Islamic Society of North America

ISNA traces its origins to a meeting of a group of international students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1963, during which the Muslim Students Association was formed. ISNA regards the MSA's 1963 convention at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as its first one.

In 1963, the MSA invited Pakistani-Canadian architect Dr. Gulzar Haider to design a headquarters mosque for the Plainfield society.[4] Haider "eschewed minarets, domes and other hallmarks of Islamic architecture to focus on geometry."[5] In 1981, the mosque was completed, featuring "prayer space, a library, and administrative offices."[6][7] It was in use by the following year.[6]

The present-day ISNA was founded in 1982 through a joint effort of four organizations: The Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada (The MSA), Islamic Medical Association (IMA), the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), and the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE) - to create a community-oriented organization due to the changing nature of the growing Muslim community.[8][9][10] Many of the leaders of these four founding organizations took on roles in the newly formed ISNA. In 1983, ISNA's multi-million dollar headquarters was completed in Plainfield, Indiana, using funds raised in part from international sources.

On August 30, 2013, Tahera Ahmad became the first woman to open an ISNA convention with a recitation of the Quran, which she did at the 50th Annual ISNA Convention in front of a mixed-gender audience.[11]

Former US Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said that the Islamic Society of North America is "accused of ties to Islamic extremists."[20] Investigative journalist Steven Emerson accused ISNA of ties to terrorism[21] and argued that ISNA is not as moderate as some "would like to believe."[22] Others, such as Rabbi Marc Schneier, argue ISNA and other Islamic groups are too often condemned because of "extreme outliers."[22]

ISNA was one of a number of Muslim groups investigated by US law enforcement for possible terrorist connections. Its tax records were requested in December 2003 by the Senate Finance Committee. However, the committee's investigation concluded in November 2005 having found no evidence of ties to terrorists. Committee chairman Charles Grassley said, "We did not find anything alarming enough that required additional follow-up beyond what law enforcement is already doing."[23]

In the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorist financing case, the United States Department of Justice named ISNA, along with Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), as an unindicted co-conspirator and one of a number of "entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood."[24][25][26] ISNA, along with NAIT and CAIR, filed motions seeking to be removed from the UCC listing, and the District Judge found that the government had violated the organizations' rights by listing them as Unindicted Co-Conspirators.[27]

In his testimony before the US Senate in October 2003, Michael Waller referred to ISNA as a Saudi-supported organization, noted that it "certifies Wahhabi-trained chaplains" for U.S. prisons, and argued that it sought to impose "Wahhabi religious conformity" on the American Muslim community.[28]

A speaker at the 2009 national convention, Warith Deen Umar, a New York imam, asserted that the Holocaust happened to the Jews "because they were serially disobedient to Allah."[22] He went on to allege that a group of Jews close to President Barack Obama "control the world." ISNA condemned the comments.[29]

At the July 2017 annual convention of ISNA, representatives from "Muslims for Progressive Values" and Human Rights Campaign (LGBT civil rights groups) were asked to shut down their booth and leave, given "that the convention was a religious, private, and family-oriented event."[30]