Research in Brazil

As I am traveling around the world to do research, it may be appropriate recount some of my interviews and many visits to mosques.

My first interview was in Bras, a suburb of São Paulo, fairly close to the subway stop. Sarah is totally fluent (although she claims to only be close). She navigated our way asking directions, jumping person-to-person down the street, and eventually finding the mosque. Bras is a poor part of town, and the mosque is a very new with over three floors.

We were met at the door by someone who recognized us immediately as ‘the Americans.’ The man said that the whole mosque was wondering who the Americans were and why they were coming to Brazil. He said with a mischievous smile, “the American has come to take our Sheik to Guantanamo!” It was obviously a joke he had been telling for the last two weeks.

I had arranged an appointment over the phone with one of the Sheiks. He met us at the elevator and greeted me warmly with perfect English. The Sheik is about 30 years old and a Brazilian convert from an all-Catholic family. Brazil is something like 70% Catholic and less than 1% Muslim. The Sheik converted at age 14 and studied in Canada for university. The Sheik’s wife wore the hijab and sat in front of a computer during the entire interview. At one point, I looked over and saw she was online viewing her profile on what looked like Facebook or MySpace. Sarah later said that it was Orkut, the most popular networking site in Brazil.

The internet is an interesting tool for my generation but I have noticed it is also being used to link minorities with other minorities. In Brazil, Muslims are “a minority of a minority” as one informant said. The population is so small that is difficult for any organizations to take deep roots, and communities with only Muslims have not formed. The areas that I visited were on opposite sides of the city and in the outskirts of town. The community has clumped together, but is not a homogenous community. Another informant told how Muslim children commute across the city for school (I know from experience it is a long, long way via public transit). Some Muslim families go to mosques in far away neighborhoods because they prefer one mosque to another.

The common denominator is that Brazilian Muslims are networking in order to build a community. It is analogous that Brazil is at the beginning of my trip as it begins to create organizations in its Muslim community. Coincidentally, on my second visit to the mosque in Bras, a group of members met earlier in the day and resolved to form a new organization that will assist new Brazilian converts.

The internet was the tool I used to find Muslim organizations in Brazil and around the world. Ten years ago, my project would not have been possible. The logistics of sending letters to all the corners of the world, waiting for a response, and digging up small community organizations would never have been possible. By simply listing their community organization on a networking site, I was able to find them for my research. If a Muslim was coming to the community to visit or to immigrate, the way to find a familiar social network is through the internet. One informant, an 18 year old Brazilian girl who had recently converted, told me that she found out about Islam through the internet. After reading online about Islam, she signed up for a free Qur’an and a few months later converted.

Seeing the Sheik’s wife on Orkut reminds me that networking through the internet is not only for logistical support (finding the neighborhood, arranging for housing, and knowing where mosques are) it can also be for emotional support. The way I use Facebook (the only networking site I use) is similar to how I assume the Sheik’s wife uses Orkut. She can share her hobbies, favorite books and movies, write journal entries, post pictures, and communicate back and forth with her friends through the site. While it is not the same (and can not be valued in the same way) as face-to-face communication, it is supportive and innovative, both of which an immigrant or minority require.

As I was about to leave, the Sheik mentioned an Imam from Texas that I had heard of. The Sheik said, “All you have to do is type his name in Youtube and you can find videos!!!” The internet is an amazing tool that is being used in more ways than anyone cold have anticipated.

**Note: This discussion on the internet is hypothesis and theory and has not been confirmed by my research. I have not asked questions in my interview about internet use but hope to in future interviews.

The next day I went to a center on the other side of city in São Bernardo. The center works on two main services: education and halal products. I interviewed (in English) one of the Vice-Presidents about what the organization does. The center has worked with the Brazilian government to establish a school in the neighborhood that is Brazilian first but also teaches Arabic language and Islam classes. The school has both non-Muslims and Muslims, but, because it is located in an area of Sao Bernardo that has many Muslims, the majority of the students are Muslim. Non-Muslim students are not required to take the Arabic and Islam classes.

I also interviewed a father of five boys who attend the school. After I asked him what he thought the most important thing the center did, he broke down crying. He said that in comparison to the education he had and what his boys know, it is amazing. All he could get out after that was, “Fabulouso.”













The center is attached to the mosque and is also a beautiful new building. Because it was Friday, many people were there to pray and socialize. I sat in the corner and watched the service. The Sheik spoke Arabic, but it was also being translated into Portuguese and then broadcast to headphones. Almost half the men in the room had headphones on their head. Mosques, of course, do not have chairs (except for the elderly) and most sit on the carpeting cross-legged. There was a balcony over half the room where the women all sat. All of the women wore the hijab while in the mosque but many did not outside the building. I wondered if the women who could not speak Arabic listened to the simulcast in Portuguese through the hijab. Do all the women know Arabic? Or do they just have the earbuds from their iPods under their veil? Sarah later confirmed that many had the headsets on top of the veil.

Outside there were many kids running around in the sun—the parents inside at the service. Afterward, I went outside to talk to several other people. I found a group of boys my age hanging round by the cafeteria beneath the mosque. One of the boys spoke perfect English and told me about his trips back to Lebanon to study Arabic and learn about Lebanon. He was amazingly open and recounted tales I could have heard from my roommates back in the States. He told me—in contrast to what the adults at the center said—that he considers himself Lebanese, not Brazilian. It is interesting to see the difference between how he classified his identity and the generation before him. Or he may have been the most open with me about who he truly identifies with.

One consistent response to questions about prejudice has been that other Brazilians know they are Muslim and they joke with them about it. Brazilian non-Muslims tease that they are bin Laden or terrorists but everyone who mentioned this also emphasized that they did not really mean it and that it was all in good fun.

The last place I visited was a Muslim school on, again, the opposite side of the city in the area called Villa Carrão. This school was different from the previous one because the Brazilian government does not run it; rather it is run by a Muslim organization associated with the local mosque. It is considered a private school and pupils must pay to attend, unless the society provides a scholarship, which it sometimes does. The students’ range from 7-17 years old and are both boys and girls, Muslim and Non-Muslim.

The Sheik of the school welcomed me in Arabic but quickly found the limit to my skills. He showed Sarah and me around the school including the gymnasium, primary and secondary floors, the older and younger students’ mosques, the library, and a computer lab. The Sheik was very friendly and so proud of the school they have built. The school recently expanded and added the library, computer lab, and older students’ mosque.

Then I met with the ‘principal’ as the Sheik called him but his official title was the Coordinator General as the representative of the local Muslim society in the school. The society is particularly proud of the work that is being done at the school. It is evident by the new facilities and the large size of the school (440 pupils) that the society has made the school a large priority. The principal had very good English but every now and then would stumble, look at Sarah and confirm the meaning of the word. It was an interesting habit but one that showed how carefully he picked his words. He really wanted me to understand that education is very important to Brazilian Muslims.

As the interview concluded, the principal confided that he hopes that Muslims in Brazil will unite under one organization in order to coordinate their work all over São Paulo and Brazil. His advice for other Muslim communities around the world was to “please help Brazilian Muslims build stronger organizations.”

I can’t help but hope that my research can contribute to a stronger civil society in the Muslim community in Brazil and around the world. I understood before traveling to Brazil how civil society helps people cope in their country, but it different to see it actually work. Spending three days visiting mosques, sitting in on classes, and speaking with community leaders makes me wish I could stay the whole summer in this community, but I know that the crucial component of my research is comparative… And I need more than one community to do a comparison. Thus onward bound: New York City to Reykjavik to [omitted because my mom's class is having a quiz].

More pictures:




The inside of the mosque in Bras








Another angle of the mosque in Bras-- the upper balcony is the women only floor








A table of arts and crafts for sale in the lobby of the mosque set up after Arabic classes








A few Portuguese students studying to become journalists who were also interviewing the same day as us











The Gym of the school in Villa Carrao








The Library








Classroom- note the Lebanese flag on the window








Another classroom








The younger children's mosque








The older children's mosque








The Sheik in the older students' hallway








Habib's is a very popular fast food restaurant in Brazil. It serves both Lebanese food and new items. Habib, of course, means 'dearest' in Arabic.