The Muslim American Society (MAS) launched the National Council of Islamic Centers in December 2002 at the joint MAS-ICNA convention in Chicago. The purpose of the National Council of Islamic Centers is to empower our community by improving the level of organization through better coordination and pooling of resources.

Currently, our community is fragmented along ethnic and organizational lines, and most of our Islamic centers are isolated from one another. Unless we do something about this situation, we will not be dealt with as a respected religious community. With a better level of organization, insha’Allah, we can be a vibrant community that not only lives and preaches Islam, but also contributes significantly to the betterment of our society.

This institution will establish the concept of local communities, state communities, and a national community. It will turn every participating Islamic center into one brick of a solid local community, and make every local community an integral part of a larger national community. Some of the projects/tasks that the Council will undertake include:

• Offering a platform for Islamic centers to exchange ideas and experiences.
• Ensuring better and more legitimate representation of Muslims at the local, state, and national level, both with the government and with civic society.
• Providing a venue for Islamic centers to become part of the decision making process in matters that concern Muslims on the national level.
• Coordinating local activities
• Utilizing Muslim resources more efficiently.
• Standardizing the operations of Islamic centers to ensure quality and efficiency of Islamic work and compliance with state and federal laws.
• Relieving Islamic centers from the burden of public relations, media relations, and interfaith so that Islamic centers may focus on daw’a and others services to their congregations and their neighborhood.
• Facilitating the development of a long-term master plan for the local community.
  

For more information, or to inquire about how your facility can become a part of the National Council of Islamic Centers, contact:

Dr. Souheil Ghannouchi
MAS Executive Director
Phone: 703-998-6525