Council on American-Islamic Relations

Council on American–Islamic Relations

Formation	June 1994 by Nihad Awad
Type	Non-profit, NGO
Purpose	Muslim activism
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Location	453 New Jersey Ave., S.E.
Region served	United States
Executive Director	Nihad Awad
Key people	Roula Allouch, Chairman Ibrahim Hooper, National Communications Director
Staff	70+
Volunteers	300+
Website	www.cair.com

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide. Through civil rights actions, media relations, civic engagement, and education, CAIR promotes social, legal and political activism among Muslims in America. Critics of CAIR consider it to be pursuing an Islamist agenda.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) was created as an "organization that challenges stereotypes of Islam and Muslims" (CAIR letter to Vice President Gore, 10/06/1995), a "Washington-based Islamic advocacy group" (Press release, 8/28/1995) and an "organization dedicated to providing an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public" (Press release, 12/13/1995). Prior to establishing CAIR, its founders observed that "the core challenge [in America], that of stereotyping and defamation, was having a devastating effect on our children and paralyzing adults from taking their due roles in civic affairs" ("The Link," a newsletter published by Americans for Middle East Understanding, February–March 2000). Within that understanding, they formed CAIR to challenge anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide.

CAIR was founded in June 1994.

CAIR's first office was located in Washington D.C., as is its present-day headquarters on Capitol Hill. Its founding was partly in response to the film True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger which Arab and Muslim groups condemned for its stereotyping of Arab and Muslim villains. The offices opened a month before the film's release. CAIR's first advocacy campaign was in response to an offensive greeting card that used the term "shia" to refer to human excrement. CAIR led a national campaign and used activists to pressure the greeting card company, which eventually withdrew the card from the market.

In 1995, CAIR handled its first case of hijab (the headscarf worn by Muslim women) discrimination, in which a Muslim employee was denied the right to wear the hijab; this type of complaint is now one of the most common received by CAIR's civil rights department.