According to a recent, yet unofficial, survey, the Cuban Muslim community should count around 4,000 people, most of them converted in recent years. Raul Castro’s government is in fact more flexible not just in terms of diplomatic and trade relations, but also in terms of freedom of belief.In July 2015, in Havana Vieja, where once was an automobile museum, a mosque was finally built. There’s someone, like Turkish President Erdogan, arguing Islam arrived on the island well before Christopher Columbus: fascinating thesis, but almost impossible to prove. Islam began to be present in Cuba during the 70s, while a real diffusion started in the 90s with the arrival of Pakistani and Yemeni students after some agreements between the Cuban government and several Middle East countries. Like other religions do, Islam grew up and spread among the poorest, those who see religious practices as a social redemption.
