What is the Truth About American Muslims?
Resources for Learning More About American Muslims
The following organizations provide educational publications and presentations that may be used by faith communities, schools, colleges, community groups and others for deepening understanding among people of different faiths, upholding religious freedom, and promoting respect for the rights of others.
The mission of Unity Productions Foundation (UPF) is to create peace through the media. A nonprofit organization founded in 1999, UPF produces documentary films for television broadcast, online viewing and theatrical release, and implements long-term educational campaigns aimed at increasing understanding between people of different faiths and cultures, especially between Muslims and other faiths. UPF also sponsors “My Fellow American,” featuring stories of American Muslims and their contributions to American society.
ISPU is an independent, nonpartisan think tank and research organization committed to conducting objective, empirical research and offering expert policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States. These issues include U.S. foreign policy, national security, the economy and public health. In addition, ISPU has assembled leading experts across multiple disciplines and built a solid reputation as a trusted source for information about American Muslims and Muslim communities around the world.
Islamic Networks Group (ING) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to counter prejudice and discrimination against American Muslims by teaching about their traditions and contributions in the context of America’s history and cultural diversity, while building relations between American Muslims and other groups. Founded in 1993, ING achieves its mission through education and community engagement. ING works through regional volunteers and affiliated organizations across the country to provide thousands of presentations, training seminars and workshops, and panel discussions annually in schools, colleges and universities, law enforcement agencies, corporations, healthcare facilities, and community organizations as part of cultural diversity curricula and programs.
The Islam Project is a multimedia effort aimed at schools, communities and individuals who want a clearer understanding of this religion: complex, diverse, historically and spiritually rich, and – for many – mysterious and even forbidding. While there is no shortage of classroom materials on Islam, surveys of teachers suggest that there are few resources that penetrate the monolithic concept of Islam to present the extraordinary diversity found in the world’s Muslim communities – diversity that is cultural, political, ideological and even religious. Equally important, there seem to be few resources designed to help teachers answer students’ questions, in the present political environment, about the nature of Islam and its role in the world in which they live. And finally, teachers need materials to increase student sensitivity to, and understanding of, Islam as it is woven through America’s rich multicultural fabric. The Islam Project is conceived in part in the belief that accurate information, representing a spectrum of perspectives, is the most effective antidote to fear and misunderstanding.
Editor's note: This publication, jointly produced by the Religious Freedom Education Project of the First Amendment Center and the Interfaith Alliance Islamic Understanding, is republished here with permission.