Civic Engagement in Action

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago partners with community-based groups and with the interfaith community to advocate for social justice and the common good in our communities.

Over the Council's 19 year history it has organized and moblized Illinois' American-Muslim community around important social justice issues. These issues range from local civil rights violations to international policy matters. The common threads that bind all of the Council's campaigns together are social justice and the common good.

A core component of the Council's mission is to leverage the collective voice and strength of Illinois' American-Muslim community to enrich American society as a whole. Rather than simply talk about the issues, the Council seeks to organize and mobilize American-Muslims to engage in civil society as productive partners.

In many cases the partnerships and the collaboration grow out of local relationships between individuals and religious institutions within the community. The Council works with its 60 mosques and Muslim institutions to actively seek out opportunities for collaboration.

The active engagement of Council member institutions also guides the Council in selecting issues of concern to the community. Since Illinois' American-Muslim community is so diverse (racially, ethnically, geographically and socio-economically) the campaigns engaged in by the Council are necessarily varied.

Current Council Campaigns

• Public Education Funding Reform
• Civil Liberties Restoration
• Affordable Healthcare
• Immigrant Integration
• Arabic Language Instruction in Public Schools
• Anti-Bullying

Previous Council Campaigns

• Taxi Cab Driver Organizing
• Vote "Yes" Campaign (Illinois Constitutional Convention)
• "Charity without Fear" Resolution
• Hassiba Belbachir Campaign (Detainee Abuse)
• Unite to Fight Hunger Campaign

Council Coalition Partners (Present & Past)**

• Protestants for the Common Good
• Faith in Place
• United Methodist Church
• Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
• Chicago Center for Cultural Connections
• American Friends Service Committee
• United Power for Action & Justice
• Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
• Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy
• Midwest Human Rights Coalition
• Muslim Advocates

**This is not an exhaustive list of partners