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.[2] It has more than 50 chapters across the United States.[3]

For the ministry of W. Deen Mohammed, see American Society of Muslims.

Muslim American Society
Formation1993 (1993)
Location
Chairman
Mukhtar Kabuka[1]
Websitemuslimamericansociety.org

History

Muslim American Society (MAS) was founded by a small group of American Muslims who wanted to have a Muslim organization in the United States that would allow them to "organize and integrate Muslims to be a contributing part of American society, to see themselves as Muslim Americans."[4] According to its website, the society is a "charitable, religious, social, cultural, and educational organization" aiming for a virtuous and just American society. Its mission is to "move people and nurture lifelong, God-centered agents of change”.[5]

Muslim American Society of Queens

MAS was incorporated in Illinois in 1993[3] and established its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, in 1998.[6][7] Founding members of the organization were involved in the Muslim Brotherhood,[8] an organization started in Egypt in 1928. The Muslim American Society acknowledges its early connection to the Muslim Brotherhood,[3] including on its website,[9] but says that it has moved "beyond that point of conception" and "has no connection with the Brotherhood and disagrees with the international organization on many issues".[3]

In 1999, the organization began publishing a bimonthly English-language magazine, The American Muslim. The following year, the MAS Youth Center opened in Brooklyn, and MAS helped start the Islamic American University, based out of Southfield, Michigan, and Kansas City, Missouri, as a distant-learning program for classical Islamic studies.[7] In response to anti-Muslim hate following the September 11 attacks, MAS organized events such as Muslim American Heritage Day in Washington, D.C., where 150 Muslims gathered on October 5, 2002, to pray together on Freedom Plaza.[6] The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, a public policy division led by Mahdi Bray as executive director,[10] also offered seminars on how to positively change the perception of Islam among Americans.[11]

In 2002, the Muslim American Society held its first joint conference with the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).[7] The MAS–ICNA conference has since been held annually in Chicago.[12]

In November 2014, MAS was designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates,[13][14] with 84 other organizations including the Muslim Brotherhood and its regional and local affiliates, and other regional and international groups. MAS, CAIR and similar European groups were listed due to their alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties.[15] The U.S. State Department subsequently released a statement saying that the department "does not consider these organisations to be terrorist organisations".[16][17] Muslim American Society stated that it had had "no dealings with the United Arab Emirates" and were "perplexed by this news".[14]

In 2019, the Middle East Media Research Institute published a video of children in a Philadelphia MAS center singing about the "blood of martyrs", "We will defend Palestine with our bodies. We will chop off their heads", and "We will lead the army of Allah fulfilling his promise, and we will subject them to eternal torture". The Anti-Defamation League said that portrayed events were "extremely disturbing" and that "children should not be indoctrinated to hate". The national MAS organization said in response that "This was an unintended mistake and an oversight in which the center and the students are remorseful. MAS will conduct an internal investigation to ensure this does not occur again". It also said that the organizer of the program at which the event occurred had no affiliation with the organization, and was only renting the space from MAS.[18][19]

References
  1. "Board of Trustees". Muslim American Society. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  2. Mohamed, Nimer; Nimer, Mohamed (2002). The North American Muslim resource guide: Muslim community life in the United States and Canada, Mohamed Nimer, Taylor & Francis, 2002, ISBN 0415937280. ISBN 9780415937283. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  3. Ahmed-Ullah, Noreen S.; Roe, Sam; Cohen, Laurie (September 19, 2004). "A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  4. "Frequently Asked Questions". Muslim American Society. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  5. "About The Muslim American Society". Muslim American Society. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  6. Branigin, William (October 7, 2002). "A Union of Muslim, American". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  7. Nimer, Mohamed (January 21, 2014). The North American Muslim Resource Guide: Muslim Community Life in the United States and Canada. Routledge. pp. 69–71. ISBN 978-1-135-35523-4.
  8. Taylor, Adam (November 17, 2014). "Why the U.A.E. is calling 2 American groups terrorists". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  9. Gjelten, Tom (March 24, 2017). "Push To Name Muslim Brotherhood A Terrorist Group Worries U.S. Offshoots". NPR.org. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  10. Ross, Michael E. (February 9, 2006). "U.S. Muslims react to furor with deft diplomacy". NBC News. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  11. "U.S. Muslims struggle to put new face on Islam". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  12. Ullah, Syed Khalil (December 28, 2021). "Thousands join MAS-ICNA Convention at McCormick Place". Daily Herald. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  13. "UAE Includes 2 US Muslim Groups on Terror List". Voice of America. November 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
    Nafeesa Syeed (November 17, 2014). "Two U.S. Islamic Groups Called Terrorist by U.A.E." Bloomberg. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  14. Taylor, Adam (November 17, 2014). "Why the U.A.E. is calling 2 American groups terrorists". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  15. UAE addresses root causes of terror Archived September 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Gulf News, Samir Salama, November 16, 2014
  16. "US Rejects Label of Two American Muslim Groups as Terrorist". VOA. November 18, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  17. Ibrahim, Arwa (February 13, 2015). "US rejects UAE terrorist designation of American groups". Middle East Eye. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  18. Muslim American Society investigating ‘oversight’ following controversial video at Philly Islamic center Archived May 5, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 2019, Kristin E. Holmes
  19. Muslim American Society Investigates Controversial Video At Philly Islamic Center Archived May 5, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, CBS, May 4, 2019
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