Mohamed Chechev: A Tzotzil Journey to Islam in Chiapas
In the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, Manuel Gómez had already crossed several religious landscapes before he became known as Mohamed Chechev. Born into a Catholic Tzotzil community, he became an evangelical at about fifteen. After his family was driven from San Juan Chamula with other Protestants, he settled near San Cristóbal de las Casas and continued searching, later joining the Adventists.
Islam reached the area in the 1990s through Muslims who had come from Spain. The available reports do not give the exact day or mosque of his profession of faith, but both place his conversion in 1995. Manuel took the name Mohamed. In a field interview, he summarized his conviction plainly: he was Muslim, believed he had found the truth, prayed five times a day, and fasted Ramadan.
Learning the acts of worship was a substantial challenge. Tzotzil was his first language, and he could not read or write Spanish. Yet he said that within months he learned the prayers and the Qur’anic passages he needed by listening. He connected this possibility with God’s mercy and recalled that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had not read or written. Islam became a daily practice rather than a distant idea.
In 1998 he travelled to Mecca for the pilgrimage. There he saw Muslims of different colours and backgrounds standing together in the same dress, and remembered that those differences no longer mattered. This experience came after his conversion and deepened the meaning of the belonging he had already chosen.
Becoming Muslim did not mean abandoning Tzotzil culture. In an independent report, Mohamed insisted that his family had no intention of giving up the culture of their ancestors. Nor did he accept every decision made by those who had introduced Islam locally. In 2009, he and several families separated from a movement’s leadership over fundraising and the use of Indigenous Muslims’ images. He retained his faith while exercising his own judgment.
His journey moved through more than one religious tradition before settling in Islam as a truth lived through prayer, learning, fasting and equality. It also shows that a new Muslim’s education does not always begin with a book in his own language. Sometimes it begins with trustworthy voices, patience, and a community that respects a person’s language and heritage.