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Mixing Ethnicity, Pan-Islamism, Sectarian Dimensions, and Transnational Networks: One Century of Muslim Presence in Argentina

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Abstract

Based on multi-sited field work conducted in several communities throughout Argentina over the last two decades, the analysis of newly available documentary files, interviews, and participant observation, this paper addresses the inner diversity of Islam in Argentina. Focusing the dynamics of differentiation between the various institutional projects of Muslim communities, and providing a broad spatio-temporal overview this article synthesizes the main forms of imbrication between sectarianism, ethnicity, and transnationalism as produced by the experiences of community-forming among different Muslim groups. The combination between the language of ethnicity, adherence to pan-Islamism, the exaltation of notions such as the “Arab nation,” and sectarian dimensions have “produced” an identity-related diversity as well as the diversification of Islam during one century-long presence in Argentina. The study follows a timeline starting from the founding moment of Muslim presence—the first decades of the twentieth century—, to move forward through other periods and paradigmatic cases.

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Notes

  1. The exploration of Sufi communities in Argentina is beyond the scope of this paper. For an overview of Sufism in Latin America and Argentina, see Montenegro (2022), for a preliminary approach to the dissemination of Western Sufi ideas in Latin America see Sedwick (2018).

  2. I conducted fieldwork in different periods between 2004 and present in communities within the province of Santa Fe (Rosario, San Lorenzo, Recreo, Santa Fe, Pérez), Province of Mendoza (Mendoza, La Consulta, Potrerillos), Province of Córdoba (Córdoba, San Esteban), Province of Buenos Aires (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Lobos, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Balcarce, La Angelita, Ascensión), Provincia de Rio Negro (Bolsón), among other locations.

  3. Some of the primary sources used in the preparation of this paper are part of the Documentary Archive of Asociación Unión Islámica de Rosario (AUI). The AUI Archive comprise as vast collection of over 4000 recently digitized documents, covering the period from 1932 to 2017. Owned by AUI, the archive include historical sources on Muslim immigration in Argentina. Access to this resource was made possible through a collaborative academic partnership between the AUI and the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. As part of this agreement, a comprehensive digitization process was undertaken between 2019 and 2022, facilitating scholarly access to the collection.

  4. 725,254 by 2020 is the figure provided by Kettani (2014), 1,000,000 by 2010 according to Pew Research Center (2011).

  5. For migration in Berisso, see Hererra (2018).

  6. According my interviews with descendants of the Arab community in Berisso, it was an institution that brought together different backgrounds and branches of Islam.

  7. Section 5, Chapter II. “Estatutos de la Sociedad Unión Islámica de Beneficencia de Berisso”. Berisso, 1917, p. 1.

  8. Section 7 a), Chapter II, p. 2.

  9. Section 3, Chapter I, p. 1.

  10. Section 1, Chapter I, p. 1.

  11. For an analysis of ‘Amilis in Lebanon between 1918 and 1943, see Chalabi (2006).

  12. “Fue un símbolo de las entidades berissenes. Murió Adris Jalil”, El mundo de Berisso, issue No. 1284, 03/22/12.

  13. From small villages on the northwest coast of Syria, the region known as Jabal al-‘Alawiyin (‘Alawi mountains).

  14. For racial origins, historical background, spiritual sources, and faith among Druze, see Abu-Izzeddin (1984). For a renewed study of ‘Alawi history, see Winter (2016).

  15. For Emir Arslán biography, see Tornielli (2015).

  16. Beit el Amir slogan is, “we share values and cultural traditions of the Arab and Argentine peoples” (Compartimos valores y tradiciones culturales de los pueblos árabes y Argentinos). See https://www.culturabea.com/.

  17. Most of the information on the ‘Alawi community was gathered during fieldwork in La Angelita, Tucumán, and Buenos Aires, by interviewing leaders and members of the communities, as well as by accessing family memory books.

  18. A room for washing the bodies of the deceased in accordance with Islamic rituals.

  19. Documents, photographs and bylaws were provided by descendants of founding members of the Pergamino association.

  20. The Argentine case is opposed to that of Brazil, where the institutions failed to keep alive, see Omran (2015).

  21. One of the most eminent ‘Alawi figures in the cultural Arab sphere was Américo Yunes (1932–2016), who hosted for 51 years (1957–2008) the radio program Arab Homeland (“Patria Árabe”), served in boards of ‘Alawi and non-‘Alawi Islamic institutions, such as the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic (CIRA), and participated in the establishment of the Federation of Argentine–Arab Entities (FEARAB).

  22. According to records and lists of members dating to 1956, the Association brought together followers from several towns, even in north Buenos Aires province, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba. AUI Archive.

  23. 1932 Bylaws, section 13. AUI Archive.

  24. Section 19.

  25. Section 26.

  26. Section 14.

  27. Section 18.

  28. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Amin al-Husayni issued in 1936 a fatwa declaring ‘Alawis part of Islam.

  29. Letter dated November 7, 1936, addressed to Mr. Ahmad Mahmoud Al-Trabelsi, President of the ‘Alawi Islamic Association (Sociedad Islámica Alauita). Minutes Book in Arabic, page 37. AUI Archive.

  30. Letter dated April 5, 1937, addressed to Mr. Hasib Othman. Minutes Book in Arabic, page 77. AUI Archive.

  31. After going through various stages, over time—like other similar entities—, the Association turned toward Sunnism, with shaykhs, leaders, and members belonging to this branch. Today, the descendants of Muslim Arabs are a minority, and the community is made up of converts and Muslims of varied descents.

  32. The analysis of the documents showing engagement in “Arab causes” as inherent in the daily life of organizations—religious in this case—is beyond the scope of this article. Let us just note that they make up a significant chapter in the institutional life of the communities.

  33. Among these, there are the Az-Zaqalain journal of Islamic studies, Kauzar magazine and Angelitos, an illustrated Islamic magazine for children.

  34. Doctor Saifuddin Rahal was an Egyptian immigrant and religious entrepreneur who created associations and printing media. He had studied in the Al-Azhar University in Egypt, and in 1945, together with Santiago Peralta, he did and published the first local translation of the Qur’an.

  35. In 2017, I conducted interviews with descendants of the institution’s founders in Mendoza, gathering stories about immigration, family ties, and the institutional history during the first decades of the twentieth century.

  36. To name but one example, Shaykh Muhammad Isa García, an Argentine converted to Islam in 1989, studied at the Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca and was later sent to Colombia.

  37. A movement founded in India by Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi (1884–1944) in 1927, for the purpose of rejecting colonialism and unifying Muslims, purging the religion of non-Islamic elements, and advocating a re-Islamization of daily life through the imitation of Prophet Mohammed’s life.

  38. Founded in India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), this movement considers its leader a messiah and mahdi, so the main Islam branches regard it as heresy; see Khan (2015).

  39. See Hassankhan (2016).

  40. As already stated, its existence is the result of the merger of the 1931 Pan Islamic Association (Asociación Pan Islamismo), formed at the behest of an Egyptian immigrant, and a group of Muslims who were part of the Islamic Arab Society (Sociedad Árabe Islámica), which was established in 1922. In 1940, the institution was renamed the Islamic Welfare Association (Asociación Islámica de Previsión Social), and only in 1957 did it become known as the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic.

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Funding

This paper was written within the project PICT 2019-00727 supported by National Agency for the Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation n (Agencia I+D+i, Argentina).

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  1. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET)/Departament of Anthropology, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Entre Ríos 758, 2000, Rosario, Argentina

    Silvia Montenegro

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Correspondence to Silvia Montenegro.

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Montenegro, S. Mixing Ethnicity, Pan-Islamism, Sectarian Dimensions, and Transnational Networks: One Century of Muslim Presence in Argentina. Int J Lat Am Relig (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-023-00208-7

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