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College Park, MD resident Hernan Guadalupe reads from a book for Muslim children he co-authored with his wife, both who are Latino Muslims. The couple is trying to fill a void for Latino Muslim families.  Photo courtesy of Hernan Guadalupe

Couple Fills Void In Spanish Books for Muslim Children

Like many bilingual parents, Wendy Diaz and her husband Hernán Guadalupe decided that once they start a family, they will first teach their native language, Spanish, so the children will be able to learn their mother tongue. They not only wanted to preserve their native language for their children, but also wanted their them to be able to communicate in Spanish with their families.  When they started to search for Islamic children’s books in Spanish, Diaz says she was surprised that her search came up almost empty. “We were only able to get hold of two of them which the imam from Ecuador (South America) sent us. Even brothers and sisters in Spain said they didn’t have Islamic children’s books in Spanish!” she said.

So Diaz decided to buy books in English and translate them to Spanish herself. She contacted the publishers of these Islamic books to volunteer as a translator, but says she was either turned down or the publishers were unresponsive. “I decided to take the matter into my own hands and write books myself. At first my own children were my only motivation, but the more I thought about other kids in Latin America, Spain, and in the US whose first language is Spanish and whose parents are Muslim, then they all became my motivation,” she said.

There are Spanish translations of a few major Islamic texts, such as the Holy Qur’an, but surprisingly few options exist in Islamic books for Spanish-speaking children.  To solve this problem, Diaz and Guadalupe are publishing their own books of poems, nursery rhymes, and stories from the Qur’an and Hadith. “My idea is instead of introducing fictional superheroes into our children’s lives, introducing them to our real heroes,” said Diaz. “It is most important, in my opinion, that parents have the tools to teach their children in their own language, because if they can’t teach their children, then who will? The reality is that Islam has spread to every corner of the earth and a lot of people who embrace Islam don’t speak English, let alone Arabic.” Although their first book was only in Spanish, they are planning to print subsequent books in both Spanish and English.

Diaz and Guadalupe work on the books together, with Diaz writing the poems and stories and working together with her husband to illustrate and self-publish the books. “My husband and I already know so many Spanish-speaking Muslim families both in the US and abroad, so we are able to sell the books we print quickly,” said Diaz. “The challenge is getting the word out there that these books are now in existence and getting the funds to mass-produce them.” At the moment, they are funding this project themselves, putting any proceeds from book sales back into printing more books. “That slows us down, but alhamdulillah, even if we do this little by little, it is worth the effort, insha’Allah,” she said.

There are an estimated 40,000 to 200,000 Latino Muslims in America, and many more throughout the world.  According to the U.S. Census, Hispanics/Latinos are the fastest growing minority in the US., so it leads one to wonder why there aren’t more Islamic materials available to this fast growing population of our community. Diaz notes that although there are large groups of Muslims and numerous masajid in every country in Latin America, she has not heard of any organized full-time Islamic school for children there. “In one masjid in Puerto Rico, there were some Islamic studies classes for children, but they were using texts in English! Although some people in Puerto Rico speak English, it is still a predominately Spanish-speaking island,” she said.

Diaz, who is of Puerto Rican descent, converted to Islam at the age of 20 after learning about it in high school and further with a Muslim family, while doing research on her own. Guadalupe, whose family is from Ecuador, and a few members of his family (including his mother) also converted within the same time-frame. 

In addition to the Islamic children’s books, Diaz and Guadalupe run two websites www.hablamosislam.com for adults and www.hablamosislamninos.com for children. The websites offer free Islamic literature and e-books, with poems, videos and activities on the children’s website.

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Comments (6)

• 2011-04-01 18:37:55 |75.197.65.xxx| Zahra Ahmed  - Masha Allah
  Sr. Wendy and Br. Hernan are true pioneers for the Latino Muslim community. They are actively providing resources to a group of Muslims who are in the minority and insha Allah, through their efforts, their resources will play a role in giving dawah to more people in the Latino community. Alhamdulillah, may Allah (swt) give you both the strength to continue in this project and give it much success. Ameen!
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• 2011-04-04 05:21:21 |96.255.52.xxx| Ahmed  - Reach the Latino Community
  Mashhallah you have done a great job in bringing the problems related to lack of resources for the muslim children of latino community. I think there has been a serious lack of reach out to the Latino community in US. They are more like sticking to their culture and language. More teaching tools are needed to reach out the latino community. They should be helped to enhance their effort. JazakAllah Khair
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• 2011-04-09 19:53:17 |108.3.202.xxx| jami.b lama  - Gongratulations
  MashaaAllah Wendy, I'm so proud of you and your husband. This is a great idea and a good step for dawah. May Allah (swt) help you and facilitate your wish to teach the muslim children of latino community. Jazakomo Allah khayran.
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• 2011-04-10 12:50:05 |173.74.95.xxx| Yolanda Roa  - Hablamos Islam Ninos
  As a Colombian Muslim and mother of 3 I appreciate very much your efforts. May Allah reward your work and intentions millions of times.
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• 2011-04-21 13:35:52 |96.255.52.xxx| Amna Malik
  Mash'Allah this wonderful! There is an urgent need to develop appropriate islamic literature for young muslims. And the work of this couple is truly commendable! May Allah help them in their efforts and put barakah in their work.
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• 2011-05-09 04:15:12 |96.255.52.xxx| G. Waleed Kavalec  - IslamAwakened
  Salaam. We have been working to help bring the Qur'an to English readers by building a multiple-translation website at islamawakened dot com Now we need the same tools in Spanish and more languages!
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