Moriscos in Disguise
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Latino Muslims’ history details a story of discrimination, disguise of cultural expression, and repression of an identity whose lines were arbitrarily drawn.
A Morisco/Morisca refers to a Muslim in Spain who converted to Catholicism under the Spanish Inquisition and discrimination. Many of the Moriscos though outwardly Catholic, discretely and privately maintained their Muslim religious and cultural identity. Their migration to New Spain would be considered dangerous, becasue “in colonial Spanish America, ecclesiastical authorities were concerned with spreading Catholicism and regulating indigenous religiosity, with the aim of creating a model Catholic republic.” Inquisitors would ask accusers of heresy to name anyone that may appear in their memory who has denounced Catholic doctrine.
There was a political struggle that was increasingly casting religious identity as innate characteristics, transmited by blood. “Regional and customary practices among the Moriscos that included dress, food, and music could lead to individuals being labeled Muslims (moros), regardless of their actual religious beliefs.” The system ostracised Moriscos not letting them fully assimilate, but also blamed them and criminalized them for not successfuly assimilating. Many Moriscos continued to practice Islam in private and found solace in taqiyya, referring “the the permission for Muslims living under adverse conditions to perform their exterior acts of the religion imposed on them, so long as they remained faithful to Islam in their hearts.
In this struggle of maintaining a socially acceptable—or legally acceptable—image on the outside while maintaining Islam in their hearts, the Aljamiado manuscript acted as reassurance to the Morisco/as who worry that the lack of outward expression of Islam would lead them to hell. Muhammad’s plea to God as described in the manuscript for forgiveness, and for God to let Muhammad choose “anyone who carries in their heart an atom of belief” to be taken out of the fire lets the Moriscos know that there is a chance for them out of hell after all.
Bowen’s text highlights the intricacies of and nuances between what is promoted to be the universalistic Muslim identity being the ummah versus the realities of histories and cultural identities that undermine the interplay of different races and their practice of Islam. The Latino Muslims appeal to be a part of the African-American Muslim community—like the Naiton of Islam—highlights the social justice-oriented nature of the African-American Muslim’s identity. Solidarity among these groups were a factor, but also having a sense of belonging and understanding promotes the appeal of one group to another. Nevertheless, the Latino Muslim community would create their own communities, intermingled with but nevertheless exclusive of immigrant Muslims and African-American Muslims.
Though perhaps it was absurd for the inquisitors of Spanish America and of Spain to believe that there are innate characteristics of Islam instilled in Moriscos passed by blood, the struggle experienced by Latino Muslims throughout their history has woven into their hereditary heritage something that has little trace in other Muslims’ cultural and religious experiences.
SIDE NOTE: EXTRA CREDIT INVOLVEMENTS
- Concordia lecture on the War on Terror
- Australianama seminar
Involvements that you did not announce, but maybe I could still get credit for…please:
- Vigil for Mahsa (the one planned by Sonia and Sheida)
- Montreal International Documentary Festival: I received an email from the Islamic Institute regarding documentaries at the festival and so I attended. One of them was about the first ever newspaper in Iran that was made by women for women, and another was about tensions between political movements and cultural identities. A part of the documentary detailed the migration of a queer Indian man to Toronto. The documentary gave light to this man’s rejection of capitalism, and engagement in social movements that question the norm and promote communist ideals.