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Conversion to Islam in Mexico has accelerated in the early 21st century, thanks to both increased migration from Muslim-majority countries and the expanding global, regional, and local networks among Islamic religious communities. Despite there being no mosques in the country until the 1980s, official figures from Mexican censuses show the number of Muslims doubling between 2000 and 2010 and again in 2020. Though many communities were built in urban centers, outreach and proselytizing activities have extended into rural regions as well and have included Shia and Sufi as well as Sunni groups. Thus, the establishment of Muslim communities in Mexico has become a transnational phenomenon, with implications for the wider diaspora. This is demonstrated through an exploration of the historiography and ethnography of Islam and by drawing from data collected during the Ethnographic Census of Muslims in Mexico (2011–2014) and using interviews with converts, migrants, and diplomatic personnel to identify some of the core characteristics and consequences of Mexican Islam as convert Islam.

There is a relatively small yet emerging community of scholars working toward the development of Latinx Muslim studies. While the field itself is in its early development, Latinx Muslims across the Americas are, in fact, not new populations to these regions. Transnationally, both Islam and Muslims in the Americas have held influence on both the cultural and religious lives of Latinx peoples, including impacts on material and cultural practices such as food, language, architecture, and the like. These transnational cultural exchanges and developments are not limited to one-way interactions, as Muslim peoples in the Americas have equally been influenced by their social, cultural, and geographical surroundings. Despite this influence and history, the field of Latinx Muslim studies is still in its comparatively early formations. The area itself has notably risen out of the scholarship from religious studies spaces where scholars have focused mainly on questions of why contemporary Latinx persons convert (or, as some say, revert) to Islam. Though questions on conversion and demographics will continue, the area of Latinx Muslim Studies has begun to delve deeper into these communities, reflecting their richness and diversity that go beyond founding narratives surrounding conversion. Additionally, with such a strong focus on conversion, the stories and histories of generational Latinx Muslims continue to remain at the margins. The challenge following conversion is that of otherization experienced by Latinx Muslims, even from their own communities. Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s concept of nepantleras, those who exist amongst several cultures or “forces that clash,” is appropriate here, as Latinx Muslims are traversing in between spaces, and it is in this sometimes painful space in between where societal change occurs. Latinx Muslims act as nepantleras because they refuse “either/or” binaries and consider “and” as critical to their selfhood. Latinx Muslims thus typically identify as both Latinx and Muslim, an identity formation that rejects binary otherization or notions of needing to pick between the cultures they have inherited as well as those they chose to take part in. Many scholars have argued that racializations of Latinx peoples and Muslims have led to binary thinking of these populations as inherently separate, further contributing to nationalist dialogues. How can the study of the intersection of “Latinx” and “Muslim” contribute to the fields of religious studies, Latino studies, Muslim studies, and broader ethnic studies? Why is the study of these intersections only a recent development in the literature? It can be argued that academic silos have unintentionally mirrored the societal binary constructions of “either/or” that Anzaldúa described, and how those that exist within “and” continue to remain at the margins due to the institutional structure of academic disciplines. Engagement in interdisciplinarity—a continuing trend in religious studies—is often a means of addressing those communities at the margins and in-between spaces of society.