Every moment that
goes by becomes history. For the vast majority of those incessantly
fleeting seconds the human drama unfolds with no earthly record
except those momentarily stored in ultimately perishable hearts and
minds. In comparison, only a minuscule amount compared to the whole
gets written down for posterity. These moments become frozen in time
and are the repository of our past. They allow us to mine the nuggets
of yesteryear, constantly re-defining who we are by re-discovering
who we were. It is a primal urge.
The Latino Muslim
experience in New York City also has no earthly record of its
existence. It is being stored at the moment in the aging hearts and
minds of those in the sunset of life. It is now in danger of fading
into the inexorable evanescence of time. Who then would know what
happened? Who then would know why it mattered? Who then would care?
I have given
presentations in recent years that have touched superficially on some
of this history. The result has been a hunger for more, with constant
requests that I commit to paper a definitive chronicle. I have been
reticent about doing this for it could not possibly encompass the
City's entire Latino Muslim experience but the one skewed to my
perspective and experience. But as one of the first Latinos to become
Muslim and as one of the founding members of the first Muslim
organization to service a Latino community, I found that this is
exactly the perspective those requesting wanted to hear. They wanted
to know what life was like for Latino to become a Muslim 40 years
ago, his trials, hurtles, and obstacles and how he overcame them. Or
succumbed to them.
I have shared this
journey with others but they are unable and unwilling to undertake
this task. But time is not on
our side. The shocking loss of one of the key players in this story
really brought this home. They have, in essence, asked me to write
down their story. Their story, my story, and I am the designated
scribe. I will tell the story but as seen through the prism of my
personal experience. It is a personal choice and for some it may reek
of subjectivity, but also of truth. I have no intention of
misrepresenting events or personages. It is what it was and I will do
my best to tell as it was.
I dedicate this work to the Almighty God Allah without whom nary a keystroke would be possible. And also to those Muslim men and women who accompanied me on this momentous journey. And a special dedication to the fallen, my dear childhood friend and companion, Ibrahim Gonzalez. May Allah forgive him and have mercy on him and admit him into His paradise.
