Islam in Haiti
From Mw
The estimated population of Haitian Muslims is about 3250, representing approximately 0.04 percent of the population, although local Muslims claim the actual number is larger, nearing 5,000 due to many Muslims that supposedly aren't counted due to inaccessibility or unavailability. Islamic organizations in Haiti include the Bilal Mosque and Islamic Center in Cap-Haïtien, which offers programs in Islamic studies and daily prayers, and the Centre Spirituel Allah ou Akbar in Port au Prince.
The history of Islam on the island of Hispaniola (which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic) begins with the slavery in Haïti. Many Muslims were imported as slaves to Haiti. Although many were forced to abandon Islam over time, their Islamic heritage has persisted in the culture of native Haitians. Additionally, a revisionist history of Dutty Boukman, whose death is largely considered the start of the Haitian Revolution, suggests that he was Muslim. In the early portion of the 20th century, a wave of Arab immigrants came to the Americas, in which a surprisingly noticeable amount settled in Haiti (and other countries as well). It is said that the first to arrive in Haiti around 1920 was a man hailing from the Palestinian village of Aizariya, near Jerusalem, along with 19 other families.
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[edit] Islam today in Haiti
Islam largely began to take root in Haiti in a modern context with the large-scale return of the Haitian diaspora following the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, some bringing with them the Muslim faith that they had been introduced to in the United States and Canada. A number of these converts found further succor in the presence of Pakistani and Bangladeshi international forces in Haiti following the 1994 multinational intervention
[edit] Slave revolt in Haiti
The most successful slave uprising in the Americas was that the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791 CE (1205 AH) and was eventually led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, culminating in the independent black republic of Haiti.
[edit] Nawoon Marcellus
Nawoon Marcellus, who comes from the northern city of San Raphael, recently became the first Muslim elected to the Chamber of Deputies, Haiti's lower house of Parliament.
