Homepage | Article | History of CAIR-NY

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, with regional offices nationwide and in Canada. The national headquarters is located on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

In 1997, CAIR-National made a call for members to create a New York chapter. There was an overwhelming agreement that Muslims in the New York area needed to become vocal around issues of civil rights violations, to be proactive in advocacy, to access educational information, and to increase civic engagement. CAIR-New York (CAIR-NY) seeks to empower the New York area’s Muslim community through political and social activism. CAIR-NY aims to serve the New York area by promoting civil rights, raising awareness through education and advocacy, and organizing Muslim communities to participate as leaders and citizens.

Our organization’s purpose include:

To protect the civil liberties of American Muslims

To provide education to the media in order to ensure an accurate picture of Islam

To promote positive relations with the government and law enforcement agencies

To empower American Muslims through civic participation and volunteerism

To provide American Muslim youth with a proactive agenda for value-based activism

To actively engage in outreach, interfaith relations and coalition building