About the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago

Historical Background | Key Objectives | Significant Achievements |Underlying Assumptions | Scope of  Programs/Activities | Constituent Participation | Working with Local/Regional/National Organizations | Council's 10th Anniversary

Historical Background of the Council

During the latter half of the twentieth century, Muslim immigrants from all over the world increasingly began to settle in the Chicago-area. In addition, many indigenous Muslims-mainly African-Americans, also called Chicago home. Unfortunately, despite the growing size of the community, it remained separated along mostly ethnic, racial, and geographic differences. The emerging Muslim community also lacked the sophisticated, professional resources necessary to effectively advocate on its behalf. In 1989, Muslim leaders from across the Chicago area met to discuss the possibility of uniting this enormous yet dispersed community under a common umbrella. An ad hoc committee was formed to investigate this ambitious project-a project that was without precedent in any other American city.

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago ("the Council") was officially formed in 1992, with twenty member mosques and organizations. Since then, with the growth of the Chicago area Muslim community, the Council has grown to include almost 50 formal members, including the largest mosques and Islamic centers, established smaller mosques, full-time accredited Islamic parochial elementary and high schools, institutions of higher education, community service institutions, civil rights groups, and professional associations - several smaller Islamic organizations, although not formal members, are loosely affiliated or otherwise within the networking sphere of the Council. Today, the Council is the premiere federated body representing the cross-section of over 400,000 Muslim Americans in the Greater Chicago area. By way of its membership, the Council has the knowledge, contacts and long-standing relationships to both reach out to and represent this diverse Muslim American community.

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Key Objectives of the Council

The Council's goals and objective are to: facilitate and coordinate communication and key initiatives for Chicago-area Muslim organizations; provide effective advocacy on critical civil liberties and social justice issues impacting American-Muslims; establish and maintain productive collaborative relationships with government, civic, legal, Interfaith, social, and media organizations; and educate fellow Americans about Islam as a religion and a way of life, Muslim cultures and traditions, and critical issues and challenges facing American Muslims as well as Muslim in other parts of the world.

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Significant Council Achievements

Over the course of its relatively short history, the Council has achieved several significant milestones. The first accomplishment was the Council's work to cultivate an open, collegial forum for Chicago area Muslim leaders to share ideas and concerns and collectively resolve problems. From time to time, based on emerging needs in the community, the Council has also actively facilitated the formation of new organizations, such as the Muslim Civil Rights Center and, most recently, the Organization of Islamic Speakers.

Through its outreach efforts on behalf of its members, the Council has formed invaluable relationships with several faith-based groups, including: the Archdiocese of Chicago; Protestants for the Common Good; the Chicago Board of Rabbis; the Catholic Theological Union; other religious constituencies, including Methodists, Presbyterians, and Unitarians; and faith-based civic groups, such as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), and the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR). Consequently, a significant portion of the interfaith dialogue in the Chicago area between Muslims and people of other faiths takes place under the auspices of the Council.

Additionally, the Council has successfully collaborated on major cooperative projects with leading Chicago institutions. Among these: the historic "Chicagoans & Islam" gathering in Nov. '02 with United Power for Action & Justice (where, for the first time in the history of America, each of about 2500 American Muslims interacted on a one-to-one basis with fellow Americans from other faiths); many prominent interfaith events across the region, held independently and with partners like NCCJ, CPWR and the Office of Cardinal George; and prominent Press Conferences addressing a variety of topics including hate crimes, post 9-11 backlash, racial profiling, violation of civil rights of Americans and immigrants, with partners like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), NCCJ, the Offices of City of Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley, Illinois Gov. George Ryan and the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, Terry Hillard.

The Council has also been instrumental in successfully uniting Muslims from across the United States and Canada for the annual conventions of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a world-renowned federation of North American Muslim organizations. The Council has been an indispensable partner with ISNA in organizing and managing the conventions, particularly the many conventions held in Chicago during the 1990s. In recent years, the ISNA annual convention has become one of the world's largest gatherings of Muslims, attended by approximately 50,000 people. During the Chicago conventions, the Council has also assumed full responsibility for organizing and hosting all interfaith events held during the convention.

In 2000, the Council established a high quality monthly publication, The Chicago Muslim, a newsletter devoted to addressing the entire Muslim community in the Chicago area.

In December 2001, the Council collaborated with the Office of Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley, to implement Chicago's first ever Islamic display, that was on display during the 2001-2002 holiday season at Daley Plaza, in the heart of downtown Chicago, along with Christian and Jewish holiday displays.

In recent months, the Council actively assisted the Chicago Police Department in the development and production of a diversity video to train and sensitize police officers and other security personnel, especially those assigned to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, about the concerns of Muslim-Americans subjected to security searches at airports and other facilities. This video has been resoundingly successful and, based on requests by police departments across the U.S., appears set for broad national use. The Council is responding to increasing requests for such sensitivity training assistance from the Police Dept. as well as other government agencies, such as the I.N.S.

The Council's effective co-hosting of the annual ISNA conventions and especially its forceful post-Sept. 11 advocacy on behalf of the Muslim community has gained it national prominence among Muslim organizations. The Council routinely manages requests for participation from local & national organizations and media outlets on issues relating to Islam and Muslims. Illustratively, the Council recently hosted a visiting delegation of international Muslim scholars and leaders from the Muslim World League, a distinguished international NGO that serves as an observer to the United Nations. Drawing upon its long-term relationships with Chicago's leaders, the Council arranged, at short notice, elaborate luncheon and dinner programs for the delegation with leading academics, top government leaders, interfaith and civic partners, a well-received press conference, as well as meetings with editorial staff at prominent local print and broadcast media outlets.

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Underlying Assumptions Guiding the Council's Strategies

Muslims are part of the diverse fabric of the United States and, specifically, Illinois. Muslim Americans play a productive role in our society as neighbors, co-workers, colleagues, schoolmates, and friends. Illinois is home to eight percent of America's Muslims, second only to California and New York. Illinois' Muslims are an economically diverse group, utilizing a variety of academic specialties and business skills, and figuring prominently in Chicago's business world to contribute to the betterment of Illinois. Over 10,000 Muslims are in the United States armed forces, many of whom are from Illinois. Muslim children are attending the same universities, working in the same work places and living in the same communities as other Illinoisans. Muslims of Illinois share in the effort to make Illinois a more moral, just and peaceful place in which to live, worship, and prosper.

Through its education, leadership, advocacy and outreach initiatives, the Council strives to empower its member organizations and the Muslim community for the collective benefit of all the people of Illinois and, hence, contribute to the betterment of American society.

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Scope of the Council's Programs and Activities

The Council is engaged in diverse community initiatives through a host of structured full-time and ad hoc committees, and the offices of the Chairman and the Director - Community Relations. The topmost are interfaith dialogue and relationships; media relations, including outreach, media watch, press conferences, and qualified media representatives; government relations, including participation in multicultural forums, high-level talks on critical issues impacting Muslim Americans, and assistance with sensitivity training and recruitment; a wide variety of social service and civic projects-both independently and in collaboration with other organizations; advocacy on local, national, and international issues, policies, and events that have a significant impact on Illinois and Muslim-Americans; community education on Islam as a religion and a way of life to universities, non-profit institutions, government, media, and corporations; and outreach to other institutions and corporations.

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Participation of Our Constituents in the Council's Work

The Council's constituents are its member organizations and their respective constituents-collectively, the 400,000 strong Chicago area Muslim community. The Council's member organizations are involved in the Council's work by being part of the decision-making process and by ensuring the participation of their leadership in programs facilitated, supported, or endorsed by the Council. Member organizations nominate their official representatives to the House of Representatives-the ultimate decision-making 'general body' of the Council. In most cases, the representatives are experienced leaders or activists who are current or former presidents, executive directors, or senior officers of their respective organizations. Accordingly, the Council's strategies, decision-making, and initiatives are closely in tune with and reflect the concerns and involvement of the grassroots community of Muslim-Americans in the Chicago area.

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The Council's Interaction with Local, Regional and National Organizations

As a regional organization, the Council has dedicated itself to building bridges of understanding and productive collaboration on behalf of the Chicago-area American-Muslim community. The Council's outreach and advocacy encompasses a vast array of local, regional, and national organizations, focusing on a variety of interests. In addition to the groups previously mentioned, the Council also maintains cordial relationships with the following organizations and agencies that it has collaborated with from time to time for various projects, events, and grant requests:

Government agencies: Midwest Region of the INS, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Chicago Division of the FBI, Community Relations Service & Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Dept., U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Illinois Chiefs of Police, and the Governor's Commission on Human Rights and Hate Crimes.

Legal & Civic groups: Midwest Immigrants and Human Rights Center, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Federal Defender Program, ACLU, National Conference for Community and Justice, United Power for Action and Justice, Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, DuPage Sponsors, and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

As the leading regional Muslim organization, the Council also works with national Muslim organizations to discuss important policy initiatives and ensure representation of the Chicago-area Muslim community in national Muslim community decision-making.

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Council's Achievements Honored on its 10th Anniversary

The Council has worked diligently and made many noteworthy strides over the past decade to represent Chicago Muslims.  On this auspicious occasion, the Council has been honored to receive congratulatory messages from our member organizations, Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago Police superintendent Terry Hillard, the Islamic Society of North America, our esteemed past chairmen, the president of the Council's Founding Committee, and from some of our valued interfaith and civic partners. Read more...

The Council would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have devoted their time and efforts in supporting the work of the council.  Please visit our Volunteer Recognition Page.

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