Islamic Circle of North America
Encyclopedia
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), formally chartered in 1971 but active since 1968, is an Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...

 umbrella organization
Umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...

.

It is an offshoot of the Muslim Students' Association
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 States. It serves to provide coordination and support...

 (MSA), was founded by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

, and its members are primarily of South Asian descent, primarily Pakistanis and Indians.

It is smaller and more conservative than the Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America , based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group. It has been described in the media as the largest Muslim organization in North America.-History:...

 (ISNA), holding separate sessions at its national conventions for women. In 2001 it would not allow the female vice mayor of the city where its convention was held to welcome the membership because some felt that a woman's voice is sexually seductive, but in 2002 it allowed a woman to address its annual convention for the first time. Its headquarters are in Jamaica, New York, and includes classrooms, a reading room, and a small mosque, and it has offices in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, and Oakville, Ontario
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...

.

History

In 1971, a number of South Asian MSA members who had been involved in Islamic movements in their home countries, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, developed an Islamic study circle (halaqa), in Montreal which became the predecessor of ICNA. The "Sisters Wing," its women's group, was established in 1979.

Goal

According to ICNA, its goal "shall be to seek the pleasure of Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

 through the struggle of Iqamat-ud-Deen [establishment of the Islamic system of life] as spelled out in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

and the Sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...

of [Muhammad]."

Program

To:
  1. invite mankind to the understanding of the Creator by using all means of communications.
  2. motivate Muslims to perform their duty of being witnesses unto mankind by their words and deeds.
  3. organize those who agree to work for this cause in the discipline of ICNA.
  4. offer educational and training opportunities to increase Islamic knowledge, to enhance character, and to develop skills for all those who are associated with ICNA.
  5. oppose immorality and oppression in all forms, and support efforts for civil liberties and socio-economic justice in the society.
  6. strengthen the bond of humanity by serving all those in need with special focus on neighborhood across North America.
  7. cooperate with other organizations for the implementation of this program and unity in the ummah
    Ummah
    Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...

    .

Activities

The Message International (formerly "Tahreek"), begun in 1989, is ICNA's bi-monthly publication.

Its major Dawah
Dawah
Da‘wah or Dawah usually denotes the preaching of Islam. Da‘wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite"...

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. Since Why Islam (WI) was launched in April 2000, the website has been used to propagate a better understanding of Islam for the general public. Sound Vision was an ICNA division, established in 1988, that produces educational Islamic video and computer programs for children and adults.

When the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...

 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
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...

 is one of the largest gatherings of American Muslims in the United States, drawing thousands of people. It is co-sponsored by the Muslim American Society
Muslim American Society
The Muslim American Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 that describes itself as an Islamic revival and reform movement....

. The 2007 ICNA-MAS convention, the 32nd annual convention, was reportedly attended by over 13,000 people.

Interfaith

ICNA has participated in interfaith dialogue with the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
The Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs is the principal ecumenical and interfaith organization of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops....

.

Ideology

ICNA seeks to promote Islam and propagate the Islamic way of life in the United States. They are active on the issues of War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...

 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...

. Initially ICNA was composed of Muslim Americans of Indo-Pakistani descent who had split from ISNA
ISNA
ISNA can refer to:Abbreviations/acronyms* Iranian Students' News Agency* Intersex Society of North America* Islamic Society of North America* Indigenous Sovereign Nation Assembly, an assembly of indigenous nations in New Zealand and vicinityPlaces...

.

According to Hossein Nasr, ICNA has been influenced by the ideals of Mawdudi of Pakistan, and is structured similar to the Jamaat-e-Islami, which Mawdudi founded. However, he states that it is a separate entity from Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...

. John Esposito wrote in 2004 that it had links to Jamaat-e-Islami.

ICNA strongly condemned the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
The attempted car bombing of Times Square on May 1, 2010, was a planned terrorist attack that was foiled when two street vendors discovered the car bomb and alerted a NYPD Patrolman to the car bomb threat after they spotted smoke coming from a vehicle...

 and immediately called for punishment to the fullest extext of the law for anyone who engages in terrorism. In 2011, ICNA welcomed President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's counter-terrorism initiatives.

Controversy

In July 2002 Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...

, believed to be a senior talent recruiter and motivator for al-Qaeda who had contact with three of the 9/11 hijackers, the Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooting
The Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others...

, and the Christmas Day bombing suspect (Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber", is a suspected terrorist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25,...

), spoke at a joint ICNA/MAS convention in Baltimore with Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj
Siraj Wahhaj is an African-American convert to Islam. He is imam of Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York and the leader of The Muslim Alliance in North America .-Early life:...

. In fact, ICNA maintains that until 2007, many American Muslims enthusiastically listened to lectures by al-Awlaki. It also maintains that at that time al-Awlaki was "level headed."

Anwar al-Awlaki was not accused at the time of having any links to extremism, terrorism, or violence. After evidence was brought against al-Awlaki in 2010, the ICNA Shariah Council strongly denounced al-Awlaki's views, actions, and connections to terrorism, repudiating his ideology as a "call of hate" and called upon American Muslims to reject al-Awlaki's views.

Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...

 and his Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) have accused ICNA of militant Islamic fundamentalism, and of supporting terrorist attacks.

In 2009 and 2010, the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...

(ADL) accused the 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 defence of human rights for Jewish and Israeli people, but demanded the defence of human rights for Palestinians as well.

External links

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