Talk:Islam in the Dominican Republic
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"The native Taíno Indians of Hispaniola claimed a black people had previously come to the island, having on the tops of their spears a metal which they called gua-nin, samples of which Columbus sent to the Sovereigns to have them assayed. These samples were found to have the same ratio of alloy as those in African Guinea"
Can anyone cite any sources for this? The sources given don't seem to indicate absolutly anything on said claim.
Also, what do Africans have to do with Islam in Hispaniola? If there were any that were brought over from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, no credible, written sources seem to have anything on it, so for the time being we shouldnt assume they were Muslims.
I myself am a Dominican-Arab Muslim and know a good deal on the history of the Dominican Republic and it's people, but prior to the XXth century, there are no indications of Islam in Hispaniola. I think this article should focus more on the thousands of Arab Muslims from Lebanon and the vast amount of Indian and Pakistani medical students in the country, not on what ifs about African exploration.
[edit] I agree, but...
It was cited at the bottom of the article, and the information is available from numerous other sources. I included it because (1) I personally felt it was interesting information, and (2) If the article is about Islam in the Dominican Republic, I feel the first arrival of Muslims or an Islamic presence on the island should be included. The same information cited in the article validates that the Africans brought to the island were Wolof Muslims from West Africa. Being a Dominican Muslim convert myself, I felt this was interesting and important information about the country's history which has been neglected. It also directly relates to Dominican converts who are oftentimes inspired by their African-Muslim historical identity (similar to African Americans). Further, wiki articles on Islam in North America also include the historical fact that the first Muslims in the Americas were Africans, hence, it should be included in this article.
Regarding the immigrant population in DR, it sounds like you would have more information on that than I do, and I'd appreciate it if you could add this to the article. I've tried doing research to come up with statistics or history on this very important group but so far, I've been unable to find it.--User:Sir192
