Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is an

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n grassroots

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

. It seeks to propagate Islam and promote the Islamic way of life among American Muslims.

History

ICNA is an offshoot of the

Muslim Students' Association The Muslim Students Association, or Muslim Student Union, of the U.S. and Canada, also known as MSA National, is a religious organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses in Canada and the United Sta ...

(MSA), and was founded by immigrants from

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. In 1971, a number of South Asian MSA members who had been involved in Islamic movements in their home countries developed an Islamic study circle (''halaqa''), in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. This Halqa Ahbab Islami would become the predecessor of ICNA. The "Sisters Wing", its women's group, was established in 1979. It is smaller and more conservative than the

Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a non-profit Muslim religious organization based in the United States and serving North America. It provides a number of programs and services to North America's Muslim communities and broader societ ...

(ISNA), holding separate sessions at its national conventions for women. In 2002 it allowed a woman to address its annual convention for the first time. Its headquarters are in

Jamaica, New York Jamaica is a neighborhood in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, Queens, Hollis, ...

, and includes classrooms, a reading room, and a small mosque, and it has offices in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, and

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. Generally seen as a commuter suburb of Toronto, it is located on Lake ...

Views

According to ICNA, its goal "shall be to seek the pleasure of

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

through the struggle of ''Iqamat-ud-Deen'' establishment of the Islamic system of life as spelled out in the ''

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

'' and the ''

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

'' of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

." ICNA seeks to promote Islam and the Islamic way of life in the United States. They are active on the issues of

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

and the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

. Initially ICNA was composed of Muslim Americans of Indo-Pakistani descent who had split from ISNA. According to

Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian-American academic, philosopher, theologian, and Islamic scholar. He is University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education ...

, ICNA has been influenced by the ideals of

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

of Pakistan, and is structured similar to the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

, which Mawdudi founded. However, it is a separate entity from Jamaat-e-Islami. John Esposito wrote in 2004 that it had links to ''Jamaat-e-Islami''. ICNA strongly condemned the

2010 Times Square car bombing attempt 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and immediately called for punishment to the fullest extext of the law for anyone who engages in terrorism. In 2011, ICNA welcomed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's counter-terrorism initiatives.

Activities

Its major ''

Dawah ' (, , "invitation", also spelt , , , or ) is the act of inviting people to Islam. The plural is () or (). Preachers who engage in dawah are known as da'i. Etymology literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Gramma ...

'' activities include a toll-free number for non-Muslims (1-877-WhyIslam), and ''dawah'': field trips, distribution of Islamic literature, through mosques, by mail, through media, in prisons, campus support, flyers online, and through email. WhyIslam.org is an ICNA program. When the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

broke, ICNA condemned the depiction of any prophet, from Adam to Moses to Jesus to Mohammed. As of 2002, a dozen mosques were affiliated with ICNA.

Annual convention

ICNA's annual convention is one of the largest gatherings of

American Muslim Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States, religion in the United States (1.34%) after Christianity in the United States, Christianity (67%) and Judaism in the United States, Judaism (2.4%). The 2020 United States Religion Cens ...

s in the United States, drawing thousands of people. The 33rd annual convention, co-sponsored by the

Muslim American Society The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. MAS describes itself as a grassroots Islamic movement. It has more than 50 chapters across the United States. History Muslim A ...

, was held at the Renaissance Waverly Atlanta Hotel in Georgia. The 2007 ICNA-MAS convention, the 32nd annual convention, was reportedly attended by over 13,000 people. The 38th Annual ICNA-MAS Convention, which was themed "Islam: The Pursuit of Happiness", was attended by a record 18,000 people at the Hartford Convention Center in Connecticut. The conventions have been held in Baltimore since 2015. An estimated 20,000 Muslims attended the 42nd ICNA-MAS convention in 2017. Many sessions addressed concerns arising from the spike of Islamophobic hate crimes in the community, such as "Combating Islamophobia", "Asserting Your Rights Under Trump Presidency", and "Working through Challenging Times". ICNA has participated in interfaith dialogue with the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. In January 2017, Javaid Siddiqi was elected ICNA president. In January 2021, Mohsin Ansari was elected ICNA president.

Why Islam?

Why Islam?, headquartered in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, is a community outreach project of the ICNA, with the objective of providing information about

, and debunking what it describes as popular misconceptions. Why Islam? was established in 2000. The project seeks to provide information about Islam, by dispelling popular stereotypes and common misconceptions about Islam and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s through various services and outreach activities. In an effort to promote peaceful co-existence and remove hatred in society through encouraging understanding, Why Islam? offers opportunities for dialogue and answers to people’s queries about Islam.

Controversy

In 2009 and 2010, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) accused ICNA of inviting extremist and anti-Semitic speakers to its conferences that serve as platforms for extremist views. ICNA responded to ADL's allegations by saying that its conferences have always been held under the objective of rejecting extremism. ICNA's statement also supported the defense of human rights for

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Israeli people Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...

, but demanded the defense of human rights for

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

as well.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic Circle Of North America Islamic political organizations Islamic organizations based in the United States Islamic organizations based in Canada Islamic organizations established in 1968