There is very little information about the origins of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, but most sources claim it arrived with either Lebanese

Lebanese people

The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....

 or Syrian

Demographics of Syria

Syrians today are an overall indigenous Levantine people. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history...

 immigrants and some other Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

erners like Egyptians

Egyptians

Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

, Iranians

Iranian peoples

The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...

, and Turks

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

. According to a World Values Survey

World Values Survey

The World Values Survey is a global research project that explores people’s values and beliefs, how they change over time and what social and political impact they have. It is carried out by a worldwide network of social scientists who, since 1981, have conducted representative national surveys in...

 conducted in 1996 and used by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, there were some 110,000 Muslims in Mexico. However, according to the 2010 census conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) there were only 3,700 Muslims in the country.

Organizations

Today, most Mexican Islamic organizations focus on grassroot missionary activities which are most effective at the community level.

The Centro Cultural Islámico de México (CCIM), a Sunni organization headed by Omar Weston, a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 born Mexican convert to Islam, has been active in several big cities in northern and central Mexico. In the state of Morelos

Morelos

Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....

, the CCIM built a prayer hall and centre for recreation, learning and conferences, called Dar as Salaam, which also operates Hotel Oasis, a hotel that offers halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

 holidays for Muslim travellers 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

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 at the University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

. Apart from CCIM there is a branch of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi

Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order

The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order is a modern dervish order of Sufism. It is a branch of the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqah of Istanbul, Turkey, and was founded in the early 1980s by American Sufis Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi and Fariha al-Jerrahi after they received direct transmission from their teacher,...

 Sufi Order in Mexico City which is often at odds with the traditionalist Muslim community and is headed by two women, Shaykha Fatima Fariha and Shaykha Amina Teslima. There is also a small Salafi

Salafi

A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...

 organization (the Centro Salafi de México) led by Muhammad Abdullah Ruiz (a former deputee to Weston) and an educational centre managed mainly by Muslims from Egypt and the Middle East, el Centro Educativo de la Comunidad Musulmana en México, within the capital city.

Islam in Chiapas

The Spanish Murabitun

Murabitun

The Murabitun is a worldwide Islamic movement founded by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, with communities in around 20 different countries....

 community, the Comunidad Islámica en España, based in Granada

Granada

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

 in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, had strong ties to the Chiapas

Chiapas

Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...

 community. The Spanish missionary Muhammad Nafia (formerly Aureliano Pérez), now emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of the Comunidad Islámica en México, arrived in the state

States of Mexico

The United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...

 of Chiapas shortly after the Zapatista

Zapatista Army of National Liberation

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....

 uprising and established a commune in the city of San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal de las Casas

San Cristóbal de las Casas also known as it's native Tsotsil name, Jovel is a city and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas...

. Since then there have been reports of indigenous

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 Mayans and Tzotzils converting to Islam. President

President of Mexico

The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...

 Vicente Fox

Vicente Fox

Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...

 voiced concerns about the influence of the fundamentalism and possible connections to the Zapatistas and the Basque

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

 terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), but it appeared that converts had no interest in political extremism. In San Cristóbal, the Murabitun

Murabitun

The Murabitun is a worldwide Islamic movement founded by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, with communities in around 20 different countries....

 established a pizzeria, a carpentry workshop and a Quranic school (madrasa) where children learned Arabic and prayed five times a day in the backroom of a residential building. Nowadays, most of the Mayan Muslims have left the Murabitun

Murabitun

The Murabitun is a worldwide Islamic movement founded by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, with communities in around 20 different countries....

 and established ties with the CCIM, now following the orthodox Sunni school of Islam. They built the Al-Kausar Mosque in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Mosques

• Suriya Mosque in Torreon, Coahuila.
• Dar es Salaam Mosque in Tequesquitengo, Morelos.
• Tahaarah Mosque in Comitan, Chiapas.
• Aisha Mosque in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.
• Salafi Mosque Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab in Mexico City.
• Amina de la Luz Mosque in Mexico City.
• Masyid Al Islam
  Masyid Al Islam
  In the middle of this year a group of Muslims began the idea of reopening an Islamic center in Tijuana.- Project of Masyid Al Islam Tijuana :...
  
   Tijuana Beaches, Baja California, Mexico.

Sources

• Centro Cultural Islamico de México, A.C. (Spanish)
• Mexico Discovers Islam, Michelle Al-Nasr
• Islam is Gaining a Foothold in Chiapas, Jens Glüsing, Der Spiegel
  Der Spiegel
  Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
  
  
• Adherents.com - Mexico, continued...