Latino American Dawah Organization

The Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO) is a grassroots organization founded in September 1997 by a handful of Latino converts to Islam in New York City. The idea began with Samantha Sanchez who then recruited the help of Juan Alvarado and Saraji Umm Zaid and the group was formed. Later, the group leadership transferred to Juan Jose Galvan. [1][2][3][4][5] The organization's name was selected to express LADO's ethnic and religious identity as Latinos/Hispanics and as Muslims. LADO also wanted to emphasize that this would be an Islamic organization whose primary purpose would be dawah and education to Latinos.[6] Today, the Latino American Dawah Organization is known by most Muslims as simply "LADO" and as "The LADO Group." In Spanish, LADO is known as "El Grupo LADO." The acronym LADO means 'side' in Spanish. The motto of the Latino American Dawah Organization is "¡A su LADO!" (meaning "At your side!").[7]

"¡A su LADO!" means At Your Side!

LADO's activities

LADO members seek to aid all Muslims and non-Muslims by sharing Islam as expressed in its mission statement. LADO disseminates Islam by providing Islamic literature in the form of books, brochures, and other media in English, Spanish and whenever possible, Portuguese.[7] Because few materials are available to the Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking communities, LADO emphasizes this aspect of Islamic dawah. In addition to educating anyone about Islam, LADO will also guide whom they can to the right resources. LADO is committed to attending, visiting, and working with mosques, attending special Islamic events, interfaith talks, various lectures, translating existing literature, and writing articles and editorials among other things. Through these initiatives, LADO has not only become a network among Latino Muslims, but has also become a liaison between Latino Muslims and the general Muslim community.[8]

See also

References
  1. Nieves, Evelyn (17 December 2001). "A New Minority Makes Itself Known: Hispanic Muslims". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  2. Green, Amy (28 September 2006). "More US Hispanics drawn to Islam". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. Presutti, Carolyn (18 October 2014). "Latinos Converting to Islam for Identity, Structure". Voice of America. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. Sesin, Carmen (30 September 2005). "Latino Women Finding a Place in Islam". NBC. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  5. Haddad, Yvonne Y., ed. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of American Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780199862641. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  6. Bowen, Patrick D. "The Latino American Da'wah Organization and the "Latina/o Muslim" Identity in the United States". Academia.edu. Retrieved 26 Jan 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Bowen, Patrick D. (2013). "U.S. Latina/o Muslims Since 1920: From "Moors" to "Latino Muslims"". Journal of Religious History. 37 (2): 165–184. doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12026.
  8. De La Torre, Miguel A. (2009). Hispanic American Religious Cultures. ABC-CLIO. p. 308. ISBN 978-1598841398. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
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