The Community Film and Discussion Series - Somos Musulmanes: Islam in Chiapas, Mexico

The Community Film and Discussion Series is a series of virtual gatherings built to share thoughts about documentaries that tell the stories of Muslim communities. We use these stories as starting points for discussions about how we envision our future as a Muslim community in America, what challenges we face, and what solutions we can gather from the experiences of others.

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On November 11th at 7:30 pm CDT we will discuss Somos Musulmanes.

In the misty mountains of San Cristobal de Las Casas, sheltered under improvised houses, lives a small Muslim community of Tzotzils, an ethnic group descended from the Maya. But what is their story? In the midst of the Zapatista revolution, a movement fighting for the emancipation of indigenous peoples, a group of Sufi Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula traveled to Mexico, in the Chiapas region, with the idea that Islam would strengthen the movement's revolutionary spirit. The commander Marcos did not embrace this idea, but during their discussions, several chiefs from Tzotzil families converted to Islam and changed the destiny of their people.

View the film before the meeting here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/somosmusulmanes

The film has insights into how we think about Islam as a set of “ideas” and how there is often tension between how people teach the religion in a new culture and how the people from that new culture bring Islamic ideas home. There is a lot to unpack in this film - from the perennial search for God, to trans-national movement of Islam, to the struggle for freedom in Chiapas and revolutionary politics.

Consider jotting down thoughts that stand out to you while you watch the film. We’re looking forward to learning from you.

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