Hispanic and Latino American Muslims - Latino Muslims and The Moors

Latino Muslims and The Moors

The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of the northernmost Mediterranean coast of North Africa, who invaded Hispania (modern-day Spain and Portugal) in the 8th century forming what became known as Al-Andalus. They were expelled by reconquering Catholics of the Peninsula in the 15th century through a process called Reconquista, after eight centuries of war.

Though Spain is and was a Christian area before the Islamic invasion, some Latino Muslims argue that the heritage of the Spanish Moors renders their affiliation with Islam a reversion as much as a conversion as some Moors and Moriscos (Christian converted Moors) from Hispania emigrated to the Americas, though the majority were expelled to North Africa. For example, genetic analysis studies reveal that North African and Sephardic inhabitants played a significant role in the development of the genes of modern day inhabitants of Spain. For example, one study "indicates a high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%) and Sephardic Jewish (19.8%) sources." This North African genetic ancestry originates from Arabs and Berbers, whom the Moors descend from.