23/02/2024
💚Islam in Panama🇵🇦
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá), is a trans-continental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's 4 million people.
Panama is a country on the isthmus linking Central and South America. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route.
In the capital, Panama City, modern skyscrapers, casinos, and nightclubs contrast with colonial buildings in the Casco Viejo district and the rainforest of Natural Metropolitan Park.
The official language of Panama is Spanish. There are two currencies of Panama which are 1. Balboa (PAB) and
2.United States dollar (USD).
The total area of Panama is 75,417 km2 (29,119 sq mi) (116th). The population of Panama according to the 2022 census, is 4,337,768(127th)
Panama is a predominantly Christian country, with Islam being a minority religion. Due to the secular nature of Panama's constitution, Muslims are free to proselytize and build their places of worship in the country.
According to a 2009 AD, Pew Research Center report, there are 24,000 Muslims in Panama who constitute 0.7 percent of the population.
★Early history of Muslims in Panama:
The first Muslims in Panama were Mandinka slaves, brought by the Spaniards to work the gold mines in 1552. The Mandinka were mainly animists and Muslims at that time, and their importation was prohibited by Spanish Laws but was violated nonetheless. A group of about 500 that arrived on the Atlantic coast of Panama in 1552, escaped from a sinking ship. They elected a man called Bayano (Vaino) as their leader in the fight against the colonizers. They formed councils, and mosques in the areas now known as Darién Province, Bay of San Miguel, San Blas Islands, and the area along the Bayano River, named after Bayano. Bayano gained truces with Panama's colonial governor, but the well-known Commander Pedro de Ursúa successfully captured the guerrilla leader, who was sent to Peru and then Spain where he died. After Bayano's death, efforts were made to destroy any trace of Islam during that period in Panama. There is no history as to what happened to the Muslims who remained in Panama.
★Modern Period:
The second wave of Muslims were single-male immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and Lebanon who arrived from 1904 to 1913 and later married local women. The first mosque was built by the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement, in 1930. In 1929 another group came from Bombay, India who went on to form the Sunni Indo-Pakistani Muslim Society. From 1929-1948 this organization (renamed Panama Muslim Mission) initiated the construction of a mosque in Panama City. The location was half completed and was used for Eid prayers and classes for new Muslims, who numbered about twenty-five blacks of West Indian descent. There was also another group practicing Islam in Colón led by a Jamaican named Basil Austkan, who rented a place for salat on 6th Street and Broadway. In 1932 there was a group of Muslims in San Miguel, Calidonia in Panama City who resided in Short Street where they held meetings and prayers. The Muslims in Panama City of Indo-Pakistan origins had no family structure until 1951 when the first families arrived. In 1963, they purchased a plot in the local cemetery called Jardin de Paz; in 1991, the property was purchased in an area called Arraijan, which is now used solely as a Muslim cemetery.
★Community Development (1970s to Present):
In the mid-1970s some native Panamanians influenced by the Nation of Islam and led by Abdul Wahab Johnson and Suleyman Johnson began propagating Islam in Panama City and Colón. After meeting with Dr. Abdul khabeer Muhammad they began to study orthodox Sunni Islam.
In 1977 they received financing from Arab merchants in Colon to rent a place on 7th Street and Central Avenue, Colón.
This group, due to a lack of knowledge and assistance, eventually disintegrated.
The Indo-Pakistani Muslims began teaching their children at home in 1965 until 1973 when a small teaching program began in a room above Bazar Hindustan on Central Avenue, Panama City.
In 1978, they began to use a place in the area of Perejil, Panama City, where prayers and meetings took place until the completion of the El Centro Cultural Islámico de Colón on January 15, 1982. This masjid was built jointly by the Islamic Call Society (based in Libya) and Salomon Bhikhu a local merchant from India. Since its inauguration, classes have been held in the evenings and Sundays for new Muslims and people interested in Islam, given by Dr. Abdul khaber Muhammad and in his absence Hamza Beard. In 1991 the Muslim community purchased land in Arraiján, which is now used solely as a Muslim cemetery.
As of March 1997, there were four mosques in Panama.
★Mosque in Panama at Present:
There are several mosques in Panama. Most of the mosques are located in Panama City the capital of Panama. Here we mentioned some notable mosques locations below, which are located in Panama City and different parts of Panama.
1. The Jama Mosque (Spanish: Jama Mezquita) is a mosque in Panama City, Panama. The mosque was established in 1981 as the oldest mosque in the country. The mosque can accommodate up to 500 worshippers.
2. Madina Masjid is situated in Panama City.
3. This is a mosque named Centro Islamico de Carrasquilla, that is located in Panamá city. 4. Masjid Las Margaritas, Colón, Panama.
5.Templo Mezquita, David, Chiriquí, Panama.
6.Mezquita Coronado, Las Lajas, Panamá Oeste, Panama.7. Masjid e Ibrahim Coronado, Las Lajas, Panamá Oeste, Panama.
8. Mezquita Masjid Aguadulce, Aguadulce, Panama.
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