Sense of community among Muslims in the Brazil–Paraguay border: narratives of belonging and generational differences

ABSTRACT

The so-called ‘Triple Frontier’—the border between Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina—is the ‘host society’ of an important Muslim community, composed mainly of Lebanese immigrants and their descendants born in Brazil and Paraguay. In less than two decades, Shi’i and Sunni Arab Muslims created mosques, religious centres, a cemetery, and three schools. Mosques, schools, and religious centres are spaces for the production of a sense of community. The institutional discourse of these entities emphasises the connection between religion and community origin, considering Islam as part of ‘Arab culture’. Taking generational differences into account, this article aims to analyse the narratives of plural identity expressed in the meanings attributed to the immigrants’ self-identification as Muslims. Based on fieldwork in the South American border area, this work aims to shed light on the way in which immigrants and their descendants reinterpret their religious belonging, informed by the new experience of living in multi-religious societies.

KEYWORDS:

• Islam
• Latin America
• borders
• identities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest is reported by the author.

Notes

1. For an overview of Muslim communities in the Triple Frontier, see Pinto (2011).

2. Currently, Ciudad del Este, on the Paraguayan side, is the city with the largest number of inhabitants—312,652 people, based on data from the Alto Paraná Government. On the Brazilian side, Foz do Iguaçu has a population of 263,508 inhabitants, according to estimates by the Instituto Brasileiro Geográfico e Estatístico of 2013. The Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú counts only 82,227 inhabitants, based on the 2010 census undertaken by the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina.

3. On the economic, cultural, and social dynamics of the Triple Frontier, see Giménez Béliveau and Montenegro (2010).

4. It is worth noting that Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay had a previous Arab immigration, in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, within which Muslims were a minority. For a study of Arab migrations to Latin America, see Akmir (2009). For an analysis of the Muslim presence in Brazil, see Montenegro and Benlabbah (2013).

5. The civil war (1975–1990) and the occupation of territories in South Lebanon by Israel (1982–2000) were determining factors for these migrations.

6. Here are some characteristics of the region as a transnational space: a) it comprises recently emerged urban centres which have unevenly but rapidly grown over the past 40 years; b) it is a key geo-political space in the Mercosur (the South American trade bloc established in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción) and also an area which is particularly rich in natural, water, and energy resources; c) because of its geographical location, commercial activity, and convenient infrastructure of bridges and roads, it proves a necessary trading route for the three countries; d) the commercial hub, represented by Ciudad del Este, is the centre of the region’s economy; e) a significant aspect is cultural diversity, praised by local governments as an example of harmonious coexistence and plurality.

7. On gender and Islam in Brazil, see Campos Ferreira (2010).

8. Between 1995 and 2005, over 400 news stories were published about the Triple Frontier in US and Argentine newspapers, e.g. “Jungle Hub for World’s Outlaws” (Los Angeles Times, 24 August 1998: 10), “Terror Cell on Rise in South America” (The Washington Times, 18 December 2002: 6), “Al Qaeda South” (The Washington Times, 23 August 2002: 11), “The Terror Threat in the Southern Cone” (The Washington Times, 16 August 2004: 18), “Focus on Terror Funding” (The Washington Times, 23 August 2004: 18), “Teams to Target Financial Crimes: Lawless Region Feeds Terrorism” (The Washington Times, 24 March 2006: 13), “Tri-Border Organized Crime Stirs Concern: Money Laundering by Arab Groups Suspected” (The Washington Times, 25 April 2006: 12).

9. This had practical effects: some immigrants and institutions were the target of extortion and persecution.

10. Regarding the social imaginaries of the Triple Frontier, see Araujo Pereia (2014).

11. Palestinian immigrants and their descendants—comprising around 40 families—belong to the Sunni branch of Islam; they live on the Brazilian side and attend the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab mosque. There is also a Druzian Home in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, which brings together a small group of Lebanese Druzians. Some Druzians converted to Christianity, since Baptists established the Arab Evangelical Church over a decade ago (on this Baptist Church’s institution and its missionary project, see Montenegro 2011). Bangladeshis have their own prayer room on the Paraguayan side and gather around a shaykh of their own nationality.

12. The informants’ names have been changed to preserve the anonymity of the respondents.

13. Interview extracts are translated by the author from Portuguese.

14. For a study on Catholic and Pentecostal representations of Islam and Muslims at the Brazil–Paraguay border, see Giménez Béliveau, Montenegro, and Setton (2009).

15. A more detailed description of this group is provided by Montenegro (2013).

16. Accounts of travel and family relationships during such visits appeared constructed on the basis of anecdotes about mistakes made in daily life, differences in eating habits, and in gender relationships, contrasted with the way of life in Brazil or Paraguay.

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Notes on contributors

Silvia Montenegro

Silvia Montenegro is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, and a professor in the Department of Socio-cultural Anthropology at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina. CORRESPONDENCE: Entre Rios 758, Rosario (Santa Fe) CP 2000, Argentina.