‘A Colombian Wild West’: Inside Maicao’s Arab community
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Loading... - Sandra Manuel
- 14 Mar 2023
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Maicao, once the thriving heart of Colombia’s Arab community, faces population decline amid a slowing border economy.
As local vendors sell their goods in the busy market streets of Maicao, the bustle is suddenly interrupted by an Arabic call to prayer.
The call, known as the adhan, emanates from the minaret of the local Omar Ibn Al-Khattab mosque, an imposing building of Italian marble rising above the small border city.
As the blistering midday sun beats down, Muslims head to the mosque, guided by the adhan, which floats over the cacophony of rickshaws and shouts about yuca and tomato prices.
The mosque — among the largest in Latin America — is the centrepiece for one of Colombia’s most important Muslim and Arab communities. But it is a community in crisis, as trade with neighbouring Venezuela falters and its population declines.
“Maicao is not what it should be for being a border town. The situation is critical,” says Pedro Delgado, a researcher who studies the city’s Muslim community and has converted to Islam himself. Read More..
