{"id":81,"date":"2022-08-04T09:29:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T09:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/?page_id=81"},"modified":"2022-08-04T09:29:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T09:29:08","slug":"the-straight-path-initiative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Straight Path Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_52 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\" role=\"button\"><label for=\"item-66364aae2c540\" ><span class=\"\"><span style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input aria-label=\"Toggle\" aria-label=\"item-66364aae2c540\"  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-66364aae2c540\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#Visit_our_campaign_homepage_at_http_islampathorg\" title=\"Visit our campaign homepage at http:\/\/islampath.org\">Visit our campaign homepage at http:\/\/islampath.org<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#Goals_Objectives\" title=\"Goals &amp; Objectives\">Goals &amp; Objectives<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#Signature_Projects\" title=\"Signature Projects\">Signature Projects<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#Muslim_Youth_Leadership_Forum_Building_Young_Muslim_Leaders_for_a_Better_America\" title=\"Muslim Youth Leadership Forum: Building Young Muslim Leaders for a Better America\">Muslim Youth Leadership Forum: Building Young Muslim Leaders for a Better America<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#Interactive_Youth_Oriented_Website\" title=\"Interactive Youth Oriented Website\">Interactive Youth Oriented Website<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/#The_Straight_Path_Public_Awareness_Campaign\" title=\"The Straight Path Public Awareness Campaign\">The Straight Path Public Awareness Campaign<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Visit_our_campaign_homepage_at_http_islampathorg\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Visit our campaign homepage at <\/span><a class=\"ext\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\" title=\"MAS Straight Path Campaign\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120113141511\/http:\/\/islampath.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/islampath.org<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"main-content-block\">\n<div class=\"node\">\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<p>The Straight Path Initiative is a long-term campaign aimed at engaging all components of the Muslim American community, with a special focus on youth ages 15-30. \u00a0The initiative seeks to pinpoint the roots of extremism, the ways in which individuals are radicalized, and the tools needed to address these challenges.<\/p>\n<p>From its founding days, MAS has worked to promote an understanding of Islam which we believe was espoused and actualized by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his companions through the following three concepts: a) God conscious spirituality; b) comprehensiveness; and c) balanced moderation. We consider engagement on the topic of radicalization and extremism in our communities as essential part of conveying Islam with utmost clarity and preserving the rights of Muslim Americans and their organizations.<\/p>\n<p>MAS is uniquely equipped&#8211; with its chapter structure, youth department, self-development programs, youth centers and MAS Freedom civic and advocacy initiatives&#8211; to play a pivotal role in providing programs that will serve as deterrents to involvement in religious extremism.<\/p>\n<p>In that light, we have embarked on a plan of action, dubbed the Straight Path Initiative, that includes a number of carefully designed and executed projects focusing on increasing availability of moderate interpretations of Islamic principles, youth engagement projects, and audio\/visual and social networking outreach, among others.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Goals_Objectives\"><\/span>Goals &amp; Objectives<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Initiate an honest and open dialogue about radicalization and extremism in Muslim American communities.<\/li>\n<li>Research and pinpoint the root causes of radicalization and extremism among Muslim American youth in particular.<\/li>\n<li>Engage the Muslim American community in monitoring and detecting extremist trends and their impact on vulnerable members of the community.<\/li>\n<li>Make use of modern audio\/visual technology in promoting better understanding of challenges of extremism and opportunities for engagement.<\/li>\n<li>Target high schools and college campuses with programs and activities to involve young Muslim Americans in a proactive way that limits opportunities for radicalization.<\/li>\n<li>Train and educate Muslim American community leaders in imparting accurate Islamic principles and interpretations of controversial and often misunderstood issues.<\/li>\n<li>Increase awareness of the benefits of civic engagement, political involvement, and community building in fighting extremism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Signature_Projects\"><\/span>Signature Projects<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Muslim_Youth_Leadership_Forum_Building_Young_Muslim_Leaders_for_a_Better_America\"><\/span>Muslim Youth Leadership Forum: Building Young Muslim Leaders for a Better America<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The goal of the forum is to mentor and prepare young Muslim leaders to provide leadership not only to the Muslim community but the greater American society at large. The institutional design focuses on developing and enhancing leadership skill sets of Muslim youth that will impact America&#8217;s civic, social, economic and religious life. Youth participants will be placed in a leadership social mentoring network that will allow them to communicate after the initial forum on an ongoing basis with qualified mentors and other forum participants.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Interactive_Youth_Oriented_Website\"><\/span>Interactive Youth Oriented Website<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Internet is the most effective way to reach out to community members, especially young Muslim Americans. An interactive, dynamic website tied to this campaign will include: public service announcement (PSA) headlined by prominent Muslim Americans that youth can identify with, sharing a message promoting moderation, engagement, and community participation.; moderated discussion forums and social networking components; resources on contemporary religious issues; profiles of Muslim American youth making a positive impact in their communities; volunteer\/job boards that enumerate opportunities for political activism, civic engagement, community service, advocacy, etc.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Straight_Path_Public_Awareness_Campaign\"><\/span>The Straight Path Public Awareness Campaign<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This public awareness-raising campaign is meant to create a \u201cbuzz\u201d at high schools, college campuses, and youth centers nationwide. The campaign will make public the issues of concern to the community and attempt to address them through several projects, including lecture series, roundtable discussions, education through art initiatives, and community service projects, among others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visit our campaign homepage at http:\/\/islampath.org The Straight Path Initiative is a long-term campaign aimed at engaging all components of the Muslim American community, with a special focus on youth ages 15-30. \u00a0The initiative seeks to pinpoint the roots of extremism, the ways in which individuals are radicalized, and the tools needed to address these\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/\" class=\"excerpt-read-more-link\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Straight Path Initiative -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masnet.org\/the-straight-path-initiative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Straight Path Initiative -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Visit our campaign homepage at http:\/\/islampath.org The Straight Path Initiative is a long-term campaign aimed at engaging all components of the Muslim American community, with a special focus on youth 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