Muslim American Society
| File:Muslim American Society logo.png | |
| Formation | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Falls Church, Virginia |
| Location | |
Chairman | Nadeem Siddiqi[1] |
Executive Director | Mazen Mokhtar[1] |
| Website | www |
The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. MAS describes itself as an Islamic revival and reform movement.[3]
Aims
According to its website, the society is a “dynamic charitable, religious, social, cultural, and educational, organization” with over 50 chapters across the United States. Over the past two decades, the organization has evolved into “a nationally recognized grassroots movement” that strives to promote active involvement of U.S. Muslims in communities across the U.S.[4]
History
MAS was created by the Muslim Brotherhood after a debate among Muslim Brotherhood members in the U.S. about whether to remain underground or to have a public face.[5][6]
MAS has instructed its members to evade questions about the group's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and to define jihad as a "divine legal right" of Muslims to be used for defense and the spread of Islam.[7] MAS leaders have said that these views are not now held by MAS leaders.[8]
Towards this end, and often in cooperation with other organizations, MAS provides opportunities to engage U.S. Muslims to participate into a variety of social experiences including community service, interfaith and youth programs, civic and political activism.[4]
MAS’ mission is to better the individual-in-society by imparting Islamic knowledge that would “move people to strive for God consciousness, liberty and justice” towards a “virtuous and just American society.”[4]
Publications and projects
The Muslim American Society advertises on its website a number of publications produced by MAS’ prominent members and affiliates or deemed essential for the educational purposes.[9]
Among the publications currently sponsored by MAS are:
- the second edition of Sincerity: The Essential Quality, a book on the value of that virtue originally authored by the Egyptian Sunni preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi translated and published in 2007 by MAS Youth;[9]
- al-Ma’thurat, a short book compiled by the founding father of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Hasan al-Banna consisting of supplications and Qur'anic verses based on the authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.[9]
MAS also promotes several projects:
- the video series “InTheShadeOfRamadan.tv” produced by MAS Youth on a yearly basis featuring “educational and motivational reflections on the month of Ramadan;"[9]
- an online community of American Muslim women, “GrowMama.com,” providing “a supportive, friendly, and non-judgmental space for women to share experiences, support one another, grow in their spirituality, and inspire each other;”[9]
- “40HadithNawawi.com,” a comprehensive compilation of hadith that attempt to convey the real essence of Islam;[9]
- “MAS Immigration Justice Clinic” (MAS IJC), providing a variety of services in the legal field.[9][10]
MAS says that it helps students to “properly understand, recite, and memorize the Quran” through its Quran Institute.[11]
Affiliations
MAS also has an affiliate, the MAS Freedom Foundation,[12] whose executive director is Mahdi Bray. For a number of years, Esam Omeish was its President.
MAS has participated in interfaith dialogue with the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
Public perception
Stephen Schwartz, the journalist and author of Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa’ud from Tradition to Terror, described the Muslim American Society as a prominent actor of the “Wahhabi lobby” channeling money from and in the interest of Saudi Arabia.[13]
A 2011 Gallup poll found that 0% of Muslim-American males and 2% of females picked the Muslim American Society when asked which was the Muslim-American organization that represented their interest the most.[14]
References
- ^ a b http://www.muslimamericansociety.org/leadership/
- ^ http://www.muslimamericansociety.org/about/
- ^ The North American Muslim resource guide: Muslim community life in the United States and Canada, Mohamed Nimer, Taylor & Francis, 2002, ISBN 0415937280.
- ^ a b c "About The Muslim American Society". Muslim American Society. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, Brigitte Gabriel, Macmillan, 2008, ISBN 0312358385.
- ^ They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It, Brigitte Gabriel,Macmillan, 2008, ISBN 0312383630.
- ^ "A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America" http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0409190261sep19,0,7534398,print.story
- ^ ."A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America" http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0409190261sep19,0,7534398,print.story
- ^ a b c d e f g "MAS Projects". Muslim American Society. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ "MAS Immigrant Justice Center". MAS Immigrant Justice Center. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ "Quran Institute". Muslim American Society. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ Muslim American Society, Retrieved 2007-10-21
- ^ "FrontPage Magazine - Portrait of a Wahhabi". archive.frontpagemag.com. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ "[Presentation] Muslim Americans: Faith Freedom, and the Future". Gallup.com. Retrieved January 8, 2016.