Liberal and progressive Islam in North America
This is a list of individual liberal and progressive Islamic movements in North America, sorted by country.
Canada
Canadian Muslim Union
Muslim Canadian Congress
Formed in December 2001, the
United States
American Islamic Congress
The
American Islamic Forum for Democracy
American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is an American Muslim think tank formed in 2003 by a small group of Muslim professionals in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's founder is Zuhdi Jasser who is also the group's president and chief spokesman.[9] AIFD advocates for the separation of religion and state and confronts the ideologies of political Islam and openly counters the belief that the Muslim faith is inextricably rooted to the concept of the Islamic state.[10][11] Jasser and a group of American Muslims founded the group with the goal of demonstrating the compatibility of Islam with democracy and American values.[12] The AIFD supports separation of religion and state, religious pluralism, equality of the sexes, the unconditional recognition of Israel, and the creation of an independent Palestine "on the current ‘occupied territories.’"[12] The organization rejects terrorism and any justification for it.[12] Zuhdi Jasser has been the center of various controversies and has been criticized by several muslims and non muslims alike.
Center for Islamic Pluralism
The
Project on Middle East Democracy
Muslims for Progressive Values
Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) was founded and incorporated by Ani Zonneveld in August 2007, headquartered in Los Angeles and with a regional office in Malaysia. In December 2013, United Nations recognized Muslims for Progressive Values as an official non-government organization (NGO) association member.[15] The NGO/DPI Executive Committee represents 1,500 NGO organizations with monthly meetings.[16] MPV's consultative status enable its advocacy to go global by challenging human rights abuses in the name of Sharia law of Muslim-majority countries at the United Nations and at the Human Rights Council on issues of women's rights, LGBT rights, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of and from Religion and Belief.[17] MPV has a board of advisors including scholars and activists such as: Reza Aslan, Amir Hussein, Karima Bennoune, Daayiee Abdullah, Zainah Anwar, Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, and El-Farouk Khaki.[18]
Muslim Reform Movement
The Muslim Reform Movement is an organization dedicated to reform in Islam based on values of peace, human rights and secular governance. The organization was founded on December 4, 2015 when the founders read a "Declaration of Reform" at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The founders then went to the Saudi-affiliated Islamic Center of Washington[19] and posted the Declaration of Reform on the doors of mosque "denouncing violent jihad, rejecting Islamic statism and opposing the 'ideology of violent Islamic extremism.'"[20]
Founding signatories of the Muslim Reform Movement are Asra Nomani, Tahir Aslam Gora, Tawfik Hamid, Usama Hasan, Arif Humayun, Farahnaz Ispahani, Zuhdi Jasser, Naser Khader, Courtney Lonergan, Hasan Mahmud, Raheel Raza, Sohail Raza, and Salma Siddiqui.[19]
Progressive Muslim Union
Secular Islam Summit
The Secular Islam Summit was an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, held 4–5 March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was largely organized and funded by the Center for Inquiry, a secular humanist educational organization, along with secular Muslims such as Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi and in partnership with the International Intelligence Summit, a forum on terrorism.[21][22]
The common ground of the participants was the belief that Islam and secular democracy should be compatible.[23] They agreed that Islam must be either a religion or a political philosophy, not both.[24] According to Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, one of the organizers, one of the summit's goals was to be a "sanctuary" for victims of Islamism and a forum for the embrace of secular values.[25]
Speakers ranged from former believers to devout reformers,[23] including Ibn Warraq (the pen name of an ex-Muslim author known for criticism of Islam), Tawfik Hamid (an ex-jihadist, now in hiding), Afshin Ellian (an Iranian refugee under police protection), Irshad Manji (a self-described "radical traditionalist"), Ayaan Hirsi Ali (a former member of the Dutch Parliament), and Hasan Mahmud (director of Shariah at the Muslim Canadian Congress).[26][27]
Several devout Muslims that had been invited to speak, such as
See also
References
- ^ a b "Curb donations to religious institutions: Muslim group". CBC News. 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ Handler R Tarek Fatah and his case against 'radical' Islam CBC News October 15, 2008 (retrieved May 12, 2015)
- ^ Wax, Emily (July 12, 2012). "Moderate American Muslim tries to navigate a deeply divided community". The Washington Post.
- ^ "AIC's Story". Archived from the original on 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
- ^ "(PDF) 2010 Annual Report of the American Islamic Congress" (PDF).
- ^ Wax, Emily (July 12, 2012). "Moderate American Muslim". Washington Post.
- ^ Iraqi people yearn to taste freedom again Zainab Al Suwaij, USA Today, January 13, 2003
- ^ "RNC Al-Suwaij Transcript". Fox News. August 30, 2004.
- ^ T.A. Frank (March 10, 2011). "Meet Peter King's Star Witness". The New Republic. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ "AIFD's About Page". Aifdemocracy.org. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
- ^ M. Zuhdi Jasser - January 9, 2010 12:00 A.M. My Turn (January 9, 2010). "AZ Central – It's time to root out political Islam". Azcentral.com. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c "AIFD's Founding Principles and Resolutions". Aifdemocracy.org. March 3, 2003. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ a b "About Us". Retrieved 2014-12-27.
- ^ "Moderate Islam Gets a Washington Address". 2005-03-25. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
- ^ "Muslims for Progressive Values Secures United Nation's Consultative Status". prlog.org. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "NGO/DPI Executive Committee – The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information". ngodpiexecom.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ HINCH, JIM (20 April 2014). "Muslim group posits harmony with Western values". ocregister.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "Muslims for Progressive Values : 2015 Press Kit" (PDF). Static1.squarespace.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ^ a b "About". Muslim Reform Movement.
- ^ "Muslim Reform Movement decries radical Islam, calls for equality". Washington Times. December 6, 2015.
- ^ First "Secular Islam Summit" to convene early next month in Florida, Kuwait News Agency, February 2007, archived from the original on 2014-02-03
- ^ Susan Jacoby (April 19, 2007), "Diverse Muslims, Violent Islamist Fundamentalism", Washington Post, archived from the original on April 29, 2007
- ^ a b Jay Tolson (April 8, 2007), Fighting for the soul of Islam, U.S. News & World Report, archived from the original on October 8, 2012
- ^ Andrew Bieszad, The Conference on Secular Islam, Telospress.com
- ^ Kuwait News Agency; "First "Secular Islam Summit" to convene early next month in Florida; 27 February 2007
- ^ Stephens, Bret (2007-03-06). "Islam's Other Radicals - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ Geneive Abdo (March 17, 2007), "A More Islamic Islam", Washington Post
- ^ Elfenbein, Madeleine (April 19, 2007). "Irshad Manji's Flying Leap". The American Prospect.