SOURCE GUIDE
Covering Islam 101

Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they know little or nothing about Islam’s practices. And what they know is sometimes wrong. Meanwhile, 32 percent of Americans say the media are the biggest influence on their perception of Muslims. This edition of ReligionLink is a journalist’s guide to covering Muslims and Islam in America. It is a complement to a Religion Newswriters webinar presented on March 11, 2008. This ReligionLink includes:

• Source listings of major national Muslim organizations.
• National and regional experts on major issues.
• A guide to the basics of Islam with links to resources.
• What journalists need to know about Islam.
• Demographic information on Muslims and surveys about Islam.

This ReligionLink tip is an accompaniment to a webinar that took place March 12, 2008.
• Download the audio from this webinar (.mp3 file, 69.1 MB).
• Download the powerpoint slides from this webinar (.pdf file, 540kb).

For a basic overview on covering Islam, see the Islam section in Religion Newswriters’ resource book Reporting on Religion: A Primer on Journalism’s Best Beat.

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Organizations

ADVOCACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS
• The Al-Fatiha Foundation is an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Muslims. It advocates and educates on issues of sexuality, gender and Islam and is based in Washington, D.C. Its founder is Faisal Alam. Contact Alam at 404-702-9772 or contact the D.C. office at info@al-fatiha.org.
• The American Muslim Alliance promotes participation of Muslim Americans in the political process. The alliance is based in Newark, Calif. Agha Saeed is its national chairman. Contact 510-252-9858, civilrightsforall@sbcglobal.net.
• The American Muslim Council promotes and protects the civil rights of American Muslims. It is based in Chicago and has chapters throughout the country. Dr. Nedzib Sacirbey is its president. Contact 773-248-3390, info@amcnational.org.
• The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections promotes civic equality for Muslims and their participation in the American political process. It is an umbrella association of 11 Muslim-American groups.
• The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it is the largest advocacy group for Muslims in the U.S. It advocates for Muslims on issues related to civil liberties and justice. Contact communications director Ibrahim Hooper in Washington, D.C., at 202-488-8787, ihooper@cair.com.
• The Islamic Society of North America promotes unity and leadership among Muslims. The organization, based in Plainfield, Ind., has a large immigrant presence. Contact president Ingrid Mattson, 317-839-8157, president@isna.net.
• Muslim Advocates uses legal advocacy, policy engagement, and education to promote rights for Muslims and others. Contact executive director Farhana Khera, 202-448-9978, farhana@muslimadvocates.org.
• The Muslim Public Affairs Council works for Muslim participation in civic life. It advocates for Muslims’ civil rights and gives Muslims a voice in the media and public affairs. It works to cultivate leadership in young Muslims and encourage a sense of ownership over their religious and national identity as Americans. The group’s $1.1 million budget includes no overseas funding. It has offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and several state chapters. The council is considered moderate and politically savvy and is led by first- and second-generation Americans. Contact Salam Al-Marayati, executive director, salam@mpac.org; Ahmed Younis, national director, 202-547-7701, nationaldirector@mpac.org; or Edina Lekovic, communications director, 213-383-3443, communications@mpac.org.
• The Progressive Muslim Union of North America is an organization working to give voice to Muslims committed to progressive Islam. Ahmed Nassef of Muslim Wakeup! is chairman of its board of directors. Contact 646-485-1163, info@pmuna.org.
• United Muslims of America is a nonpartisan public affairs organization that works to promote the participation of Muslims in American public life, including economics, education and politics. The nonprofit organization is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is supported by membership fees. Shafi Refai is president of its board of directors. Contact srefai@hotmail.com or contact@umanet.org.

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
• The American Society for Muslim Advancement is a cultural and educational organization that works to build bridges between Muslims and other Americans. It has offices in New York City and North Bergen, N.J. Daisy Khan is executive director. Contact 212-870-2552.
• The As-Sunnah Foundation of America works to promote unity and religious understanding among different groups of American Muslims. Its chairman is Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani. The organization is based in Burton, Mich. Contact 810-744-3400.
• The Book Foundation promotes Islam through a number of educational programs. It is based in Watsonville, Calif. Its directors are Kabir Helminski, Aisha Gray Henry and Jeremy Henzell-Thomas. Contact Helminski at khelminski@aol.com, Gray at Grayh101@aol.com, Henzell-Thomas at jeremyht66@hotmail.com.
• The Cordoba Initiative is a multifaith organization whose goal is to build understanding between Muslims and the U.S. It sponsors educational programs, meetings, policy initiatives and lectures on a range of subjects including women in Islam, interfaith understanding and youth leadership. John Bennett is its executive director, and he is located in Aspen, Colo. Contact cordobainitiative@gmail.com.
• The Fiqh Council of North America is an organization of Islamic scholars and clergy in Canada and the United States. Contact 703-575-7737, fiqh@fiqhcouncil.org.
• The International Association of Sufism is a nonprofit organization that works to promote the principles of and knowledge about Sufism, one of the branches of Islam. It is headed by Seyedeh Nahid Angha and Shah Nazar Seyed Ali Kianfar. It is based in Novato, Calif. Contact 415-382-7834.
• The Islamic Circle of North America is a grass-roots organization working to establish Muslim identity and cohesiveness and to further good works. It has traditionally been an immigrant-led organization. It provides religious instruction and public education, youth programs, social services, disaster relief and services to the homeless. It has a presence in every major city in the country, with the largest chapters in Houston, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Maryland-Virginia, Florida, Detroit, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Contact president Khurshid Khan, 718-658-1199.
• The Latino American Dawah Organization promotes Islam among American Latinos. It publishes a newsletter, The Latino Muslim Voice, and has several chapters across the U.S. Contact 1-877-WHY-ISLAM (949-4752).
• The Muslim American Society is a nonprofit that promotes Islamic revival and reform by promoting the tenets of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is based in Falls Church, Va. Contact 703-998-6525.
• The Muslim Women’s League is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting equality of Muslim women throughout the world. It is based in Los Angeles. Contact 626-358-0335.
• The Mosque Cares is the organization and ministry of Warith Deen Mohammad. It is based in Calumet City, Ill. Contact 708-798-6750, wdministry@aol.com.

THINK TANKS AND UNIVERSITY CENTERS
• ReligionLink maintains a list of think tanks and university centers in its edition "Islam: A guide to U.S. experts and organizations."

SEMINARIES AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
• The AlMaghrib Institute conducts seminars and conferences on Islam in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, leading students to a bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies. Muhammad Alshareef is its founder. It is based in Ottawa, Canada. Contact 613-321-9011.
• The Muslim Institute of Houston offers courses in Arabic and the Quran in Houston, Texas.  Contact 713-787-5000, info@mihweb.com.
• The Muslim Students Association is a national organization that represents Muslim students in American colleges and universities. Its Web site lists chapters around the country. Contact national president Asma Mirza, president@msa-national.org.
• The Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, Calif., is the first Muslim seminary in the United States. It is run by two influential American clerics who received classical training abroad and who have large followings here, particularly among young American Muslims. A 2006 New York Times article credited the scholars, Sheik Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir, with countering the influence of conservative Wahhabism that has been spread in the United States by clerics trained in Saudi Arabia. Contact 510-582-1979.

MOSQUES
• The number of mosques, or masjids, is increasing, and attendance is growing at many mosques. From 1990 to 2000, the number of U.S. mosques grew by 42 percent, and 60 percent of them experienced at least a 10 percent rise in attendance, according to a Faith Communities Today study. In 2001, another study found, there were 1,209 mosques. Where mosques had been built in larger cities with significant Muslim populations, there are now more mosques spread across different areas of the country and more cities with more than one mosque.
• The Pluralism Project posts a map of the number of mosques by state in 2004.
• Salatomatic allows users to search by state and city for mosques and schools in the United States and around the world. It provides descriptions of mosques and contact information.
• The Islamic Finder allows users to search for mosques by ZIP code or city.

MUSLIMS’ GROWING INFRASTRUCTURE
As the Muslim population in America grows, they – like Catholics, Jews and other religious groups before them – are creating an infrastructure that is being woven into the fabric of America.

Schools – Muslims have been very active in starting Islamic schools that combine a traditional education with instruction in Arabic and Islam. Many of these schools are affiliated with a local mosque. The Council of Islamic Schools in North America maintains a list of Islamic education organizations in the U.S. The Islamic Schools League of America maintains a search engine that locates Islamic schools by city and state.

Health care – Muslims are opening health clinics around the country, many of them targeting low-income people. The Association of Muslim Health Professionals lists free Muslim health clinics. Muslim health professionals are organizing through groups such as the Association of Muslim Health Professionals and the Islamic Medical Association of North America.

Banks / finance – More banks are adding Islamic banking services, and the number and size of Islamic banking institutions are increasing to help Muslims comply with Islamic laws banning interest. The Arab Bankers Association of North America is a nonprofit organization that promotes cooperation and understanding between financial services in the Arab world and North America.

Charities – There are many Muslim charities in the United States, which serve as outlets for the annual payments Muslims are required to make to the poor and needy. Several have been investigated and shut down because of suspected ties to terrorist organizations, angering Muslims.

Some of the largest charities are:
• Helping Hand USA is an Islamic global humanitarian relief and development organization that focuses on Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Kenya and Iraq. Its American office is in Detroit. Contact 313-279-5378.
• The Islamic-American Zakat Foundation provides assistance for food, shelter, clothing and transportation for poor and needy Muslims in the United States. It is based in Bethesda, Md. Contact zakat@iazf.org.
• Islamic Relief USA is a California-based international Islamic nonprofit agency founded in 1984. It operates projects in education and training, water and sanitation, income generation, orphan support, health and nutrition, and emergency relief in foreign countries and in the U.S. It has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. Contact 714-676-1300.

AMERICAN-BASED ISLAMIC MEDIA
• altmuslim.com is an online magazine offering “global perspectives on Muslim life, politics and culture.” Contact through the Web site.
• American Muslim magazine is published by the Muslim American Society. Its editor is Sheila Musaji. Contact tameditor@aol.com.
• Azizah Magazine focuses on the issues and needs of American Muslim women. It was founded by Tayyibah Taylor and Marlina Soerakoesoemah and is published in Atlanta. Contact 404-325-4041.
• Daily Muslims is a daily online newspaper for North American Muslims. Jawed Anwar is editor and publisher. Contact Jawed@dailymuslims.com.
• The Final Call is the newspaper of the Nation of Islam. It is published in Chicago. Contact 773-602-1230.
• Illume magazine focuses on the Islamic community in America. It is published in southern Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contact 510-386-1171, info@illumemedia.org.
• Islamic Horizons is the magazine of the Islamic Society of North America. Contact 317-839-8157, horizons@isna.net.
• Islamica is a not-for-profit news and issues magazine published by the Center for Inter-Civilizational Dialogue in Cambridge, Mass. Sohail Nakhooda is editor in chief. Contact 703-962-1741, sohail@islamicamagazine.com.
• IslamiCity bills itself as “a global Muslim eCommunity” and offers everything from news and opinion to ecards and matrimonial services on its site. It is based in Los Angeles and owned by Human Assistance and Development International, a nonprofit organization. Mohammed Aleem is its CEO. Contact icmedia@islamicity.com.
• MeccaOne Media produces radio, television, Web content, recordings and other forms of media designed to give voice to American Muslims. It is based in San Jose, Calif. Omair Ali is its founder and president. Contact 408-428-0144.
• The Muslim Observer is an online publication created in Detroit. Aslam Abdullah is editor. Contact aslamabdullah@aol.com.
• Muslim Round Table Television is produced in San Jose, Calif., and airs in Northern California. Irfan M. Rydhan is its executive producer and host. Contact 408-509-7965.
• Muslim Wakeup! is an online news magazine for American Muslims. Ahmed Nassef is co-founder and editor in chief. It is based in Pleasantville, N.Y. Contact 646-485-1163, editor@muslimwakeup.com.
• New Islamic Directions is a Web site featuring news, opinion and information. It is the project of Imam Zaid Shakir, a teacher at the Zaytuna Institute. It is published in Hayward, Calif. Contact 510-387-2604.
• Radio Islam is a project of the SoundVision Foundation and has aired Islamic-oriented radio programs via the Internet since 1999. Programs include music, poetry, scripture interpretation, news and talk shows. Abdul Malik Mujahid is its executive producer. It is based in Bridgeview, Ill. Contact 312-806-0307, info@radioislam.com.
• Southern California InFocus bills itself as the largest Muslim newspaper in California, with a self-reported circulation of 25,000. It is based in Anaheim, Calif. Contact 714-678-1820.

Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

National sources

ACADEMICS
For a more extensive listing of scholars of Islam, see ReligionLink’s source guide, “Islam: A guide to U.S. experts and organizations.”

• Akbar S. Ahmed is a professor of comparative and regional studies and professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C., where he holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies. He has advised world leaders on Islam and was formerly High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He has engaged in public dialogues with Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, in the U.S. and abroad. Ahmed has written widely and is a frequent television commentator on Islam. Contact 202-885-1961, akbar@american.edu. Media are encouraged to reach him through Clark Gregor, 202-885-5935, gregor@american.edu.
• Leila Ahmed is a professor of divinity at Harvard University Divinity School. She has a background in women’s studies and is a pre-eminent scholar of Islam as it pertains to women. Contact her through faculty assistant Katherine Lou, 617-495-4265, klou@hds.harvard.edu.
• Dr. Laila Al-Marayati is a physician and past president of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Muslim Women’s League, which represents Muslim women and supports the status of women as equal members of society. The league has a speakers bureau and position papers on topic issues such as divorce, honor killing, female genital mutilation, gender equality, inheritance and women’s dress. Members often speak at interfaith public events and at their children’s schools to increase awareness, particularly during Ramadan. Contact 626-358-0335, lalmara@aol.com.
• Kecia Ali is a Mellon Fellow in Islamic Studies and Women’s Studies at Brandeis University at Waltham, Mass. She wrote Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence (2006). Her areas of expertise include progressive Islam and women, gender and Islamic law and Muslim societies. The best way to reach her is through email. Contact 781-736-2953, alikecia@brandeis.edu.
• Zahid H. Bukhari directs the American Muslim Studies Program at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Previously, he directed the Muslims in the American Public Square Project, which looked at the contribution and role of Muslims in American public life. He also directs the Center for Islam and Public Policy. Contact 202-687-2947, zhb@georgetown.edu.
• Richard Bulliet is a history professor at Columbia University in New York City who specializes in Islam. Among his books are Islam: The View From the Edge and The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization. Contact 212-854-1741, rwb3@columbia.edu.
• Edward E. Curtis IV is an associate professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author of Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam: 1960-1975 (2006) and editor of The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States (2008). Contact 317-278-1683, ecurtis4@iupui.edu.
• Carl W. Ernst is a professor of religious studies and director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a specialist in Islamic studies, focusing on West and South Asia, and is an expert on Sufism. Contact 919-962-3924, cernst@email.unc.edu.
• Khaled Abou El Fadl is an internationally recognized law professor and the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He teaches Islamic law, Middle Eastern investment law, immigration law and courses related to human rights and terrorism. Contact 310-206-5401, fakoor@law.ucla.edu. Or contact his press agent, Grace Song, 310-710-7345, anmargrace@yahoo.com.
• John L. Esposito is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he teaches religion, Islamic studies and international affairs. He is an expert on Islam and its history, modernizing trends and forces, radicalism, terrorism, democracy, foreign policy and politics. Contact 202-687-8375, jle2@georgetown.edu.
• Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is professor of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Her scholarly interests include Muslims in the West, Islamic revolutionary movements, 20th-century Islam and the intellectual, social and political history of the Arab world. She co-authored Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today (2006), which portrays Muslim women in the U.S. as active in shaping Islam, opinionated and diverse. She can discuss marriage, childrearing, conversion and participation of Muslims in American society. Contact 202-687-2575, haddady@georgetown.edu.
• Amir Hussain is an associate professor in theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He specializes in the study of Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies, especially those in North America. He is at work on a textbook titled Muslims: Islam in the 21^st Century. Contact 310-338-5987, ahussai1@lmu.edu.
• Sherman A. Jackson (aka Abd al-Hakim) is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Michigan law school and has a pending appointment at the university’s Center for Afro-American and African Studies. He is a member of the editorial board of DePaul University’s Journal of Islamic Law and Culture. His expertise is in Islamic law, theology and black American Islam, and he is the author of Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection. Contact 734-763-4671, sajackso@umich.edu.
• Zayn R. Kassam is associate professor of religious studies at Pomona College, Claremont, Calif. Her area of concentration is Islam and women. Contact 909-607-4095, zayn_kassam@pomona.edu.
• Richard C. Martin is a professor in the religion department at Emory University in Atlanta. His scholarly interests include Islamic studies, comparative religions and religion and conflict. He has written several books about the history and study of Islam. He has lived and done research in Egypt and elsewhere in the Muslim world, and he is engaged in cooperative projects with Muslim scholars. Contact 404-727-7544, rcmartin@emory.edu.
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of numerous books on Islam, including Islamic Philosophy From its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy (2006). Contact 202-994-5704, zsirat@gwu.edu.
• Omid Safi is an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is co-chairman of the Study of Islam section of the American Academy of Religion. His areas of expertise include Muslims in America and progressive Muslim movements. Contact omid@email.unc.edu.
• Jane I. Smith is a professor of Islamic studies and co-director of the Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. She specializes in Muslim communities in America, Christian theology in relation to Islam, historical relations between Christians and Muslims, and the role and status of women in Islam. Her recent work includes, as co-author, Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today (2006) and, as co-editor, Islam and the West Post 9/11. She is co-editor of the journal The Muslim World. Contact 860-509-9532, jismith@hartsem.edu.
• John O. Voll is professor of Islamic history and associate director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He is an expert in Middle Eastern, Islamic and world history, and he has written on Islam in the modern world and Islam and democracy. Contact 202-687-0288, vollj@georgetown.edu.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND MUSLIM LIFE
• Ihsan Bagby is an associate professor of Islamic studies in the department of modern and classical languages, literatures and cultures at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He studies Muslims in the United States, including the growth of Islam here, African-Americans and Islam, demographics of American Muslims and the growth of Islam in prisons. He is an expert on pluralism, mosque organization and imams. He helped facilitate the first endorsement of a Muslim chaplain in the U.S. armed forces. In 2001 he published the results of the first comprehensive study of mosques in America, “The Mosque in America: A National Portrait,” for the Council on American-Muslim Relations, on whose board he serves. He serves on the advisory board of Hartford Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Contact 859-257-9638, iabagb2@uky.edu.
• Zahid H. Bukhari directs the American Muslim Studies Program at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Previously, he directed the Muslims in the American Public Square Project, which looked at the role of Muslims in American public life. He also directs the Center for Islam and Public Policy. Contact 202-687-2947, zhb@georgetown.edu.
• Omer M. Mozaffar is a doctoral student at the University of Chicago. He is an adjunct professor of Islamic studies and religion at St. Xavier University and North Central College, where he teaches courses on Islam and world religions. He is knowledgeable about inner dynamics of Muslim organizations, particularly immigrant organizations. Mozaffar is a lifelong active participant in the Muslim community of Chicago and has given more than 200 lectures on Islam across the country since 9/11. He blogs about contemporary Islamic viewpoints. Contact 630-881-5211, ghaalib@alumni.uchicago.edu.
• Farid Senzai is a fellow and director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, which researches the Muslim community in the United States. He is also an assistant professor of political science at Santa Clara University. Contact 408-551-6097, fsenzai@ispu.org.

OTHER
• Paul Barrett is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and author of American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion (2006). Contact via Farrar, Straus and Giroux publicity, fsgpublisity@fsgbooks.com.
• Katherine Bullock is vice president of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America and editor of Muslim Women Activists in North America: Speaking for Ourselves (2005). She is also the author of Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical & Modern Stereotypes. She lives in Mississauga, Canada. Contact vp@amss.org.
• Mona Eltahawy is a speaker, writer and commentator who focuses on issues concerning Islam. She is based in New York City. Contact info@monaeltahawy.com.
• Dalia Hashad is the Arab, Muslim, South Asian advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union. She is part of the Campaign Against Racial Profiling, which focuses on issues facing Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans in a post-9/11 world. Contact 212-519-7811, dhashad@aclu.org.
• Sarah Husain is a poet and activist and editor of Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality (2006). She is based in New York City. Contact sarahnhusain@gmail.com.
• Irshad Manji is a writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, and author of The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith (2004). Contact via publicist Katy Hershberger, katy.hershberger@stmartins.com.

The basics of Islam

OVERVIEW

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity. About one in five people are Muslim; one in three are Christian. Islam has between 1.1 billion and 1.8 billion followers. The word Islam is derived from the Arabic word for peace, and the word Muslim is usually translated as “to submit.” Islam is the newest of the world’s five major religions. It traces its roots to the seventh century, when Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad, an Arabian merchant, was visited by an angel who revealed the Quran, the Islamic holy book, to him.

MAJOR BELIEFS

FIVE PILLARS
Though there are different branches of Islam, all are obligated to follow the Five Pillars:

• Declaration: Each Muslim must declare, “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
• Prayer: Muslims are expected to perform prayers at five set times a day, facing Mecca. Prayers include a ritual washing of face, hands and feet with water and kneeling on a prayer rug.
• Charity: The Quran instructs Muslims to make an annual payment to charity, or zakat, generally 2.5 percent of their income or assets.
• Fasting: During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims are expected to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity from sunrise to sundown.
• Pilgrimage: Every Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca – known as the hajj -- once in his life.

• IslamiCity outlines the meanings of the Five Pillars of Islam.
• The Web site Islam 101 also features descriptions and pictures of the Five Pillars of Islam.
• Howcast.com posts a description of how to follow the Five Pillars.

MAJOR TEACHINGS
Islam believes in one God who is the creator of all. It is one of the three major monotheistic religions. Like Christians and Jews, Muslims are sometimes referred to as Children of Abraham or People of the Book.

Muslims, like Christians and Jews, believe in God’s revelation, prophets, ethical and moral accountability and a day of judgment. They revere Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David and Jesus as prophets but believe that Muhammad was God’s final and most important prophet and messenger.

Islam emerged in the 7^th century in the Arabian peninsula when Muhammad, a merchant, said he was visited by an angel. Muhammad was a maverick who faced fierce opposition because his teachings challenged the religious and political leadership of his time as well as its social structure. He also became a military leader successful in battles that helped further the spread of his message.

Muslims pray to Allah, the Arabic name for God Almighty. The Quran, its holy book, is written in Arabic, and all Muslims learn Arabic in order to read and recite from the Quran and to say daily prayers.

Islam’s system of law is known as shariah, and it dictates Muslims’ duties to God and to others, including social transactions and business, penal and family relationships. A few governments, such as Saudi Arabia’s, base their legal systems on shariah, but shariah is mostly defined by religious scholars.

Islam’s holiest sites:

• Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Muslims pray facing Mecca -- the site of the Ka’bah, a mosque Muslims believe Abraham built – and take pilgrimages there. Muslims date the founding of Islam to Muhammad’s arrival in Medina, where he found support after leaving Mecca.
• The Dome of the Rock, a mosque in Jerusalem built on the site where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven.

SACRED TEXTS
Muslims believe the Quran was dictated to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It is considered to be the exact words of God, rather than the words of Muhammad. Muslim practice is also defined by the Sunnah, the sayings, practices and customs of Muhammad. His sayings are known as the hadith.

• The University of Michigan offers an online English translation of the Quran.
• The University of Southern California-Muslim Students Association offers a transliteration of the Quran and searchable collection of the Sunnah and the hadith.

DISTINCTIVES
Journalists should be aware that Muslim teachings on dress, diet, money and other matters sometimes set them apart from other Americans. Here are some to be aware of:

Friday prayers – Muslims gather at mosques for congregational prayers on Fridays at the noon prayer time, but unlike Christians’ observance on Sunday or Jews’ on Saturday, the entire day is not considered a sabbath.

Dress – The Quran instructs Muslims to dress modestly. Depending on how they interpret the instructions to women, some Muslim women wear garments that cover their heads or their whole bodies. Some women do not cover their heads and simply wear clothes that are modest in nature.

Diet – Muslims are not permitted to consume pork or alcohol and require meat and poultry to be slaughtered and prepared according to certain standards. Muslims may not consume animal shortening, lard, gelatin or any product containing alcohol (such as Dijon mustard). Howcast.com posts a good description of how to follow Muslim dietary laws.

Holidays – Muslims follow a lunar calendar, which is 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar America follows. That means that the dates of holidays change from year to year, and holidays begin at sundown, with the sighting of the new moon.

Money matters – Islamic law bans collecting or paying interest, so Muslims use alternate ways to pay for large purchases, such as cars, homes and insurance.

The Prophet -- Violent riots in Europe over cartoon images of Muhammad showed how seriously Muslims take Islam’s ban on visual images of its prophet. Muslims consider them an act of idolatry.

THINGS JOURNALISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF

Muslim population estimates

There is no accurate count of the number of Muslims in America, and estimates are fiercely debated. Mosques do not require membership, and the U.S. Census does not ask people to identify their religion. Muslims speak many different languages, making surveys challenging. When describing the size of the Muslim population, you should always qualify numbers by saying “up to” or “between.” See Polls & Surveys for major population surveys.

Religious etiquette

Because of rules of modesty between genders, you should not expect to shake hands with Muslims of the opposite sex. When visiting a mosque, journalists should expect to remove their shoes and women may be asked to cover their heads. Men and women also may not be allowed in gender-restricted areas of the mosque. If a reporter and photographer/videographer are visiting a mosque together, it can be helpful if they are of different genders so they can visit all parts of the mosque.

Diversity and ethnicity

Islam spread from what is now Saudi Arabia all over the globe, resulting in a richness of nationalities and ethnicities. In the United States, where there is sometimes only one mosque in an area, that means a great diversity of people worship together, sometimes from dozens of different countries. Americans most often think of Muslims as Arabs, but there is a larger number of African-American Muslims and Muslims from South Asia, along with a small but growing number of Hispanic Muslims. In fact, most Arabs in the U.S. are Christian. See Polls & Surveys for demographic studies.

Religious titles

Islam’s religious titles are not easily comparable to those of Christians and Jews. Clergy, along with other men who lead congregational prayers, are generally called imams, though Sunni and Shiite Muslims use the term imam differently. Muslim clergy’s roles differ significantly from that of a pastor or rabbi who shepherd a congregation. Imams and higher religious authorities focus more on interpreting Muslim law and teachings. For guidance, see religious titles in the Religion Stylebook.

Allah

Allah is literally the Arabic word for God Almighty and can be used interchangeably with God in stories involving Muslims. In the Quran, Allah is given 99 names, including king, protector, compeller, sustainer, exalter, the forgiving, judge.

Arabic names and words

Because Arabic has a different alphabet, words are often translated into English in a variety of ways; there is often no one correct English spelling. Muslims within the same community may use different spellings of basic terms, such as Quran or the celebration of Eid al-Adha. Journalists should determine if their media outlet or the community they are covering has a preferred spelling; for guidance on many common words and phrases, see the Religion Stylebook.

Arabic names can be challenging to pronounce; for guidance, see The Associated Press Stylebook. The Guardian newspaper of England has an online stylebook that offers guidance on Arabic names.

Leadership

Unlike most Christian or Jewish denominations, Muslims have no central leadership, even within its individual branches, and there is no clear hierarchy of authority. This is frustrating for journalists, who need to know where to turn for comment when news happens.  Islam did have a designated leader, known as a caliph, but the caliphate system ended in 1923 and has not been re-established. That’s allowed people such as Osama bin Laden to claim to speak for many even when the majority of Muslims consider his views contrary to mainstream Islam. Journalists are wise to develop sources locally and nationally before news events require comment.

Women in Islam

The role of women in Islam is a hotly debated topic. Opinions on what Islam intends for women vary greatly among Muslims. Some non-Muslims perceive Islam as a religion that limits women’s roles and sometimes even sanctions abusive treatment, such as polygamy or stoning of women for adultery. Experts point out that Muhammad’s teachings resulted in great expansions of women’s roles and rights at a time when women could not even own property. There are a number of high-profile women Muslim leaders in America, including Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. In addition, most areas have a Muslim women’s group active in mosque and/or community affairs.

Jihad

The Arabic word jihad, meaning struggle, is inextricably associated with terrorist acts of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, who claims to kill in the name of Islam. Within mainstream Islam, however, it has a different meaning. In the Quran, the Greater Jihad refers to each individual’s struggle to follow the teachings of Islam and submit himself completely to the will of God. The Lesser Jihad refers to Muslims’ struggle to defend Islam in a culture that often devalues religion. It is this Lesser Jihad that extremists have used – and most say perverted – to support their claims that it is acceptable for Muslims to kill innocent people in the name of Islam. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, has a tradition of “just war” that prescribes ethical conduct within war and treatment of prisoners.

Language

Islamofascists … Islamists … Islamic extremists … Islamic fundamentalists. All of these terms have been used to describe people who use Islam to justify a political agenda or, sometimes, to commit terrorist acts in the name of Islam. Journalists should take care to describe the actions such terms are referring to. When appropriate, explain that the terms are disputed. And don’t use these terms to describe people who don’t fit the definition. The tricky part, of course, is that different people – from political leaders to conservative Christian leaders to the media – have used these terms differently and often very loosely. The highest priority for journalists is to distinguish between the religion of Islam and people or movements that use Islam to justify a political agenda.

Generalizations

As with any religious group, journalists should be extremely wary of writing “Muslims say” or “Muslims believe” because of the diversity of belief and practice within Islam.

MAJOR BRANCHES
There are three main branches of Islam – Sunni, Shiite and Sufi. Sunnis make up about 85 percent of the Muslim population globally, while Shiites account for about 15 percent; the proportions are the same for the U.S. Muslim population. The two split over differences of who should succeed Muhammad. For descriptions, see the Religion Stylebook. Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam.

In the United States, a literalist interpretation of Islam is most often called Wahhabism, but Muslims more often use the term Salafism.

Polls and surveys

Various national surveys estimate the number of Muslims in the U.S. at between 1 million and 7 million; most experts believe it’s toward the middle of those two numbers. There is no accurate count, and the numbers are fiercely disputed. Mosques do not require membership, some Muslims do not attend mosque, and the U.S. Census does not ask people to identify their religion. When describing the size of the Muslim population, you should always qualify numbers by saying “up to” or “between.”
• The Web site Religious Tolerance discusses the debate over how big the U.S. Muslim population is and cites various estimates and the reasons each is disputed.
• The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, published in February 2008 by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that Muslims account for .6 percent of the U.S. population.
• “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” a May 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center, interviewed more than 55,000 Muslims and estimated the U.S. Muslim population at 2.35 million.
• “The Mosque in America: A National Portrait,” published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in 2001, estimated the U.S. Muslim population at 6 million to 7 million – a number generally regarded as very high by demographers of religion.
• A poll conducted by Hamilton College in 2002 found that American Muslims were largely young – only 38 percent were older than 45, compared with 52 percent of all American adults – and highly educated – 70 percent over the age of 25 had a college education, compared with 26 percent of all Americans. Three-fourths are married, and the majority are American citizens.

A number of surveys have looked at Muslim attitudes and attitudes toward Muslims:
• A July 2007 report by the Pew Forum found that Muslims are very much like white evangelical Christians and African-American Protestants in terms of how important they say religion is to their lives. And an equal number – 47 percent – of Muslims and Protestants said they define themselves first by their religion and second by their nationality.
• A June 2006 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll about the attitudes of Westerners and Muslims toward each other found that most Muslims in the U.S. (55 percent) viewed relations between Muslims and Westerners as “generally bad.”
• A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in March 2006 found that 58 percent of Americans said Islam is “prone to violent extremism” and that 27 percent admitted to feeling prejudice against Muslims and Arabs.
• A CBS News poll conducted in 2006 found that 45 percent of Americans had a negative view of Islam.
• PollingReport.com posts polls about religion (including Islam) and terrorism (which includes some surveys that asked questions about Islam).
• The American Muslim magazine maintains a list of all polls, both national and international, involving questions about Islam from 1995 to the present.