Excerpt:
"Allah Akbar" blares from the loudspeakers as hundreds of Muslims file into the mosque for prayers. Outside, halal meat stores line the street as in Damascus, Cairo or Baghdad, but this is the working-class neighbourhood of Bras in Sao Paulo, Brazil – the heart of Islam's Latin American rebirth.
Brazil is experiencing an Islamic boom, with reliable estimates indicating that the Muslim population has increased from a few hundred thousand to 1.5 million this decade alone, out of a total population of 190 million. This is clear as mosques emerge throughout the country, some financed by Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.
Nowhere is the Islamic presence felt stronger than in Bras. Syrian-born Mohammed Al Bukai runs a mosque there. He said: "The first waves of Arab immigrants arrived here in the 1920s. It's very centrally-located so we offer classes and seminars here for anyone interested in Islam.