Muslims do not make up a significant percent of Dominica’s primarily Christian population. They are, however, a vibrant and growing community. The nation’s population, around 70,000, is shrinking. The Muslim population is currently around 300 and is growing. The nation’s first sizable mosque is currently being built. A handful of Dominican Muslims are going to neighbouring countries with larger Muslim populations (like Trinidad and Guyana) to learn more about Islam and about how to minister to the local community. More Dominicans are converting to Islam and being born to Muslim parents than ever before.

The first Muslims in Dominica came on European slave ships. A large portion of the Atlantic Slave trade, beginning in the 1500s, came from Muslim West African areas that today include Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. Slavery was disastrous to these transported African cultures and traditions. Slaves of different cultures, language, and religions were intermixed and were not allowed freedom of worship or association. As a result, Islam did not survive during the ensuing generations of Africans in the New World.

The next population of Muslims to arrive in the Caribbean came as indentured labourers from the Indian Subcontinent, beginning in the early 1900s. Not many of these came to Dominica. In the following decades, Dominica had an influx of private entrepreneurs from the Arab world. Most of these, however, were from the Christian minority in those countries.

During the 1960s, Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam coupled with the Black Power Movement and spread Islamic influence into the Afro-Caribbean population. This created a popular image of Islam as a religion for black people. During this time, a number of Dominicans studying in North America and at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad began to associate with The Nation of Islam. Some of these became prominent members in the Black Power Movement and went on to be influential in Dominican society and government. Others converted to Islam and later become prominent elders in the Muslim Community of Dominica. The majority, however, migrated out of Dominica in the 1970s.

Dominica was not a welcoming place for Muslims in the early 1980s. Many people thought Muslims were like Rastafarians and treated them inhumanely. Under Eugenia Charles’ administration, it was reported that some Muslims who arrived by plane to Dominica were not allowed entrance to the country based on their religion and were forced to leave on the next flight out.

The public image of Muslims changed drastically in the years following the opening of Ross Medical School in Dominica. Ross, an American institution catering primarily to American and Canadian students, has a large Muslim contingent among its student population. Students there founded a chapter of the American Muslim Student Association, which continues to be a popular group on campus. Dominicans began seeing and interacting with more Muslims in their communities, especially around Portsmouth where Ross University is located.

The Muslim Community of Dominica became an officially registered organization in 1995 and remains the only registered Muslim association in the country. There are currently over 300 Muslims in Dominica, which does not include foreign Medical students who are here on a short term basis. The largest single Muslim community in Dominica is on the Carib Territory, which boasts a membership of 60 ethnic Kalinago natives who have embraced Islam. Muslims today can be found at all levels of Dominican society, including teachers, doctors, lawyers, and labourers.

According to Imam Idris, the head Muslim cleric in Dominica, Muslims enjoy good relations with the Dominican Government and Society. Since the founding of that organization, Muslims have not experienced any major problems or discrimination, even in the aftermath of 9/11. Members of the Muslim community are available to speak to school and community groups free of charge. DBS, a national radio station in Dominica, hosts an hour program each Thursday evening called “Islam in Focus” where the public is invited to phone in with any question or issue they might have about the religion. A local business hosts an Islamic education and worship centre which maintains an open-door policy for the public.

The Muslim Community of Dominica exists independent of any outside organization. It is not associated with North America’s Nation of Islam and is not linked to any other regional or international religious group. In this way, it operates completely independently and is able to focus on the interests and needs of local Muslims. This also means that it has no outside funding source. At current the Muslim Community operates only on the weekly alms it receives from its members.

Imam Idris indicates that the lack of funding is a major challenge. The Muslim Community hopes to build a mosque in Roseau, the nation’s capital city. That project that will cost US$300,000 for the purchase of land and for constructions costs. Dominica’s only sizeable mosque at current is in the north of the country where is lies facing Ross Medical School. “When we are able acquire more funding,” explains Imam Idris, “we plan to build onto the mosque in Portsmouth, including a school and living quarters for a cleric and for visitors. We are also considering building apartments to rent to Ross students in order to create capital for the mosque and for future endeavours.”

Islam in Dominica, having arrived in the bondages of slavery, fallen extinct, and being reborn only to experience discrimination, is finally able to feel at home in this welcoming land.

Source :  http://www.arabwashingtonian.org/english/article.php?articleID=547&issue=19