Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

22 February 2025

4 minute read

Argentina, the eighth largest country in the world, is a showcase of natural beauty. From the majestic Andes Mountains and the Iguazu Falls to the glaciers at the southernmost tip of the world where a tour goes down towards the South Pole for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Argentina is every nature-lovers dream destination. For water lovers, there are beautiful beaches that stretch along the coast of Mar-del-Plata, a town which boasts a masjid built by ulama from South Africa.

Haafidh Mohamed, a South African who emigrated to Argentina 12 years ago, says that South African passport holders are not required to apply for a visa when visiting Argentina and will receive one on arrival with a 90 day stay. A flight can be taken from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo in Brazil and from there directly to the capital city Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Buenos Aires is a fairly big city with a large population. The architecture and infrastructure are very European, and the public transport systems are accessible and reliable, with trains and buses running in and between all the cities. In one of the underground train stations called Independencia, an intriguing sight to see is the Spanish mosaic tiles covering the walls that are bordered by an Arabic inscription.

Native Argentinians are few and far between. About 500 years ago, the Spanish colonized the country, and the culture of the people evolved to that of Spain. In the early 1900’s, people from all over the world emigrated to Argentina. Islam entered the country through Syrian and Lebanese immigrants who came carrying Turkish passports and became known as Turkos. However, the majority of these were young men not very practical in following Islam, and as they married into the local women, they lost their religion. With the effort of da’wah, many people are now coming back to the deen, says Hf Mohamed. A group of Afrikaners also relocated to Argentina during this period, forming their own society and establishing a farming community in the Patagonia and eventually integrating into the culture of the Argentinians. Another group of between 300 to 400 families came through in the early 90’s but they retained their culture and language.

There is very little availability of halal food, and in past times, the Muslims in Argentina were not very conscious about the consumption of halal. Recently, however, they have developed an awareness of halal and the demand for halal products is growing, for both local Muslims and Muslim tourists visiting the country.  The local cuisine, Assado, a beef cut braaied with just salt as a spice, is the most popular dish, and the meat in the country is top quality.

Although the economy in Argentina is very unstable and volatile with occasional spikes in the currency, it is still an affordable country to visit, with living expenses being more or less of the same budget as South Africa.

People in Argentina speak Spanish but over the last few years, English has become more common, making it easier for non-Spanish speakers to get by. The locals are very friendly and helpful and will go out of their way to help tourists and welcome them to their country.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Muhammad Kara and Ml Ibrahim Daya here.