Catalina Magazine Uncovers Latina Muslims.

They are what many would consider typical Latinas: good Catholics who grow up with a strong sense of culture. Many even know all of their saints. But somehow, thousands of these Latinas decide to change their lives forever. They become Muslims.

Catalina goes behind the veil to uncover stories of women living with not one, but two stereotypes. Feature writer Ramin Ganeshram explains why so many Latinas are moving away from their traditional Latino Catholic upbringing and toward the Muslim faith in “Latina Muslims: The Choices They Make.” To write the exclusive feature story for Catalina, Ganeshram spent months with Muslim Latinas across the country.

Latino Muslims in the United States number around 50,000, according to the Latino Dawah Organization (LADO) and the Islamic Association of North America (ISNA). And there is strong belief that their number will rise substantially, especially after September 11. The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chairman Nihad Awad recently told a Saudi paper that “34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of September 11, … the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there.”

And, according to ISNA spokesperson, Dr. Syeed Sayed, women generally convert to Islam more often then men. As CATALINA found, many of these women are Latinas. The question Catalina asked these Latinas was “Why?”