San Cristobal De Las Casas, Mexico
The Wider Image: Mexico's indigenous Muslims in Maya heartland
A trip to Mexico's indigenous Maya heartland showed me how a vibrant Muslim community had sprung up in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. The Muslim men here are distinguished by their prayer caps, or kufis, and the women by their hijabs which take the form of traditional Maya shawls. Locals say the conversions to Islam here began in the late 1980s, around the same time Mexico's Zapatista movement was gaining traction in Chiapas, as institutions including Christianity and capitalism came under increasing criticism. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido SEARCH "TZOTZIL MAYA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. Matching text: MEXICO-MUSLIMS/