Islam in Jamaica

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The statistics for Islam in Jamaica estimate a total Muslim population of 5,463, representing 0.2 percent of the population. There are many Islamic organizations and mosques in Jamaica, including the Islamic Council of Jamaica and the Islamic Education and Dawah Center, both located in Kingston and offering classes in Islamic studies and daily prayers in congregation. Outside of Kingston, organizations include Masjid Al Haq in Mandeville, Masjid Al-Ihsan in Negril, Masjid-e-Hikmah in Ocho Rios, and the Port Maria Islamic Center in Saint Mary.

The first Muslims in Jamaica were slaves brought from West Africa. Over time most of them lost their Islamic identity due to forced conversions to Christianity.

About 16 percent of the 37,000 indentured Indian immigrants who arrived to Jamaica between 1845 and 1917 were Muslims. Muhammad Khan, who came to Jamaica in 1915 at the age of 15, built Masjid Ar-Rahman in Spanish Town in 1957, while Westmoreland's Masjid Hussein was built by Muhammad Golaub, who immigrated with his father at the age of 7. The indentured Muslims laid the foundation of the eight other masjids established in Jamaica since the 1960s, with the advent of an indigenous Jamaican Muslim community that now forms the majority of the Muslim populace on the island.

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Islamic Horizons Sept/Oct 2001

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