Islam in Puerto Rico

Religion in Puerto Rico

Islamic Center in Ponce

In 2007, there were over 5,000 Muslims residing in Puerto Rico, representing about 0.1% of the population.[1][2] The early Muslim community largely consisted mainly of Palestinian and Jordanian immigrants who arrived between 1958 and 1962. At the time, the vast majority of Puerto Rico's Muslims lived in Caguas[3] – a city in the island's central region located south of San Juan – where they operated restaurants, jewelry stores and clothing outlets. A storefront mosque on Calle Padre Colón in the Río Piedras district of San Juan served the entire religious community on the island during earlier years, however, today there are mosques and Islamic centers in Aguadilla, Arecibo, Hatillo, Ponce, Vega Alta, and San Juan.[4] The American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA) also has an office in Cayey.

## History

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Muslims first appeared in Puerto Rico in the 16th century when so-called Moriscos served as adventurers, traders, or enslaved laborers during the Spanish colonization of the Americas.[5] Enslaved Muslims from West Africa were also transported to the island during the same period. Although the number of Muslims living in Puerto Rico was probably significant, these early communities didn't survive and were soon converted to Catholicism or other more syncretic African diasporic faiths.[5]

Recently, there has been an increasing number of converts to Islam.[5]

## Notable mosques

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This is a list of notable mosques (Arabic: Masjid, Spanish: Mezquita) in Puerto Rico, including Islamic places of worship that do not qualify as traditional mosques.

Name  | Image  | Location  | Year  | Group[a] | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

Centro Islámico de Ponce |  | Ponce |  |  | [6]
Río Piedras Mosque |  | San Juan | 1981  |  | First mosque established in Puerto Rico. The mosque has a capacity of 200 men and 40 women and is located next to the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.[7]
Al-Faruq Mosque |  | Vega Alta | 1992  |  | Largest mosque in Puerto Rico, with a capacity of 1,200 men and 120 women.[7]
Masjid Montehiedra |  | San Juan | 2007  |  | The mosque has a capacity of 400 men and 50 women. Features an Islamic weekend school.[7]

1. ^ S = Sunni Islam; SH = Shia Islam; A = Ahmadiyya; ND = Non-denominational

## Notable Puerto Rican Muslims

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* Hector Camacho Jr., professional boxer[8]

## See also

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* Islam portal
* Puerto Rico portal

* Latin American Muslims
* Islam by country
* Latino Muslims

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Institute of Islamic Information and Education: Number of Muslims and Percentage in Puerto Rico Retrieved June 11, 2009.
2. ^ Percent Puerto Rican population that are Muslims Retrieved June 8, 2009. Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ Muslim Minorities in the West: Visible and Invisible, By Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Jane I. Smith, pg. 266
4. ^ Muslim Students Association @ Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
5. ^ a b c Chitwood, Ken (17 May 2018). "A peek into the lives of Puerto Rican Muslims and what Ramadan means post Hurricane Maria". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
6. ^ "Islamic Center of Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico - Salatomatic - your guide to mosques & Islamic schools". www.salatomatic.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
7. ^ a b c "Salaams From Puerto Rico: A Preview of Islam in the Caribbean". MVSLIM. 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
8. ^ "Hector Camacho Jr. Is His Father's Son". 8 August 2013.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Chitwood, Ken (2025-10-14). Borícua Muslims: Everyday Cosmopolitanism among Puerto Rican Converts to Islam. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-4773-3246-7.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Islam in Puerto Rico.

* Muslim Students Association @ Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
* A Database of Islamic Centers and Mosques in Puerto Rico

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