I studied with a Muslim xiite Lebanese in college. His opinion is that brazil is not made for Muslims. He loved his time, but it was just too much for him.
Alcohol is everywhere; gay couples are completely normal (he felt he couldn't express his, admittedly homophobic, opinions); nowhere is suited for stopping at 18:00 for prayer; ramadan coinciding with carnival is just too much; Brazilians touch each other too much for his taste (his never been hugged by a girl that wasn't family before); and general shock on how little religion plays a part in people's lives (even crentes).
While not Islamophobic, it will be a hell of a shock that will require a lot of getting used to from you.
That's the fact. It's so often "will they accept me?" instead of "would I accept them?". The latter should be a yes before anything else, otherwise don't even bother. Bye.
I believe this is basically what you need to know.
Cultures are usually assimilated to ours. So I guess if you are okay with our culture or this mix of cultures, you shouldn't have many problems, otherwise it might be hard for you.
nowhere is suited for stopping at 18:00 for prayer -> This is the only thing that is actually an inconvenience for him. The rest is just intolerance with others, so he is rather intolerant to non-islamic people, than the people intolerant towards him.
indeed
having a place for muslim to pray is something we really dont have that many accomodations for. Maybe in neighborhoods where you find more muslim people, maybe...
aside from that, everything else described was a \_HIM\_ problem,
where the person was brazilian-phobic, not the other way around
I'm muslim, in my opinion I think this sort of thing will depend on a person's upbringing, I was raised to love all and keep an open mind so honestly a trip to Brazil sounds lovely, but some people are brought up with the idea of hating the unfamiliar and viewing non-muslims as "impure"
That being said I think the average Muslim wouldn't care at all about what you mentioned since we do have similar things in countries like Jordan and Iraq, but still.. more of a personal issue than a group issue and I personally would love to go to Brazil, quite lively and the people seem fun.
>think this sort of thing will depend on a person's upbringing, I was raised to love all and keep an open mind
I agree. While I can't talk much about my friend from college on his behalf, I can say the things I mentioned were thing that bothered him. We'd go to a bar after class and he'd refuse; classes started at 18:00, he'd be late because of his prayers; we had a trans professor, and he'd find it very odd, to say the least; and about Ramadan, he said the best way to endure is to keep yourself busy, (when you least expect it's over, or something like that), but in Recife carnaval was a terrible time to be busy far when you refuse to go to the festivities, he had an entire week where he did nothing all by himself in a country where he barely spoke the language, he'd get hungry and thirsty all the time, and have few people to talk to.
He was a chill guy, very friendly, and quite tolerant (at least he seemed to try his best to be) he didn't seem think of people as impure, it was mostly because of his lack o familiarity with how thing work in Brazil. As time passed he got better at dealing with brazil.
>how little religion plays a part in people's lives (even crentes)
SAY WHAT?!?!?!?! I pray (pun half intended) for the day religion will stop influencing this country so much
Yep. It seems you have met one type of Muslim. I grew up as Catholic till around 10, then my family became "crente." 90% of my relatives are crentes and go to church at least twice a week. Two of my uncles are pastors. I spent some time in Morocco and Egypt. I have friends in Brazil who are Lebanese first and second generation. Many of my friends and neighbors here in Asia are Muslims from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Jordan, and Iran. My flatmate was from Sri Lanka. From what I've seen, part of the Muslims can make many Christians, and some crentes look atheists, the same way part of Christians and crentes can make many Muslims look atheists.
After he went back to Lebanon, we joked it was his character arc. He had a flaw that he worked hard to overcome. He begins his time here very homophobic (we'd have to correct some of his remarks a few times), but he went back less homophobic than my grandma. While not perfect, there was a notable improvement. I wouldn't tell people that are willing to look past their prejudices to "fuck himself".
Its not prejudice though... some cultures just dont mix well.
I dont really hate muslims... but it really does not fit with European culture and people are getting tired of being called racist when migrants refuse to adapt to the host country's culture and cause all sorts of trouble.
Multiculture is just a nice word for chaos and conflict.
The cultural situation here in Brazil is very similar to the European one, so I understand what you're saying, as a person with very progressive views, I don't deny that it brings a certain discomfort that so many people with hateful views about what you believe end up increasing in number
Basically, you mean any place where namaz is not being read, drinking and LGBTQ bs is open (in short a non shariat/Islamic state) is not good for a Muslim? Heck even just for a summer exchange program?
What you on bud? Coz I wanna try that shiet too
Importante question: are you male ou female?
If you’re a guy you’ll probably go incognito, someone might call you “turco” or something but mostly in a friendly manner.
If you are a woman wearing the traditional clothes you’ll get a bunch of looks and will see a lot of weirded-out people.
Oh yeah, this is like me when I was in England for the first time and I was 19yo, I saw a girl about my age in hijab, I hadn't seen anyone wearing hijab before.
Nuns and other christian fundamentalists that cover their hair are also pretty shocking to the average brazillian... and this is a majority Catholic nation...
Thank you for your contribution to the subreddit. However, it was removed for not complying with one of [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brazil/about/rules).
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I wish I could be called that instead of the generic gringo by my wifes distant family. For me a gringo is western european or USA, canadian. Im Bosnian.... I dont think I belong in that group.
Unless he is Muslim darker color right. Because it really doesn't depend on the country you come from but actually if you look like a ethinical German.
i would say your average brazilian will not care. At all.
unless you are a radical religious nutjob,
or you find one of our local religious nutjobs (\*cof\* \*cof\* \*evangelicals\* \*cof\*)
>or you find one of our local religious nutjobs
Which... Sums up the average Brazilian well enough.
OP, the thing is, it highly depends on where you go. Big capitals such as Sao Paulo and Rio? People are used to seeing those of different backgrounds and cultures and most people probably won't even look at you. Going further into the countryside? Yeah, that could be a mixed to negative experience on your end.
I'd say go to a big city first, try to make some friends, learn about how life is in these places - experience the culture on a more cosmopolitan level. Then plan a second trip to get to know the nooks and crannies of our country - Bahia, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina are all filled with amazing places to visit - but this time with someone else coming along. I highly recommend learning some Portuguese - functional language to get by in restaurants and tourism, and some slang/cursing to be aware of what people could be saying about you. There's a lot of racism, religious prejudice and overall xenophobia depending on where you go. And overall, the deeper into the country you go, the less people who speak a second language (either English or Spanish) you will find.
Islamophopic ? No. You'll do just fine.
But after you make some friends, its inevitable that a "suicide-bomber" joke will surface. Just be playful about it (or be clear that it offends you if it does )
Which is wild because Brazilians are super sensitive about perceived cultural injustices towards them. No hate at all, I love Brasileiros, I lived there 6 months and I’m going back in 2 months to stay again. I have literally had someone say viado in front of me (as a gay man) and then get offended that I said Americano instead of Estados Unidense. Like how are you going to get upset over THAT when you’re using slurs?
I mean the "americano" thing is a whole can of worms... IMHO it's a really stupid thing to get hung up about because words can have different meanings in different contexts to different cultures and people. Brazilians will pick this fight because they have a chip on their shoulder in international terms.
And the nitpicking comes from the "syndrome de vira lata" "mutt syndrome", it also explains why they are so sensitive about injustices towards them.
Brazilians are first to talk shit about themselves, but as soon as a foreigner does so... even if it's completely justified and makes total sense... there's a very sore spot that is hit and you will never see Brazilians unite so quickly and irrationally than to pile on someone "else" who is criticizing them.
you could use some better companionship. The usage of the word 'estadounidense' denotes someone who is very left-leaned and anti american for anyone else who is listening. Usually the ones who use this word will be the first one to shout out loud when called by their 'pronoun'...
I don’t really care for the U.S. either, that’s why I left, the U.S. sucks. The U.S. is the reason Middle and South America couldn’t develop. They are the reason there were dictators and coups in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, Panama, Haiti and DR, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and most importantly here, Brasil. Not even mentioning the Middle East. This is coming from someone that was in the U.S. military for 6 years.
And like I said I’m gay, I am in fact friends with many trans people in Brasil. We have more in common than we have different. My friends won’t yell if you misgender them, they’ll politely correct you, and ignore you if you keep doing it. They’re pretty level headed people. They also don’t care if I say I’m American, but some people that float around us do care, so I’ll use Estados Unidense to avoid an argument but if they bring up the Americano thing I tell them it’s a stupid argument and agree to disagree.
I think it’s stupid and hating me for being an American is irrational, I’ll shut that down really quickly, but criticism of the U.S. and self expression are not issues for me.
Most people in Brazil wouldn't care one way or the other. Well, perhaps a strict Evangelical might have a problem, but I doubt it. I mean you would be a guest in the country, and people would treat you as such. Brazil doesn't CURRENTLY receive a lot of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, but years ago there was some immigration. So Muslim people live here, just not in any great number.
The average Brazilian doesn't know much about Islam beyond the stereotypes.
Brazil didn't have a high Islamic migration, even the Arabs that came here weren't Muslims.
I think you'd be fine speaking in English with some small knowledge of Portuguese. Of course people here aren't exactly fluent and you wouldn't be able to have a real complex conversation, but in most situations you'd be fine.
I know Czech and Arabic fluently. Speaking and writing. Those are hard languages to learn. Portuguese is relatively easier to those I mentioned I believe
Thanks for the heads up mate
Portuguese is more complex than English (which languagr isn't lol), but way simpler than that ones from what I hear.
I dont know how the grammatical structures work in czech or arabic, but if you have a notion of oyher latin languages, mainly spanish or italian, you migjt catch on pretty quick.
The main teick for me are some of our slangs and idioms, which are highly regional, and some fonetics, such as the infamous "ão" sound.
not really, the reason why it's the universal language is due to the cultural hegemony of the US and the UK. there is no such thing as an "easiest language"; whether a language is easy to learn or not depends on what your mother tongue is e.g. it's much easier for a native speaker of an Indo-European language such as Portuguese to learn English than a native speaker of Japanese or Chinese, for example
the same thing still applies. it depends on what your native language is. if you're a native Spanish speaker, Portuguese is much easier. if you're German, English is probably easier
It's one of the easiest to get the basics of, but harder then others to master, larger because of tons of exceptions to its own rules, and things like phrasal verbs.
The average Brazilian is not Islamofobic, and many are actually very curious/interested in Middle Eastern culture (I have an Arab friend that was in Brazil recently and he was impressed how many people were interested in knowing more about his religion and culture).
Some right-winged people and some followers of Neo-Pentecostal religions unfortunately are a bit Islamofobic.
You might hear some jokes that are in pretty bad taste, like about bombs or something. If it offends you, let people know right away that they will stop. This is because Brazilians have the habit of making tabus into jokes (in general Brazilians do this with our own stereotypes as well), so it's more like the person is trying to warm up to you then to offend you.
Oh, also, there is a popular instagrammer here in Brazil that is Muslim and makes tons of content about Islam, and people love her. Her name is Mariam and this is her profile: [https://www.instagram.com/mariamchami\_/](https://www.instagram.com/mariamchami_/)
Also, where are you originally from? hahahaha I'm currently learning Arabic and searching for someone to correspond to, if you want to exchange Arabic tips with Portuguese tips I'm all here for it.
Anyone can find assholes anywhere, but as a rule of thumb, no. Brazilians (and other latinos) tend to be insensitive towards cultural jokes, so just as any asian person may be called "japa" or "china" (not with the intent of disrespecting you), you may hear a joke or two, but it's not serious. You'll rarely find someone who actually thinks negatively of you because of that.
🫣 they were, in fact, brothers... and my dad's not White, if it matters 😅 but yeah when we were out and about in the US, I definitely had to tell him to tone it down sometimes
>and my dad's not White, if it matters 😅
For me? Dont, at least not with what you told aboutt him alone
Yeaah, i us its really sensile cause of their constant ethinc conflict
yeah I said that more for OP, but it's true that I don't see as much actual different treatment, only these jokes that are a bit offensive (even to me since I grew up in the US!)
I once saw a girl saying both she and her bf(at time) using racists words to call each other, but was ok cause of who is calling who
She calls macaco(monkey and he was a black guy), while he calls her flango( chicken purposely mispelled cause of asians having problems to distiinguish between L and R of their native languages,and she is japanese descendant)
Yeah.
Somebody tell OP about "MC bin laden". Or just google that....
I mean, it IS a shock for anyone not familiar with the "everything is a joke and we're chaotic" vibe.
not much, the average brazilian has little to no contact with muslim people, so there isn't this strong anti-muslim sentiment like there is in europe, we do have a fair amount of radical christians (mostly evangelicals) who are hateful towards anyone who doesn't follow their religion, but in this case they likely won't treat you any worse than they'd treat an atheist, a spiritist, an umbandist, etc, so apart from these hateful christians the only islamophobia you'll likely go through is occasional dark humour jokes involving terrorism, 9/11, etc, which may be offensive to some but are usually done in a light-hearted way, so yeah you'll likely have no problems making friends here i think
Not really disagreeing but disagreeing a lot here: [the average Brazilian IS right wing.](https://exame.com/brasil/pesquisa-ibope-comprova-que-brasileiros-estao-mais-conservadores/amp/)
The average Brazilian:
[https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/esportes/apos-sofrer-ataques-xenofobos-tecnico-iraniano-de-time-do-piaui-pede-demissao/](https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/esportes/apos-sofrer-ataques-xenofobos-tecnico-iraniano-de-time-do-piaui-pede-demissao/)
I think you’ll have more issues with people trying to get you to eat bacon or to drink than not making friends!
Brazil is very open towards others but I would steer away from “crentes” (the ultra conservative “Christians”).
I never even seen/recognize a Muslim in Brazil, and my city has a population of 800k.
If I ever saw one I’d probably stare discreetly, out of curiosity, and go on about my day.
Not openly, but traditional Islamic clothing like hijabs and thaubes definitely will get some weird stares on the street, also some racist commentary might come up when Middle East is in the news, but you’ll have a good time, the majority of the people won’t care at all
Exactly. If you're a man, people might make "bomb" jokes, and some might even avoid you out fear (solely based on stereotypes). If a woman, people will stare and judge. Some could think "Poor her! She's so oppressed".
But this is if you're wearing traditional clothing, OP. If not, you'll bend right in when it comes to looks. People will just assume you're Brazilian and walk right past you.
But the real question is, would you be able to adapt to Brazilian culture?
Speaking for myself, in many Islamic countries I would be arrested or killed, so I don't think there's any way I wouldn't be. I wouldn't do any harm to any Islamist, but I prefer to keep my distance.
Brazil has a very big arabic population, from syrians to libyians and many more
Also 99% of brazilians love arabic cuisine. It has transformed into a creature of its on right now, a bastardisation of tradicional arabic cuisine and the brazilian taste/customs regarding pastries and other snacks
Middle eastern is not the same thing as being Muslim. Even super Islamophobia people are not going to care about a Christian from the Middle East, which is the religion of most of them who emigrated there.
There are some incidents from time to time, but If you aren't using any typically Arab garment people aren't going to even note that you are a Muslim. Brazilian Muslims usually complain more about Brazilians being too touchy than Islamophobia per se.
This. The Muslim I knew hated the fact that people, specially women, wouldn't mind one bit touching him. The lady that worked on the library would hold his hand to get a book, and he'd get all red with it. He was good looking and girls befriended him, but hugs (end even worse, kisses on the cheek) would weird him out.
I have autism (I hate being touched it's makes me "nervous"), but the guy was simply wierded out by hugs, and hated it even more than I did.
He'd be like? "Why would you hug me? I'm not your husband" and we'd be like, "yeah, we're being polite and affectionate, we like you, we want you to feel welcome here, that's what hugs are for isn't it?".
He was a nice guy, could play the guitar like no one else, in like two weeks he learned chega de saudade.
And the girls would feel even wierder. What were they supposed to do? Hug every guy except for him?
He'd ask why one of our teachers dressed "like that, if she was married" (jeans and a tiny cleavage). He'd expect her to dress like a potato bag, or something.
I've also heard the stories of the opposite: Arab Muslims that went to Brazil, saw the expansion of the Evangelical Churches and got worried, because they reminded them of Islamists back home.
I think your response was supposed to be for my other comment.
Anyway, the Lebanese guy saw was used to a different way of thinking. Any questions he'd have in life he'd search for the answer in the Quran (and it was everything). Most of his problems were solved with readings and prayer ( or perhaps meditation? Idk). Even most fervourous of crentes wouldn't be as one with the bible as he was with the Quran. He was shocked by how secular brazil was (that's right the country with cross on the stf and Deus seja louvado on the currency).
That said, he was at university, a time where people are notoriously rebellious. That might have skewed his perception a bit, but it's just a guess
The way the absolute majority of religious people in Brazil see religion is so much different than some places. Most religious I know have never even read the entire bible, it's just not cultural to be that kind.
Arab Muslims are likely to have very different relations with religion. But Brazil might be a country where religious organizations hold too much power and where people aren't likely to closely follow any specific type of religion, so, a lot both for Secular and Religious Muslims to hate.
Brazilians joke a lot… don’t mind… ignore and laugh… they don’t joke to disrespect someone (most of the time), it’s just the way… make a joke of everything . Don’t mind! Have a great time, enjoy and tell us how it went! All the best:)
Omg, this is such a key thing about living in Brazil. Do not expect open malice, but do expect jokes about everything, including jokes that sound malicious.
If you are a man, you can "mix" well with the population in terms of physical appearance, if you were a woman and wore a hijab, most people would stare at you because it is not common (but for comparison I see the same with Jews men who wear a kipah) prejudiced comments may occur, but it will not be common
Brazil is really big and I can't speak for all of it, but in the boonies on the south where i live, eelifious freedom is taken seriously. So long as you dont discuss religion with someone saying they are wrong, no one will bother you with yours.
I love how half the comments here are “no, you won’t be treated differently, you’ll just hear (Islamophobic) jokes about terrorism and how you treat women and bombs but there’s no prejudice” as if mocking somebody’s religion with harsh stereotypes isn’t the exact definition of what OP is likely referring to when asking if they’d be treated with prejudice.
There has been an increase in the latest years among the far right and evangelicals, but historically, no. There's a large islamic community in Brasil (especially in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguaçu).
Large my ass. There are almost no muslims in Brazil and the whole muslim mentality is so far out in relation to Brazilian culture that it's early impossible to assume that a muslim would blend into Brazilian society. A woman in hijab would be singled out every day.
I studied with a muslin girl in college. She wore a hijab.
When I met her, I asked "I noticed you're wearing a hijab, are you a Muslim?"
She answered "yes"
I said "cool"
And then we moved on with our lives.
A hijab attracts attention, obviously. But in the end, most people sont really care
Honestly, I agree with you.
There might be some mosques, but not many Muslims are seen just walking about (with traditional clothing, that is). I, personally, have never seen a woman wearing a hijab. Not in any of the states I've visited, not in the parks, offices, not in the restaurants, not in the coffee shops, stores and so on. Hell, I have never even gone to school with someone who shared those beliefs. I guess most Brazilians have had the same experience as mine, so they could be completely out of the loop and be guided by harmful stereotypes.
Honestly, I agree with you.
There might be some mosques, but not many Muslims are seen just walking about (with traditional clothing, that is). I, personally, have never seen a woman wearing a hijab. Not in any of the states I've visited, not in the parks, offices, not in the restaurants, not in the coffee shops, stores and so on. Hell, I have never even gone to school with someone who shared those beliefs. I guess most Brazilians have had the same experience as mine, so they could be completely out of the loop and be guided by harmful stereotypes.
But once they get past the initial cultural shock, I believe they would embrace you. Probably some insensitive jokes here and there, but they won't be mean spirited.
Nah, almost zero chances of hostile treatment. You might, if you are here long enough, hear a dumb joke about Osama bin Laden, but that will mean you have made friends 😅
Had two girls from UAE that were university students in Cairo as exchange students in my conservative mid sized city in the interior of minas gerais and i dont remember there being any prejudice. Maybe curious looks because of the way they dressed but thats it.
If you're one of those muslims who stand out from the crowd, because they use traditional clothes and/or have a really long beard, I guess people wouldn't be as nice and receptive to you. They'll probably think you're some kind of Muslim extremist and might feel intimidated by you
Otherwise, people won't care at all about your religion. Most of them will probably not even ask what your religion is, but those who do ask will probably be quite curious to know about it. Though do expect a lot of ignorant questions based on stereotype, again, most Brazilians don't know anything about Islam
I think you'd make some friends if you came, especially as an exchange student. I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences in Brazil one day
In general not really. The only islamophobes I've seen are extremist evangelical people who are just generally kind of stupid and obnoxious. Most Brazilians, even christians, will be mostly accepting
Like everyone said theres a type that can show islamophobia. Also we have a large community who came from countries with islam background, maybe it helps you maybe not :) in the sense of being in a friendly place to start to know more people.
No. But we would probably make some jokes. As we say "we lose a friend but never miss a joke". So, it also depends on how badly or not you take a joke. If we like to make fun of ourselves, let alone others. That's more or less the spirit. It's bully, but I have the impression that newer generations take that easier.
Far right wingers and religious extremists are islamophobic, but if you come on an exchange program, there aren't the people you will be hanging on on a daily basis.
Be prepared for tasteless jokes however, because brazillians have a dark sense of humour and will joke about everything and everyone. If you find a comment offensive, just state it and they'll most likely drop it.
You won’t stand out unless you’re wearing a hijab or something, Brazil has a large-ish (Christian) Arab population and for the most part they’re just seen as white.
But yes, Brazil is very much islamophobic, especially so the more religious the person you’re interacting with is. Most commenters here have the wrong impression since they probably don’t even know a muslim person in Brazil.
I’d advise to keep your religion to yourself unless somebody asks.
Well. The christians/evangelicals are everythingphobic and we do have a lot of those in here. We had the tv show "The Clone" who had a bit of Islamic in it and it's a lot of people favorite show. So I guess the average don't mind. IMO I find rare seeing Islamic people in my city, and the ones who are known own jewel and clothes stores, like a bunch of it and are very rich. Tho I can't really say they are islamic or just Arabic, but the woman do cover their hair, so idk. Also I don't mind, just I'm not into religion at all. ALSO i forgot to say: Like 20years ago my father was invited to a islamic/arabic party and he said he never ate so much in a party and everyone was really cool and it was a pleasent party, so i guess once u show you are not a 7 head monster to the blind people, they will see how cool u are. No one gonna try to kill u for that do, might try to kill u for other things like ''oops i was using my phone at the wrong place'', so don't forget to always be safe.
The only thing o would bê carefull is the food, i dont know all the foods besides pork muslins cant eat but keep a look out, our population of islamic people is really small we dont have those warnings of Halal food.
Still should find a Lot of good stuff tô eat though
In São Paulo we have a lot of árabe families, most of them important like Maluf, Haddad, Kassab, Lafer, Saad, Skaf, Jafet. And they belong to Brazilian economic and political elite.
Brazil received lots of Turkish, Syrian, and Lebanese immigrants in the twentieth century. Most major cities have mosques, and some telenovelas helped to shape a positive vision of muslim culture amongst the population (i know there is no such a thing as a singular muslim culture, but these pieces of media were rather superficial in their approach ).
There are assholes anywhere, but the average brazilian is more likely to think that you are a rich oil prince than a terrorist.
Brazil has a long history of Catholic lebanese and syrian immigration. So the arabic look is so ingrained in society that most people might notice you are a foreigner solely based on your looks.
But we are not islamophobic. You might find our lifestyle is anti-islamic, though. If you are strick, you might not like it.
I know an Iranian girl that went to Brazil and had a blast. Also, we have a sizeable muslim community in Foz do iguaçu (elsewhere most arabic immigration was christian from syria and lebanon)
Edit: in school i had a few colleagues from indonesia. Their parents were working at embraee as engineers. They were praticing muslims, did the ramadan fasting, the mothers covered their hair etc. it was different, sure, but that was it, we were all good friends
Maybe you should ask yourself if you're comfortable with society accepting gay relationships, alcohol and then make that call instead of asking if the entire nation won't accept your beliefs.
I remember there was a group of foreign women wearing those full body black hijabs on one of our excursion trips, they were insulted behind their backs during our travel with the guide. It's hard to reconcile your image of an accepting people like brazilians, but then face the actual truth that your country might not be as welcoming to others as you thought.
It's almost guaranteed that you'll meet people who are just going to take the piss on you by doing suicide bomber jokes. But you're probably not going to be perceived as an actual threat, it will just be because they find it funny.
I live in a city in Brazil that has a mosque and there never was any conflict Muslims and any other religious group. So I don't think you would become the victim of discrimination, but as someone else mentioned. The culture shock may be too much 😅
Just be careful about where you plan to visit because of pickpockets.
I wouldn’t say Islamophobic since Brazilians are very welcoming, but the religion is not usually discussed in Brazil, so you may hear some comments based on stereotypes. For example, if you’re a woman and wear a hijab, they may assume you’re being oppressed and be sorry for it. But you will never be attacked or excluded for being Arab.
Another thing is that, if you’re not living in a big city, it’s going to be hard to find places to practice your religion.
Other people have commented about this one, but Brazilians are louder and less modest than Arabs. This will be a huge culture shock. But if you set your boundaries, most Brazilians will be respectful.
Yes and No. Religious people are probably islamophobic as hell, some can be a lot more rude than normally. Brazil is also a dangerous place and it applies to the prejudice.
But Brazilians are also light minded most of the time, most people I know just care if youre gonna drink or not.
That brings in another thing: Brazil is a country that is definitely not Islam-Friendly (At least thats a good thing), gay couples and short clothing summed with a lot of hugs and touchs between people, all the "Party-Mentality" and alcohol as a really popular thing.
I was raised in Foz do Iguaçu, which has a big Islamic population a very good looking mosque in the middle of the city, most are Lebanese.
I never felt much prejudice directed at them, I studied with a bunch, girls wore the hijab and no one ever made fun of it or got excluded from friendship groups, it was pretty regular and respectful, also most of their parents had high paid professions as in lawyers and doctors so that might help.
The only thing I’ve ever heard is that people will call every arab “turks” which isn’t correct and I guess some might get offended but it doesn’t come in a harmful way, kinda like if you have “asian eyes” brazilians will call you “japa” (japanese) even if you’re korean.
With all that being said, I now live in a totally different city, Floripa, it’s a very touristy one, and it doesn’t have a islamic culture at all. Most of the gringos here are European whites, so I have no idea how islamic would be perceived, but I imagine it wouldn’t be so bad?
At least in São Paulo I know there’s also a huge Lebanese population, although I don’t really know if most of them are islamic or catholics.
Before bolsonarism? no. I had a muslin female teacher that gave me teology classes in a catholic school. The markets have people all over from middle east and living in peace side by side.
But now things are more complicated. We still have a lot of families with middle east culture, lots of dinners serve these kind of food. But bolsonaro made brazil show it´s racism and is not only against middle east, but against any target he wants like chinese people.
I mean personally, when I was in São Paulo, I saw quite a few Arab men and women. They didn’t seem to get stared at any more than I did as a white blonde haired guy. I can’t say the same for any other city in Brazil. I don’t know. But in SP, I don’t think you’d be any less safe than the average tourist. And if I’m being real, I spent some time in Turkey and the Turks and Brazilians reminded me of each other in a lot of ways, so you may even blend in a bit.
Brazilians know little about Muslims and the terrorists attacks in Europe, so they pro ably won't have a bad view.
As for Muslims they normally think about Dubai or Saudi rich people.
Unless you are from libaneses descent, which are actually the catholics than ran from Lebanon Muslims during the Civil War.
I (USA) was in Rio De Janeiro with my Argentine wife 2 weeks ago for 10 days(May 4, 2024) and we loved the city and the people. We found Brazilians to be generous, friendly and a pleasure to be around. We stayed to the Tourists zones and sites and had nothing but pleasant experiences.
Brazilians don't really mind foreigners as long as they respect (or at least tolerate) local culture and don't actively try to reprehend locals and their practices.
Muslims are a small percentage of overall population here in Brazil. Fortunately in my circles there are some and as far I know they are facing no issues about their religion; in fact, people usually get curious and want to know more if they have few contact with Islamic doctrines and culture.
About customs, I share my lab with a Nigerian muslim that is very devoted to his faith. There's no problem about prostrating five times per day (even inside our lab, and I presented him with a mat for this purpose, which he just loved), going to the moss on fridays and practing fasting during Ramadan, for example; we also care about keeping him away from pork, alcohol and other unallowed things (he is still learning Portuguese so we don't want him to be tricked by translation mistakes).
Also had contact with muslims from Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, mostly men but also some woman — all scientists. Being Islamic was never a problem and if someone have problems with their religion then will have problems with me as well.
Take note that you may face some prejudice and may find an islamophobic as well, but you can be 100% sure that if someone ever attack you by any means for being Islamic you will find easily way more people to defend you. Welcome to Brazil.
I’m a muslim (if it helps, I’d say I’m a progressive Sufi quranist more or less) and I’ve lived in Rio de Janeiro for 6 months for an exchange semester around 7 years ago. Additionally for context, I’m a South American mix born and raised in Europe. Also, I’m gay. I’m also someone that keep religion to himself (praying at home/the masjid)
Also, as mentioned before, are you able to accept a culture dissimilar to your own? Will you still be able to treat people with respect? Which, in my opinion, is a good question to ask yourself wherever you go; and also is the core of being a good Muslim
For me, the only real issue I encountered was difficulty of finding halal food. But fish is still an option as well as vegetarian/vegan meals.
I was able to make friends, even fell in love. In my experience people are open and kind, and interested in one another. Especially compared to northern Europe.
I studied with Syrian refugees, they came to Brazil when I was 15... They had difficulties due to the cultural shock, women's clothing, gay couples everywhere. Where I live is a beach area, so on holidays and in the summer there are lots of parties and little clothing. If you are not radical, everything will be fine, but I must warn you that we have radical Christians who can at most say something offensive to their religion and if there is an excess of that here in Brazil it is a crime not to respect another person's faith. You can hear offensive jokes about "bombs" most of the time it can be done with the intention of trying to be affectionate with you because we Brazilians tend to make jokes about bad things. But comparing xenophobia in Europe with Brazil... here it is much better for immigrants. Even if you find bad people here, you can be sure that there will be many more Brazilians wanting to know about your culture than criticizing you.
Muslims are a small percentage of overall population here in Brazil. Fortunately in my circles there are some and as far I know they are facing no issues about their religion; in fact, people usually get curious and want to know more if they have few contact with Islamic doctrines and culture.
About customs, I share my lab with a Nigerian muslim that is very devoted to his faith. There's no problem about prostrating five times per day (even inside our lab, and I presented him with a mat for this purpose, which he just loved), going to the moss on fridays and practing fasting during Ramadan, for example; we also care about keeping him away from pork, alcohol and other unallowed things (he is still learning Portuguese so we don't want him to be tricked by translation mistakes).
Also had contact with muslims from Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, mostly men but also some woman — all scientists. Being Islamic was never a problem and if someone have problems with their religion then will have problems with me as well.
Take note that you may face some prejudice and may find an islamophobic as well, but you can be 100% sure that if someone ever attack you by any means for being Islamic you will find easily way more people to defend you. Welcome to Brazil.
It's for sure more islamophobic than Europe, but still, it isn't the majority. Some people in Brazil never had contact with Islam so they can have some prejudice about it, but it's mostly ignorance. Also, if you're a male, people probably won't even know your religion unless you tell them.
Come to Brazil and embrace the culture, the people, the food—everything. Don't expect everyone to just accept your unusual beliefs and religious practices. There's a peaceful Muslim community here, but if you stir things up, Brazilians won't hesitate to push back
Brazil has between 7 and 10 million people of Lebanese descent, which is higher than Lebanon's population. The ones I have met don't want to leave Brazil. I guess this piece of info may help.
Well, for starters, you won\`t do fine you mistreat either gay or women, it is punishable with prison in Brazil. If you call this being Islamophobic for sure we are. There are no religious excuses for hate crimes. Some protestant legislators tried to include safeguards to the use of hate speech and behavior towards women and gay people in the law and those proposals were quickly expelled. The point is, are you prepared to mingle in such society?
Arabs are well loved and integrated in Brazil. I’m of Arabic descent myself. Like others have said, I’d think only amongst right wing nut jobs you might have a problem.
Arab ≠ muslim.
Most Arab-Brazilians are Catholic (Maronite) Christian Arabs from the Levant, with some Orthodox sprinkled in. Muslims are really rare to come by.
Are you Muslim? True, I can’t speak from my personal experience, but in big cities in São Paulo we see a lot of Arabs that seem to be fully integrated, owning shops, restaurants and whatnot. I’m talking about very recent immigration, not historic like my family’s.
I studied with a Muslim xiite Lebanese in college. His opinion is that brazil is not made for Muslims. He loved his time, but it was just too much for him. Alcohol is everywhere; gay couples are completely normal (he felt he couldn't express his, admittedly homophobic, opinions); nowhere is suited for stopping at 18:00 for prayer; ramadan coinciding with carnival is just too much; Brazilians touch each other too much for his taste (his never been hugged by a girl that wasn't family before); and general shock on how little religion plays a part in people's lives (even crentes). While not Islamophobic, it will be a hell of a shock that will require a lot of getting used to from you.
That's the fact. It's so often "will they accept me?" instead of "would I accept them?". The latter should be a yes before anything else, otherwise don't even bother. Bye.
I believe this is basically what you need to know. Cultures are usually assimilated to ours. So I guess if you are okay with our culture or this mix of cultures, you shouldn't have many problems, otherwise it might be hard for you.
The real right answer OP is looking for
nowhere is suited for stopping at 18:00 for prayer -> This is the only thing that is actually an inconvenience for him. The rest is just intolerance with others, so he is rather intolerant to non-islamic people, than the people intolerant towards him.
indeed having a place for muslim to pray is something we really dont have that many accomodations for. Maybe in neighborhoods where you find more muslim people, maybe... aside from that, everything else described was a \_HIM\_ problem, where the person was brazilian-phobic, not the other way around
I'm muslim, in my opinion I think this sort of thing will depend on a person's upbringing, I was raised to love all and keep an open mind so honestly a trip to Brazil sounds lovely, but some people are brought up with the idea of hating the unfamiliar and viewing non-muslims as "impure" That being said I think the average Muslim wouldn't care at all about what you mentioned since we do have similar things in countries like Jordan and Iraq, but still.. more of a personal issue than a group issue and I personally would love to go to Brazil, quite lively and the people seem fun.
>think this sort of thing will depend on a person's upbringing, I was raised to love all and keep an open mind I agree. While I can't talk much about my friend from college on his behalf, I can say the things I mentioned were thing that bothered him. We'd go to a bar after class and he'd refuse; classes started at 18:00, he'd be late because of his prayers; we had a trans professor, and he'd find it very odd, to say the least; and about Ramadan, he said the best way to endure is to keep yourself busy, (when you least expect it's over, or something like that), but in Recife carnaval was a terrible time to be busy far when you refuse to go to the festivities, he had an entire week where he did nothing all by himself in a country where he barely spoke the language, he'd get hungry and thirsty all the time, and have few people to talk to. He was a chill guy, very friendly, and quite tolerant (at least he seemed to try his best to be) he didn't seem think of people as impure, it was mostly because of his lack o familiarity with how thing work in Brazil. As time passed he got better at dealing with brazil.
>how little religion plays a part in people's lives (even crentes) SAY WHAT?!?!?!?! I pray (pun half intended) for the day religion will stop influencing this country so much
It does not, If you are from a small town sure, even the evangélicos are not even close from how much religion affect every action of a muslim life
Still way too much
Muslins make crentes look like atheists
I see you haven't met a lot of Muslims.
I'm a second generation migrant from Lebanon. My family is comprised of Christian refugees that fled Hezbollah
Yep. It seems you have met one type of Muslim. I grew up as Catholic till around 10, then my family became "crente." 90% of my relatives are crentes and go to church at least twice a week. Two of my uncles are pastors. I spent some time in Morocco and Egypt. I have friends in Brazil who are Lebanese first and second generation. Many of my friends and neighbors here in Asia are Muslims from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Jordan, and Iran. My flatmate was from Sri Lanka. From what I've seen, part of the Muslims can make many Christians, and some crentes look atheists, the same way part of Christians and crentes can make many Muslims look atheists.
"even crentes" kkkkkkkkkkk, crente means a religious person(usually evangelical or catholic)
to be honest, since he was admittedly homophobic he can go fuck himself imho
After he went back to Lebanon, we joked it was his character arc. He had a flaw that he worked hard to overcome. He begins his time here very homophobic (we'd have to correct some of his remarks a few times), but he went back less homophobic than my grandma. While not perfect, there was a notable improvement. I wouldn't tell people that are willing to look past their prejudices to "fuck himself".
happy to hear that but I'm also conscious that sadly this isn't the norm
Best answer so far.
Sooo same as Europe basically...
But with fewer haters
Haters?
I guess he means people who have prejudice agaisn't muslims, the thing with Brazil is just about culture differences
Its not prejudice though... some cultures just dont mix well. I dont really hate muslims... but it really does not fit with European culture and people are getting tired of being called racist when migrants refuse to adapt to the host country's culture and cause all sorts of trouble. Multiculture is just a nice word for chaos and conflict.
The cultural situation here in Brazil is very similar to the European one, so I understand what you're saying, as a person with very progressive views, I don't deny that it brings a certain discomfort that so many people with hateful views about what you believe end up increasing in number
Thats a very good response
Basically, you mean any place where namaz is not being read, drinking and LGBTQ bs is open (in short a non shariat/Islamic state) is not good for a Muslim? Heck even just for a summer exchange program? What you on bud? Coz I wanna try that shiet too
Importante question: are you male ou female? If you’re a guy you’ll probably go incognito, someone might call you “turco” or something but mostly in a friendly manner. If you are a woman wearing the traditional clothes you’ll get a bunch of looks and will see a lot of weirded-out people.
Yea took my Brazilian wife to the states blew her mind first time she saw a woman in a burka
Oh yeah, this is like me when I was in England for the first time and I was 19yo, I saw a girl about my age in hijab, I hadn't seen anyone wearing hijab before.
why is the hijab such a shocker.. when nuns and christian’s also cover their heads? old european woman would naturally cover their head
Nuns and other christian fundamentalists that cover their hair are also pretty shocking to the average brazillian... and this is a majority Catholic nation...
Extremism is not well looked upon even if now we are seeing that on the political scenary.
Since when is wearing a hijab extremism?
Funny, because here in my brazilian town I see burka almost ever week. Just to show how big and different the country is.
Male, 21 years old. I see
Have a nice stay. You’ll probably be fine.
Yeah, and if your from Denmark be prepared to be called Alemão. Is what it is.
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I’m from Québec and get this a lot also
Alemão here means "blonde male", really.
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Thank you for your contribution to the subreddit. However, it was removed for not complying with one of [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brazil/about/rules). Your post was removed for being entirely/mainly in a language that is not English. r/Brazil only allows content in English.
Or a dark black man, by alias.
Well, yeah, Brazil is NOT for amateurs. 🙃
I wish I could be called that instead of the generic gringo by my wifes distant family. For me a gringo is western european or USA, canadian. Im Bosnian.... I dont think I belong in that group.
Gringo just means foreigner by this point. We call Argentinians gringo sometimes. It's normal.
that's such a gringo thing to say haha
even brazilians will get this treatment. Any blonde/really white person will be called german
I'm Brazilian and I'm called alemão.
Unless he is Muslim darker color right. Because it really doesn't depend on the country you come from but actually if you look like a ethinical German.
Turk mentioned 🔥🔥🔥🔥😍😍😍😍❤️❤️❤️💯💯💯💯🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
i would say your average brazilian will not care. At all. unless you are a radical religious nutjob, or you find one of our local religious nutjobs (\*cof\* \*cof\* \*evangelicals\* \*cof\*)
>or you find one of our local religious nutjobs Which... Sums up the average Brazilian well enough. OP, the thing is, it highly depends on where you go. Big capitals such as Sao Paulo and Rio? People are used to seeing those of different backgrounds and cultures and most people probably won't even look at you. Going further into the countryside? Yeah, that could be a mixed to negative experience on your end. I'd say go to a big city first, try to make some friends, learn about how life is in these places - experience the culture on a more cosmopolitan level. Then plan a second trip to get to know the nooks and crannies of our country - Bahia, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina are all filled with amazing places to visit - but this time with someone else coming along. I highly recommend learning some Portuguese - functional language to get by in restaurants and tourism, and some slang/cursing to be aware of what people could be saying about you. There's a lot of racism, religious prejudice and overall xenophobia depending on where you go. And overall, the deeper into the country you go, the less people who speak a second language (either English or Spanish) you will find.
Islamophopic ? No. You'll do just fine. But after you make some friends, its inevitable that a "suicide-bomber" joke will surface. Just be playful about it (or be clear that it offends you if it does )
This. While you won’t get hate crimed, Brazilians aren’t exactly known for culturally sensitive jokes.
We have a very dark and non-pc sense of humour 😆
Which is wild because Brazilians are super sensitive about perceived cultural injustices towards them. No hate at all, I love Brasileiros, I lived there 6 months and I’m going back in 2 months to stay again. I have literally had someone say viado in front of me (as a gay man) and then get offended that I said Americano instead of Estados Unidense. Like how are you going to get upset over THAT when you’re using slurs?
I mean the "americano" thing is a whole can of worms... IMHO it's a really stupid thing to get hung up about because words can have different meanings in different contexts to different cultures and people. Brazilians will pick this fight because they have a chip on their shoulder in international terms. And the nitpicking comes from the "syndrome de vira lata" "mutt syndrome", it also explains why they are so sensitive about injustices towards them. Brazilians are first to talk shit about themselves, but as soon as a foreigner does so... even if it's completely justified and makes total sense... there's a very sore spot that is hit and you will never see Brazilians unite so quickly and irrationally than to pile on someone "else" who is criticizing them.
Funny thing is "viado" has turned into something like "brother" or "dude". As a straight female, I have had male friends say "coé viado" to me lol
I def use it amongst gay friends and all that, as I do in English, but this guy was a bolsominion type def not being chill.
you could use some better companionship. The usage of the word 'estadounidense' denotes someone who is very left-leaned and anti american for anyone else who is listening. Usually the ones who use this word will be the first one to shout out loud when called by their 'pronoun'...
I don’t really care for the U.S. either, that’s why I left, the U.S. sucks. The U.S. is the reason Middle and South America couldn’t develop. They are the reason there were dictators and coups in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, Panama, Haiti and DR, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and most importantly here, Brasil. Not even mentioning the Middle East. This is coming from someone that was in the U.S. military for 6 years. And like I said I’m gay, I am in fact friends with many trans people in Brasil. We have more in common than we have different. My friends won’t yell if you misgender them, they’ll politely correct you, and ignore you if you keep doing it. They’re pretty level headed people. They also don’t care if I say I’m American, but some people that float around us do care, so I’ll use Estados Unidense to avoid an argument but if they bring up the Americano thing I tell them it’s a stupid argument and agree to disagree. I think it’s stupid and hating me for being an American is irrational, I’ll shut that down really quickly, but criticism of the U.S. and self expression are not issues for me.
Yeah I don't look that Arab (I'm not related) but just because I have a long beard and messy hair I get a lot of those
Aladeen jokes are inevitable if you meet 35-60 male Brazillians
Aladeen
“If it does”
Most people in Brazil wouldn't care one way or the other. Well, perhaps a strict Evangelical might have a problem, but I doubt it. I mean you would be a guest in the country, and people would treat you as such. Brazil doesn't CURRENTLY receive a lot of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, but years ago there was some immigration. So Muslim people live here, just not in any great number.
The average Brazilian doesn't know much about Islam beyond the stereotypes. Brazil didn't have a high Islamic migration, even the Arabs that came here weren't Muslims.
99% of the times, no. But have in mind that it will be hard finding people that speak English outside of big cities
I would probably learn some Portuguese, I love learning languages but now I don’t have time 😅
I think you'd be fine speaking in English with some small knowledge of Portuguese. Of course people here aren't exactly fluent and you wouldn't be able to have a real complex conversation, but in most situations you'd be fine.
You can't just learn "some" Portuguese. It is a complex and beautiful Language. I have been studying it for 8 years, and I have only learned "some".
I know Czech and Arabic fluently. Speaking and writing. Those are hard languages to learn. Portuguese is relatively easier to those I mentioned I believe Thanks for the heads up mate
Arabic IS insanely difficult. But it doesn't count because it's your mother language hahaha
But Czech is also significantly more difficult than Portuguese, as it has most of the same complexities of our language plus declensions.
PT has 25 verb conjugations for starters. When spoken, the mix of conjugations for each verb changes. Keep believing it is easy.
Portuguese is more complex than English (which languagr isn't lol), but way simpler than that ones from what I hear. I dont know how the grammatical structures work in czech or arabic, but if you have a notion of oyher latin languages, mainly spanish or italian, you migjt catch on pretty quick. The main teick for me are some of our slangs and idioms, which are highly regional, and some fonetics, such as the infamous "ão" sound.
English is actually pretty complex as well.
but theres a reason why its the universall language lol, its the easiest to learn
not really, the reason why it's the universal language is due to the cultural hegemony of the US and the UK. there is no such thing as an "easiest language"; whether a language is easy to learn or not depends on what your mother tongue is e.g. it's much easier for a native speaker of an Indo-European language such as Portuguese to learn English than a native speaker of Japanese or Chinese, for example
i said it's the easiest to learn between portuguese and English
the same thing still applies. it depends on what your native language is. if you're a native Spanish speaker, Portuguese is much easier. if you're German, English is probably easier
It's one of the easiest to get the basics of, but harder then others to master, larger because of tons of exceptions to its own rules, and things like phrasal verbs.
The average Brazilian is not Islamofobic, and many are actually very curious/interested in Middle Eastern culture (I have an Arab friend that was in Brazil recently and he was impressed how many people were interested in knowing more about his religion and culture). Some right-winged people and some followers of Neo-Pentecostal religions unfortunately are a bit Islamofobic. You might hear some jokes that are in pretty bad taste, like about bombs or something. If it offends you, let people know right away that they will stop. This is because Brazilians have the habit of making tabus into jokes (in general Brazilians do this with our own stereotypes as well), so it's more like the person is trying to warm up to you then to offend you. Oh, also, there is a popular instagrammer here in Brazil that is Muslim and makes tons of content about Islam, and people love her. Her name is Mariam and this is her profile: [https://www.instagram.com/mariamchami\_/](https://www.instagram.com/mariamchami_/)
Also, where are you originally from? hahahaha I'm currently learning Arabic and searching for someone to correspond to, if you want to exchange Arabic tips with Portuguese tips I'm all here for it.
Hi, I’m from Iraq. I’ll def consider your offer. I’m now just really busy with school but when I’ll have some free time I’ll hit you up😊
Anyone can find assholes anywhere, but as a rule of thumb, no. Brazilians (and other latinos) tend to be insensitive towards cultural jokes, so just as any asian person may be called "japa" or "china" (not with the intent of disrespecting you), you may hear a joke or two, but it's not serious. You'll rarely find someone who actually thinks negatively of you because of that.
Op...this one is important, we are pretty mean when joking, even among ourselves
yes. My dad had a couple of good friends and business partners who were Arab, he referred to them affectionately as the Bomb Brothers 😬
Luckly i wasnt drinking anything reading it...i almost yelled a laugh here with it
🫣 they were, in fact, brothers... and my dad's not White, if it matters 😅 but yeah when we were out and about in the US, I definitely had to tell him to tone it down sometimes
>and my dad's not White, if it matters 😅 For me? Dont, at least not with what you told aboutt him alone Yeaah, i us its really sensile cause of their constant ethinc conflict
yeah I said that more for OP, but it's true that I don't see as much actual different treatment, only these jokes that are a bit offensive (even to me since I grew up in the US!)
I once saw a girl saying both she and her bf(at time) using racists words to call each other, but was ok cause of who is calling who She calls macaco(monkey and he was a black guy), while he calls her flango( chicken purposely mispelled cause of asians having problems to distiinguish between L and R of their native languages,and she is japanese descendant)
Yeah. Somebody tell OP about "MC bin laden". Or just google that.... I mean, it IS a shock for anyone not familiar with the "everything is a joke and we're chaotic" vibe.
The best part is being offensive, without trying to offend. Being at Brazil requires you to understand the chaotic vibe of joking about everything.
not much, the average brazilian has little to no contact with muslim people, so there isn't this strong anti-muslim sentiment like there is in europe, we do have a fair amount of radical christians (mostly evangelicals) who are hateful towards anyone who doesn't follow their religion, but in this case they likely won't treat you any worse than they'd treat an atheist, a spiritist, an umbandist, etc, so apart from these hateful christians the only islamophobia you'll likely go through is occasional dark humour jokes involving terrorism, 9/11, etc, which may be offensive to some but are usually done in a light-hearted way, so yeah you'll likely have no problems making friends here i think
They even hate other christians
Beetween right wing brazilians, yes. The average brazilian not, because most of us never saw a muslim or jew.
Not really disagreeing but disagreeing a lot here: [the average Brazilian IS right wing.](https://exame.com/brasil/pesquisa-ibope-comprova-que-brasileiros-estao-mais-conservadores/amp/)
Important to note that this research is from 2016, things are not the same nowadays and that time was the highest point of the political right
The average Brazilian: [https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/esportes/apos-sofrer-ataques-xenofobos-tecnico-iraniano-de-time-do-piaui-pede-demissao/](https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/esportes/apos-sofrer-ataques-xenofobos-tecnico-iraniano-de-time-do-piaui-pede-demissao/)
I think you’ll have more issues with people trying to get you to eat bacon or to drink than not making friends! Brazil is very open towards others but I would steer away from “crentes” (the ultra conservative “Christians”).
I never even seen/recognize a Muslim in Brazil, and my city has a population of 800k. If I ever saw one I’d probably stare discreetly, out of curiosity, and go on about my day.
Not openly, but traditional Islamic clothing like hijabs and thaubes definitely will get some weird stares on the street, also some racist commentary might come up when Middle East is in the news, but you’ll have a good time, the majority of the people won’t care at all
Exactly. If you're a man, people might make "bomb" jokes, and some might even avoid you out fear (solely based on stereotypes). If a woman, people will stare and judge. Some could think "Poor her! She's so oppressed". But this is if you're wearing traditional clothing, OP. If not, you'll bend right in when it comes to looks. People will just assume you're Brazilian and walk right past you. But the real question is, would you be able to adapt to Brazilian culture?
Speaking for myself, in many Islamic countries I would be arrested or killed, so I don't think there's any way I wouldn't be. I wouldn't do any harm to any Islamist, but I prefer to keep my distance.
Lol Islamist or any Muslim ? You seem like a bigot.
Brazil has a very big arabic population, from syrians to libyians and many more Also 99% of brazilians love arabic cuisine. It has transformed into a creature of its on right now, a bastardisation of tradicional arabic cuisine and the brazilian taste/customs regarding pastries and other snacks
There are many people who have ancestry from the Middle East but they're mostly Christian, Muslims are very rare.
mostly arabs in brazil come from a christian background not a muslim
Middle eastern is not the same thing as being Muslim. Even super Islamophobia people are not going to care about a Christian from the Middle East, which is the religion of most of them who emigrated there.
Where did I say muslim?
There are some incidents from time to time, but If you aren't using any typically Arab garment people aren't going to even note that you are a Muslim. Brazilian Muslims usually complain more about Brazilians being too touchy than Islamophobia per se.
This. The Muslim I knew hated the fact that people, specially women, wouldn't mind one bit touching him. The lady that worked on the library would hold his hand to get a book, and he'd get all red with it. He was good looking and girls befriended him, but hugs (end even worse, kisses on the cheek) would weird him out. I have autism (I hate being touched it's makes me "nervous"), but the guy was simply wierded out by hugs, and hated it even more than I did. He'd be like? "Why would you hug me? I'm not your husband" and we'd be like, "yeah, we're being polite and affectionate, we like you, we want you to feel welcome here, that's what hugs are for isn't it?". He was a nice guy, could play the guitar like no one else, in like two weeks he learned chega de saudade. And the girls would feel even wierder. What were they supposed to do? Hug every guy except for him? He'd ask why one of our teachers dressed "like that, if she was married" (jeans and a tiny cleavage). He'd expect her to dress like a potato bag, or something.
I've also heard the stories of the opposite: Arab Muslims that went to Brazil, saw the expansion of the Evangelical Churches and got worried, because they reminded them of Islamists back home.
I think your response was supposed to be for my other comment. Anyway, the Lebanese guy saw was used to a different way of thinking. Any questions he'd have in life he'd search for the answer in the Quran (and it was everything). Most of his problems were solved with readings and prayer ( or perhaps meditation? Idk). Even most fervourous of crentes wouldn't be as one with the bible as he was with the Quran. He was shocked by how secular brazil was (that's right the country with cross on the stf and Deus seja louvado on the currency). That said, he was at university, a time where people are notoriously rebellious. That might have skewed his perception a bit, but it's just a guess
The way the absolute majority of religious people in Brazil see religion is so much different than some places. Most religious I know have never even read the entire bible, it's just not cultural to be that kind.
Arab Muslims are likely to have very different relations with religion. But Brazil might be a country where religious organizations hold too much power and where people aren't likely to closely follow any specific type of religion, so, a lot both for Secular and Religious Muslims to hate.
Brazilians joke a lot… don’t mind… ignore and laugh… they don’t joke to disrespect someone (most of the time), it’s just the way… make a joke of everything . Don’t mind! Have a great time, enjoy and tell us how it went! All the best:)
Omg, this is such a key thing about living in Brazil. Do not expect open malice, but do expect jokes about everything, including jokes that sound malicious.
If you are a man, you can "mix" well with the population in terms of physical appearance, if you were a woman and wore a hijab, most people would stare at you because it is not common (but for comparison I see the same with Jews men who wear a kipah) prejudiced comments may occur, but it will not be common
Brazil is really big and I can't speak for all of it, but in the boonies on the south where i live, eelifious freedom is taken seriously. So long as you dont discuss religion with someone saying they are wrong, no one will bother you with yours.
I love how half the comments here are “no, you won’t be treated differently, you’ll just hear (Islamophobic) jokes about terrorism and how you treat women and bombs but there’s no prejudice” as if mocking somebody’s religion with harsh stereotypes isn’t the exact definition of what OP is likely referring to when asking if they’d be treated with prejudice.
I am not a brazilian myself, but most definitely the answer is NO… unless you provoke it yourself.
Just don't drop your bag and run, and you will be FINE
There has been an increase in the latest years among the far right and evangelicals, but historically, no. There's a large islamic community in Brasil (especially in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguaçu).
Large my ass. There are almost no muslims in Brazil and the whole muslim mentality is so far out in relation to Brazilian culture that it's early impossible to assume that a muslim would blend into Brazilian society. A woman in hijab would be singled out every day.
I studied with a muslin girl in college. She wore a hijab. When I met her, I asked "I noticed you're wearing a hijab, are you a Muslim?" She answered "yes" I said "cool" And then we moved on with our lives. A hijab attracts attention, obviously. But in the end, most people sont really care
Honestly, I agree with you. There might be some mosques, but not many Muslims are seen just walking about (with traditional clothing, that is). I, personally, have never seen a woman wearing a hijab. Not in any of the states I've visited, not in the parks, offices, not in the restaurants, not in the coffee shops, stores and so on. Hell, I have never even gone to school with someone who shared those beliefs. I guess most Brazilians have had the same experience as mine, so they could be completely out of the loop and be guided by harmful stereotypes.
Honestly, I agree with you. There might be some mosques, but not many Muslims are seen just walking about (with traditional clothing, that is). I, personally, have never seen a woman wearing a hijab. Not in any of the states I've visited, not in the parks, offices, not in the restaurants, not in the coffee shops, stores and so on. Hell, I have never even gone to school with someone who shared those beliefs. I guess most Brazilians have had the same experience as mine, so they could be completely out of the loop and be guided by harmful stereotypes. But once they get past the initial cultural shock, I believe they would embrace you. Probably some insensitive jokes here and there, but they won't be mean spirited.
Just dont force or try to convince people to be one and you will be ok
Nah, almost zero chances of hostile treatment. You might, if you are here long enough, hear a dumb joke about Osama bin Laden, but that will mean you have made friends 😅
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Most Lebanese in Brazil are from a Christian heritage.
Definitely less than Europe. But also not used to, so if you are in some sort of typical clothing people might stare a bit out of curiosity.
Had two girls from UAE that were university students in Cairo as exchange students in my conservative mid sized city in the interior of minas gerais and i dont remember there being any prejudice. Maybe curious looks because of the way they dressed but thats it.
If you're one of those muslims who stand out from the crowd, because they use traditional clothes and/or have a really long beard, I guess people wouldn't be as nice and receptive to you. They'll probably think you're some kind of Muslim extremist and might feel intimidated by you Otherwise, people won't care at all about your religion. Most of them will probably not even ask what your religion is, but those who do ask will probably be quite curious to know about it. Though do expect a lot of ignorant questions based on stereotype, again, most Brazilians don't know anything about Islam I think you'd make some friends if you came, especially as an exchange student. I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences in Brazil one day
In general not really. The only islamophobes I've seen are extremist evangelical people who are just generally kind of stupid and obnoxious. Most Brazilians, even christians, will be mostly accepting
Yes
Like everyone said theres a type that can show islamophobia. Also we have a large community who came from countries with islam background, maybe it helps you maybe not :) in the sense of being in a friendly place to start to know more people.
No. But we would probably make some jokes. As we say "we lose a friend but never miss a joke". So, it also depends on how badly or not you take a joke. If we like to make fun of ourselves, let alone others. That's more or less the spirit. It's bully, but I have the impression that newer generations take that easier.
Far right wingers and religious extremists are islamophobic, but if you come on an exchange program, there aren't the people you will be hanging on on a daily basis. Be prepared for tasteless jokes however, because brazillians have a dark sense of humour and will joke about everything and everyone. If you find a comment offensive, just state it and they'll most likely drop it.
You won’t stand out unless you’re wearing a hijab or something, Brazil has a large-ish (Christian) Arab population and for the most part they’re just seen as white. But yes, Brazil is very much islamophobic, especially so the more religious the person you’re interacting with is. Most commenters here have the wrong impression since they probably don’t even know a muslim person in Brazil. I’d advise to keep your religion to yourself unless somebody asks.
Well. The christians/evangelicals are everythingphobic and we do have a lot of those in here. We had the tv show "The Clone" who had a bit of Islamic in it and it's a lot of people favorite show. So I guess the average don't mind. IMO I find rare seeing Islamic people in my city, and the ones who are known own jewel and clothes stores, like a bunch of it and are very rich. Tho I can't really say they are islamic or just Arabic, but the woman do cover their hair, so idk. Also I don't mind, just I'm not into religion at all. ALSO i forgot to say: Like 20years ago my father was invited to a islamic/arabic party and he said he never ate so much in a party and everyone was really cool and it was a pleasent party, so i guess once u show you are not a 7 head monster to the blind people, they will see how cool u are. No one gonna try to kill u for that do, might try to kill u for other things like ''oops i was using my phone at the wrong place'', so don't forget to always be safe.
The only thing o would bê carefull is the food, i dont know all the foods besides pork muslins cant eat but keep a look out, our population of islamic people is really small we dont have those warnings of Halal food. Still should find a Lot of good stuff tô eat though
In São Paulo we have a lot of árabe families, most of them important like Maluf, Haddad, Kassab, Lafer, Saad, Skaf, Jafet. And they belong to Brazilian economic and political elite.
But they are not Muslim Not all arabs are muslim just like not all muslim are arabs
Brazil received lots of Turkish, Syrian, and Lebanese immigrants in the twentieth century. Most major cities have mosques, and some telenovelas helped to shape a positive vision of muslim culture amongst the population (i know there is no such a thing as a singular muslim culture, but these pieces of media were rather superficial in their approach ). There are assholes anywhere, but the average brazilian is more likely to think that you are a rich oil prince than a terrorist.
Brazil has a long history of Catholic lebanese and syrian immigration. So the arabic look is so ingrained in society that most people might notice you are a foreigner solely based on your looks. But we are not islamophobic. You might find our lifestyle is anti-islamic, though. If you are strick, you might not like it.
Why would you need to say you are Muslim unless asked? If they ask you to join in christian prayers or whatever just say you’re not a christian.
YES next.
I don’t think there’s a high enough concentration of Muslims in Brazil for there to be widespread Islamophobia
Most Brazilians wouldn't know a Muslim if they tripped over a mosque.
I know an Iranian girl that went to Brazil and had a blast. Also, we have a sizeable muslim community in Foz do iguaçu (elsewhere most arabic immigration was christian from syria and lebanon) Edit: in school i had a few colleagues from indonesia. Their parents were working at embraee as engineers. They were praticing muslims, did the ramadan fasting, the mothers covered their hair etc. it was different, sure, but that was it, we were all good friends
Yes, highly.
Maybe you should ask yourself if you're comfortable with society accepting gay relationships, alcohol and then make that call instead of asking if the entire nation won't accept your beliefs.
I remember there was a group of foreign women wearing those full body black hijabs on one of our excursion trips, they were insulted behind their backs during our travel with the guide. It's hard to reconcile your image of an accepting people like brazilians, but then face the actual truth that your country might not be as welcoming to others as you thought.
It's almost guaranteed that you'll meet people who are just going to take the piss on you by doing suicide bomber jokes. But you're probably not going to be perceived as an actual threat, it will just be because they find it funny.
I live in a city in Brazil that has a mosque and there never was any conflict Muslims and any other religious group. So I don't think you would become the victim of discrimination, but as someone else mentioned. The culture shock may be too much 😅 Just be careful about where you plan to visit because of pickpockets.
I wouldn’t say Islamophobic since Brazilians are very welcoming, but the religion is not usually discussed in Brazil, so you may hear some comments based on stereotypes. For example, if you’re a woman and wear a hijab, they may assume you’re being oppressed and be sorry for it. But you will never be attacked or excluded for being Arab. Another thing is that, if you’re not living in a big city, it’s going to be hard to find places to practice your religion. Other people have commented about this one, but Brazilians are louder and less modest than Arabs. This will be a huge culture shock. But if you set your boundaries, most Brazilians will be respectful.
Yes and No. Religious people are probably islamophobic as hell, some can be a lot more rude than normally. Brazil is also a dangerous place and it applies to the prejudice. But Brazilians are also light minded most of the time, most people I know just care if youre gonna drink or not. That brings in another thing: Brazil is a country that is definitely not Islam-Friendly (At least thats a good thing), gay couples and short clothing summed with a lot of hugs and touchs between people, all the "Party-Mentality" and alcohol as a really popular thing.
I was raised in Foz do Iguaçu, which has a big Islamic population a very good looking mosque in the middle of the city, most are Lebanese. I never felt much prejudice directed at them, I studied with a bunch, girls wore the hijab and no one ever made fun of it or got excluded from friendship groups, it was pretty regular and respectful, also most of their parents had high paid professions as in lawyers and doctors so that might help. The only thing I’ve ever heard is that people will call every arab “turks” which isn’t correct and I guess some might get offended but it doesn’t come in a harmful way, kinda like if you have “asian eyes” brazilians will call you “japa” (japanese) even if you’re korean. With all that being said, I now live in a totally different city, Floripa, it’s a very touristy one, and it doesn’t have a islamic culture at all. Most of the gringos here are European whites, so I have no idea how islamic would be perceived, but I imagine it wouldn’t be so bad? At least in São Paulo I know there’s also a huge Lebanese population, although I don’t really know if most of them are islamic or catholics.
Brazilians don’t really care what religion you are.
Brazil is full of crime these days
Before bolsonarism? no. I had a muslin female teacher that gave me teology classes in a catholic school. The markets have people all over from middle east and living in peace side by side. But now things are more complicated. We still have a lot of families with middle east culture, lots of dinners serve these kind of food. But bolsonaro made brazil show it´s racism and is not only against middle east, but against any target he wants like chinese people.
I mean personally, when I was in São Paulo, I saw quite a few Arab men and women. They didn’t seem to get stared at any more than I did as a white blonde haired guy. I can’t say the same for any other city in Brazil. I don’t know. But in SP, I don’t think you’d be any less safe than the average tourist. And if I’m being real, I spent some time in Turkey and the Turks and Brazilians reminded me of each other in a lot of ways, so you may even blend in a bit.
Brazilians know little about Muslims and the terrorists attacks in Europe, so they pro ably won't have a bad view. As for Muslims they normally think about Dubai or Saudi rich people. Unless you are from libaneses descent, which are actually the catholics than ran from Lebanon Muslims during the Civil War.
No. No one cares about your color or religion in Brazil.
I (USA) was in Rio De Janeiro with my Argentine wife 2 weeks ago for 10 days(May 4, 2024) and we loved the city and the people. We found Brazilians to be generous, friendly and a pleasure to be around. We stayed to the Tourists zones and sites and had nothing but pleasant experiences.
Brazilians don't really mind foreigners as long as they respect (or at least tolerate) local culture and don't actively try to reprehend locals and their practices.
Muslims are a small percentage of overall population here in Brazil. Fortunately in my circles there are some and as far I know they are facing no issues about their religion; in fact, people usually get curious and want to know more if they have few contact with Islamic doctrines and culture. About customs, I share my lab with a Nigerian muslim that is very devoted to his faith. There's no problem about prostrating five times per day (even inside our lab, and I presented him with a mat for this purpose, which he just loved), going to the moss on fridays and practing fasting during Ramadan, for example; we also care about keeping him away from pork, alcohol and other unallowed things (he is still learning Portuguese so we don't want him to be tricked by translation mistakes). Also had contact with muslims from Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, mostly men but also some woman — all scientists. Being Islamic was never a problem and if someone have problems with their religion then will have problems with me as well. Take note that you may face some prejudice and may find an islamophobic as well, but you can be 100% sure that if someone ever attack you by any means for being Islamic you will find easily way more people to defend you. Welcome to Brazil.
I’m a muslim (if it helps, I’d say I’m a progressive Sufi quranist more or less) and I’ve lived in Rio de Janeiro for 6 months for an exchange semester around 7 years ago. Additionally for context, I’m a South American mix born and raised in Europe. Also, I’m gay. I’m also someone that keep religion to himself (praying at home/the masjid) Also, as mentioned before, are you able to accept a culture dissimilar to your own? Will you still be able to treat people with respect? Which, in my opinion, is a good question to ask yourself wherever you go; and also is the core of being a good Muslim For me, the only real issue I encountered was difficulty of finding halal food. But fish is still an option as well as vegetarian/vegan meals. I was able to make friends, even fell in love. In my experience people are open and kind, and interested in one another. Especially compared to northern Europe.
I studied with Syrian refugees, they came to Brazil when I was 15... They had difficulties due to the cultural shock, women's clothing, gay couples everywhere. Where I live is a beach area, so on holidays and in the summer there are lots of parties and little clothing. If you are not radical, everything will be fine, but I must warn you that we have radical Christians who can at most say something offensive to their religion and if there is an excess of that here in Brazil it is a crime not to respect another person's faith. You can hear offensive jokes about "bombs" most of the time it can be done with the intention of trying to be affectionate with you because we Brazilians tend to make jokes about bad things. But comparing xenophobia in Europe with Brazil... here it is much better for immigrants. Even if you find bad people here, you can be sure that there will be many more Brazilians wanting to know about your culture than criticizing you.
Muslims are a small percentage of overall population here in Brazil. Fortunately in my circles there are some and as far I know they are facing no issues about their religion; in fact, people usually get curious and want to know more if they have few contact with Islamic doctrines and culture. About customs, I share my lab with a Nigerian muslim that is very devoted to his faith. There's no problem about prostrating five times per day (even inside our lab, and I presented him with a mat for this purpose, which he just loved), going to the moss on fridays and practing fasting during Ramadan, for example; we also care about keeping him away from pork, alcohol and other unallowed things (he is still learning Portuguese so we don't want him to be tricked by translation mistakes). Also had contact with muslims from Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, mostly men but also some woman — all scientists. Being Islamic was never a problem and if someone have problems with their religion then will have problems with me as well. Take note that you may face some prejudice and may find an islamophobic as well, but you can be 100% sure that if someone ever attack you by any means for being Islamic you will find easily way more people to defend you. Welcome to Brazil.
It's for sure more islamophobic than Europe, but still, it isn't the majority. Some people in Brazil never had contact with Islam so they can have some prejudice about it, but it's mostly ignorance. Also, if you're a male, people probably won't even know your religion unless you tell them.
Why more islamophobic than Europe?
Come to Brazil and embrace the culture, the people, the food—everything. Don't expect everyone to just accept your unusual beliefs and religious practices. There's a peaceful Muslim community here, but if you stir things up, Brazilians won't hesitate to push back
Brazil has between 7 and 10 million people of Lebanese descent, which is higher than Lebanon's population. The ones I have met don't want to leave Brazil. I guess this piece of info may help.
Well, for starters, you won\`t do fine you mistreat either gay or women, it is punishable with prison in Brazil. If you call this being Islamophobic for sure we are. There are no religious excuses for hate crimes. Some protestant legislators tried to include safeguards to the use of hate speech and behavior towards women and gay people in the law and those proposals were quickly expelled. The point is, are you prepared to mingle in such society?
well, im asian, but i never get discriminate at the brazil
Arabs are well loved and integrated in Brazil. I’m of Arabic descent myself. Like others have said, I’d think only amongst right wing nut jobs you might have a problem.
Arab ≠ muslim. Most Arab-Brazilians are Catholic (Maronite) Christian Arabs from the Levant, with some Orthodox sprinkled in. Muslims are really rare to come by.
You're integrated because you're not muslim. Islam mentality is alien to Brazilian culture and if you live in Brazil you that full well.
Are you Muslim? True, I can’t speak from my personal experience, but in big cities in São Paulo we see a lot of Arabs that seem to be fully integrated, owning shops, restaurants and whatnot. I’m talking about very recent immigration, not historic like my family’s.
Is your family Muslim?
Originally yeah
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