The group goes by the name La Asociación Latino Musulmana de América and supports a growing number of Hispanic converts to Islam in Southern California. This gathering reflects the merging of cultures in a part of the country where neighbors are often from different parts of the world.
Like many Latinas, Guadalupe Fernandez grew up Catholic. Then around a decade ago, she moved from Mexico to the U.S. and met a guy in English class.
“In the beginning, we were just friends because I was afraid of the fact that he was Muslim,” she says, as translated from Spanish.
But the pair began to date and Fernandez became more interested in her partner Hamada Abdallah’s religion. Eventually, she converted.