CAIRO, October 5, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Growing in number and taking difficulties into their strides, Hispanic Muslim women have made an indelible impression on their society, teaching Spanish-Arabic classes, forming support networks and distributing the Noble Qur’an in Spanish, a US newspaper reported on Wednesday, October 5.

Melissa Matos, who comes from a family of Seventh-day Adventists from the Dominican Republic and reverted to Islam in April, plans to organize a lecture series this semester at her alma mater on the religion's little-known history in Latin America, including two lectures that will be in Spanish, said The Miami Herald said.

The 20-year-old political science student at Florida International University (FIU) said some Hispanic Muslim women have founded support networks to rally behind those who want to revert to Islam.

Piedad, a network of Muslim women that seeks to educate Spanish-speaking communities about Islam, has more than 344 members nationally, according to the paper.

Other groups, like the Latino American Dawah Organization , which was formed in 1997, promote the legacy of Islam in Spain and Latin America.

There are some 40,000 Hispanic Muslims in the United States, according to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

The largest populations live in New York, Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.

Islam's growth among Hispanic women may result from the broader Muslim outreach following the Sept. 11 attacks, said Aisha Musa, an assistant professor of religion at Florida International University.

''It's a movement that is growing, particularly in urban areas,'' added Manuel Vasquez, a professor of religion at the University of Florida.

''It's part of the cross-fertilization that's occurring among immigrant groups.''

Sofian Abdelaziz, the director of the American Muslim Association of North America in Miami, said his group often gets requests for the Noble Qur’an in Spanish.

In the last several years, they have given away more than 5,000 Spanish translations of the Qur’an to South Florida mosques and prisons, he said.

Convincing families of why they have chosen Islam is not an easy job for reverts, the paper said.

''Sometimes it does get a little difficult,'' said Matos, who now wears hijab and starts observing Ramadan for the first time in her life.

''I feel alienated from my family and my old friends, but Islam is so beautiful, it's worth it. And with Ramadan, I'm just doing it by myself, just me and God. ''

''They think I've rejected my way to salvation because I don't believe Jesus Christ is the son of God,'' Matos said of her parents.

The Catholic parents of 52-year-old Roraima Aisha Kanar, who reverted to Islam at 22, did not want their grandchildren to be raised Muslim.

''It was very hard to know that my own mother didn't respect my belief,'' said Kanar, who with her husband raised their three children as Muslims.

But others have found support from their families, the Herald said.

Fatima Narvaez, 30, who reverted in 2002 and now studies Arabic with two other Hispanic women on the weekends, was worried her family would not understand her new dietary practices as Islam forbids pork and meat that is not halal, or slaughtered according to Shari`ah.

''With Puerto Ricans, there's pork in everything,'' said Narvaez, referring to her native Puerto Rico.

''But they accommodate all my issues and cook halal food for me.''

Jameela Ali, 26, who became a Muslim seven years ago after she dreamed she was praying in a mosque filled with light, has renounced aspects of Hispanic culture that conflict with her beliefs, like cooking with wine or eating pork.

''You give up everything of your old lifestyle -- your old clothes, you're not going to clubs, you're not drinking, you're not smoking,'' said Ali, whose mother, sister and brother have all embraced Islam.