Islamic Society of North America
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The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is an umbrella group that describes itself as the largest Muslim organization in North America.
The vision of ISNA is "to be an exemplary and unifying Islamic organization in North America that contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large." ISNA is an association of Muslim organizations and individuals that provides a common platform for presenting Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities, and civic and service organizations. ISNA's annual convention is generally the largest gathering of American Muslims in the United States. Islamic Horizons is the bi-monthly publication of ISNA. ISNA Elementary School.
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[edit] Services
ISNA provides various services for Muslims and Muslim communities in North America. They publish information about Islam to be distributed with the intention of informing Muslims and non-Muslims about various issues in the religion. They provide a forum for discussing ageing and mortality as well as domestic violence. ISNA also certifies food service and consumer products companies as Halal, and issues Islamic marriage certificates to couples with a marriage licence and who have performed the religious ceremony.
Although only a small percentage of mosques are official members, mosque membership in ISNA is an important step to make for many small communities trying to grow.
ISNA holds a national convention on an annual basis, typically on the Labor Day weekend in early September. In the last few years, it has been held in Chicago, IL with increasing numbers attending including people from outside of the U.S. and North America. The convention features Islamic lectures, discussions, debates, nasheeds and Muslim comedy. A notable comedian who has repeatedly performed at ISNA is Azhar Usman.
Currently, the Secretary General is Muneer Fareed.
[edit] Dialog with Jews
ISNA invited Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, to speak before the 44th annual meeting. The URJ is the largest Jewish denomination in the U.S. Yoffie denounced "opportunists" who demonised Islam, and called for an end to racial profiling and legal discrimination against Muslim Americans. Yoffie drew frequent applause and a standing ovation.
URJ leaders said that, although ISNA has been accused of supporting Hamas, the current leadership is more moderate. Pentagon, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security officials also participated in the conference.
“We carefully looked at the leadership’s consistent and outspoken condemnation of terrorism and their backing for a two-state solution,” said Mark Pelavin, director of the URJ’s commission on inter-religious relations and a key player in the outreach effort along with ISNA’s co-founder, Sayyid Syeed. “The FBI and the Pentagon were represented, so this answers the allegations about terrorist associations.”
David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, criticized Yoffie. Steven Emerson accused ISNA of ties to terrorism.[1]
[edit] Funding sources investigated
The ISNA was one of a number of Muslim groups investigated by US law enforcement for possible terrorist connections. Its tax records were requested in December 2003 by the Senate Finance Committee. However, the committee's investigation concluded in November 2005 with no action taken. Committee chairman Charles Grassley said, "We did not find anything alarming enough that required additional follow-up beyond what law enforcement is already doing."[2]
[edit] Criticism
Umbreen Shah of the self-proclaimed progressive group Muslim WakeUp! has criticized ISNA for their conservative nature and alleged misrepresentation of the American Muslim population. Miss Shah takes issue with ISNA's claims that while more than half of American Muslims are black (contrary to surveys of American Muslim demographics, see Islam in the United States), ISNA, claiming to represent all Muslim Americans, reserves little room for them or the ways in which they practice Islam.
Shah decried a "tendency in ISNA to enforce a particular religiously conservative philosophy without adapting to the people it serves." She claimed women presenters at ISNA to have been "routinely asked to wear hijab during presentation even though they don’t normally wear the headscarf", thus promoting either hypocrisy or contention when presenters have refused to wear it. She quotes Ingrid Mattson as having said "Most Muslim women are content with separate prayer space in the mosque". Shah also denounced a "police state mentality among ISNA officials. The website also misrepresent various Islamic books such as Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukharee etc etc".[3]
In his testimony before the US Senate, Dr. Waller told Senators: “The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) refers Muslim clerics to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The Islamic Society of North America is an influential front for the promotion of the Wahhabi political, ideological and theological infrastructure in the United States and Canada."[4]
[edit] Response
In an article, Sheila Musaji has responded to various criticism raised by Umbreen Shah. She states that she searched the ISNA print publications and information on the their website for any claim that they were “the only representative of Muslim Americans from all walks of life", and could not find any. She also points out that many African-Americans may not have been represented in large numbers at the ISNA convention because of the convention by W.D. Muhammad during the same weekend.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ {http://www.forward.com/articles/11554/ "Top Reform Rabbi Gives Watershed Address to Largest U.S. Muslim Group,"] Marc Perelman, The Forward, September 5, 2007
- ^ Indiana-based Islamic Society cleared in Senate investigation by King, Robert, Indianapolis Star, November 15, 2005
- ^ ISNA Thugs, by Umbreen Shah, September 7, 2005
- ^ http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=960&wit_id=2719
- ^ Through the Looking Glass: ISNA? Thugs (2005 ISNA Convention), by Sheila Musaji, The American Muslim, September 11, 2005
- The group is not to be confused with the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia which is an Islamic group based in Australia. The two are pronounced phonetically the same. (IPA: ['ısnʌ,'ısnæ])
