Islam in Peru

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{infobox religious group
| group      = Peruvian Muslims
| image      = Mezquita de Magdalena - Patio 01.jpg
| image_caption = The [[Mosque of Lima|Mosque of Magdalena del Mar]] in [[Lima]]
| population = {{Circa|2,600|lk=yes}} (0.005%)<ref name="mrnet"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Peru |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/peru/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Islamic%20Association,is%20mostly%20Pakistani%20in%20origin. |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}}</ref>
| regions    = Mostly in [[Lima]] and other urban areas
| religions  = [[Sunni Islam]]
| languages   = {{Plainlist|
* '''National language'''<br>{{Hlist|[[Peruvian Spanish]]}}
*'''Regional and minority languages'''<br>{{Hlist|[[Arabic]]|[[Bengali language|Bengali]]|[[Languages of Peru#Indigenous Languages|Indigenous Peruvian languages]]}}}}
}}
{{Islam by country}}

The statistics for '''Islam in Peru''' estimate a total [[Muslim]] population of 2,600<!-- Population is uncertain different organisation frame different statics 
)US freedom report:- 2600
)Pew Research:- 1000
)Malaysia Article(2024):- 5000
[https://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=2330070]
)Book:-Shaikh, Farzana. "Islam and Islamic groups: a worldwide reference guide", 1992

I taken a maximum number which was s mentioned in Spanish Wikipedia.





 --> largely based in the capital city [[Lima]];<ref name="Shaikh">{{pages needed|date=January 2024}}Shaikh, Farzana. "Islam and Islamic groups: a worldwide reference guide", 1992</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Shaikh |first=Farzana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlYUAQAAIAAJ |title=Islam and Islamic Groups: A Worldwide Reference Guide |publisher=Longman Group UK |year=1992 |isbn=0582091462 |pages=192–193}}</ref> this represents 0.015% out of total population of 32,555,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaikh |first=Farzana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlYUAQAAIAAJ |title=Islam and Islamic Groups: A Worldwide Reference Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Longman Group UK |isbn=978-0-582-09146-7 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
In 1560, the [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Spanish rulers of Peru]] sentenced Lope de la Pena, described as a "[[Moors|Moor]] from [[Guadalajara]]", to life imprisonment for the crime of "having practiced and spread [[Islam]]" in [[Cusco|Cuzco]] and was also required to wear the [[Sanbenito]] around his neck for his entire imprisonment.<ref>Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history: the Black experience in the Americas, Volume 4, page 1561</ref><ref>Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas, Page 147</ref><ref>Central Institute of Islamic Research, Pakistan, Islamic studies, Volume 45, Issues 1-2, 2006</ref> Other sources give his name as Alvaro Gonzalez.<ref name="Lea">Lea, Henry Charles. "Inquisition of the Spanish Dependencies", Page 321</ref>

His colleague, the [[mulatto]] "son of a Spaniard [Juan Solano] and a black woman",<ref name="Lea" /><ref name="Bowser-p251">Bowser, Frederick P. "The African Slave in Colonial Peru", Page 251</ref><ref>Louis Cardaillac, "[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/casa_0076-230x_1976_num_12_1_2230?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard& Le Probleme Morisque en Amerique], Page 293</ref> Luis Solano was similarly convicted of spreading Islam, but was executed for the offence.<ref name="Bowser-p251" /><ref>The African Slave in Colonial Peru 1524-1650 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974), 251.</ref>

As persecution increased in the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish dependencies]], Muslims ceased identifying themselves by their religion and became nominal Christians; eventually Islam disappeared from the country entirely.<ref name="LAMU">LAMU, [https://archive.today/20040202113944/http://www.latinmuslims.com/history.html History of Islam in Peru]</ref>

In 1911, Stuart McNairn, a British [[missionary]] based in [[Cusco]], wrote about "God's call to His Church to go in and possess the land [in] [[Africa]], in view of the great Moslem advance. We must take the Light to the Dark Continent before the apostles of Mohammedanism enshroud it in yet greater darkness".<ref>[[Wherry, E. M.]] "Islam and Missions", 1911{{page needed|date=January 2024}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2024}}

Islam was reintroduced to Peru in the 1940s during the [[1948 Palestinian exodus|Palestinian exodus]] by Palestinian and Lebanese Muslims fleeing from the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|Arab-Israeli war]].<ref name="LAMU" />

In 1974, the [[Nation of Islam]], through its counterpart in [[Belize]], began importing [[Pacific Whiting]] fish from Peru to the [[United States]], where it was sold as an Islamic alternative to mainstream fish markets.<ref>Curtis, Edward E. "Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam", Page 105</ref>

A Peruvian by the name of Louis Castro converted to [[Islam]] and later studied at the [[Islamic University of Madinah]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ahsani, S. A. H.|title=Muslims in Latin America: A Survey—Part I.|journal=Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs|issue=5|year=1984|page=458}}</ref> In 1993, the Muslim community opened a [[masjid]] in the [[Jesús María District, Lima|Jesús María District]] of the capital, but it was later closed due to financial difficulty. Another location was opened in the [[Villa El Salvador]] district, but met with similar difficulties and also closed.<ref name="LAMU" />

=== Recent history ===
{{Historical populations
|align       = left
|pop_name    = Population
|source      = <ref name="Shaikh"/><ref name="mrnet">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mrnet.org/system/files/library/islam_in_latin_am.pdf |date=March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232511/http://www.mrnet.org/system/files/library/islam_in_latin_am.pdf|title=Islam in Latin America|author=Cook, Matt|archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|1980 |5,000
|1992 |15,000
}}
There are a handful of [[Islamic]] organizations in [[Peru]], including the ''Asociación Islámica del Perú'', the ''Musulmanes Peruanos'' of Naqshbandi Haqqani Tariqa and ''Asociación Islam Peru'', in [[Lima]].

In 2007, there were unsubstantiated claims that Islamist militant sympathisers were helping arrange entrance to the United States through their country.<ref>http://www.livinginperu.com/news-4948-law-order-us-target-muslim-terrorist-o{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The Latin American Muslim Unity (LAMU) organization, based in [[Fresno, California|Fresno, California, United States]], has drawn up a proposal for the first Islamic orphanage in Peru, although it has not yet materialized.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

In January 2011, Peru joined a number of other Latin American countries in announcing its recognition of the [[State of Palestine]] as a legitimate nation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peru recognizes Palestinian state |website=[[Reuters]] |date=24 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215174855/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-peru-idUSTRE70N5ZW20110124 |archive-date=2022-12-15 |url-status=live |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-peru-idUSTRE70N5ZW20110124}}</ref> This decade also marked a migration of Muslims from [[Bangladesh]] and other Asian countries to Peru as well.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 2016, Lebanese [[Shia Islam|Shiite]] group [[Hezbollah]] announced the establishment of a local branch, based in [[Department of Apurímac|Apurímac]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Hezbollah: llegó al Perú y anuncia inscripción de partido político |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLS3Ba_T6NA |date=2016-06-19 |type=News report |language=es |publisher=[[Latina Televisión|Latina Noticias]] |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Peru}}
*[[Latin American Muslims]]
*[[Arab Peruvians]]
*[[Mosque of Lima]]
*[[Hispanic and Latino American Muslims|Latino Muslims]]
*[[Religion in Peru]]

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.islamperu.com Information about Islam en Perú] (Spanish) 

{{Commons Category}}{{Peru-stub}}{{Islam-stub}}{{Mosques in South America}}
{{Islam in the Americas}}

[[Category:Islam in Peru| ]]
[[Category:Islam in South America|Peru]]
[[Category:Islam by country|Peru]]
[[Category:Religion in Peru]]