Press Release

CIP Eid/Kurban Bajram Greetings, With Blessings for Hanukkah and Christmas, December 20, 2007

CIP Wishes All Muslims A Blessed Eid al-Adha/Bajram Sherif Mubarek Olsun!

The Center for Islamic Pluralism welcomes the holiday of Eid al-Adha, on December 20, 2007.

In keeping with our development of Balkan and Turkish relationships, we proclaim: Bajram sherif mubarek olsun!

Given the coincidence of Kurban Bajram this year with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on December 4-12, and the Christian feast of Christmas on December 25, CIP notes the common monotheism of these observances. Hanukkah recalls the triumph of Jewish faith over pagan tyranny and the cleansing of the Hebrew temple. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, a herald of renewed faith in one Creator. Kurban Bajram commemorates the submission of Abraham, the common ancestor, to the will of God.

We hope the essential aspirations of the three Abrahamic faiths will be redeemed by mutual respect, sincere dialogue, and cooperation among all believers in the year to come!

Center for Islamic Pluralism
Washington, DC, USA
London, UK

The Center for Islamic Pluralism, an international non-profit organization operating in the U.S. and Britain, strenuously protests reports in the Saudi daily Al-Watan (The Nation), of July 24, that Saudi clerics have issued fatwas calling for the destruction of Shia holy sites in Iraq.

CIP calls on Saudi King Abdullah to suspend the authors of such fatwas from state clerical subsidies as a first step toward ending all government support to the Wahhabi structure in the kingdom.

CIP further appeals for an immediate end to all Wahhabi efforts at vandalism of Islamic architectural and cultural heritage, especially in the Saudi kingdom itself.

Center for Islamic Pluralism Executive Director Stephen Schwartz met on July 18 in Washington with sister Tasleem Ahmed, an activist on issues facing Muslim women in the UK.

The sister maintains a network of women's centers in northern England. Issues discussed at the meeting included male domination in the Muslim community, hijab, health, depression, and domestic violence.

The encounter took place under the auspices of the U.S. State Department International Visitors' Program.

CIP is investigating options for a program on Muslim women's issues.

The Center for Islamic Pluralism joins a range of corporate and organizational interests in endorsing Africa Malaria Day, April 25, 2007, which includes the first Malaria Awareness Day in the U.S. See statement.

The Woodrow Wilson Center, in cooperation with The European Institute and the Center for Islamic Pluralism, Presents Conference: Euro-Islam: The Dynamics of Effective Integration, June 21, 2006

Schwartz's Two Faces of Islam Published as Official Islamic Document

Moderate Islam Gets a Washington Address

March 25, 2005

The Center for Islamic Pluralism (CIP), a Washington-based platform for moderate Muslims in North America, announces its opening today.

CIP's aims are to:

Promote moderate Islam in the U.S. and globally;
Educate the American public, media, and government about moderate Islam;
Oppose the influence of militant Islam in the United States and abroad.
Promote authentic and constructive interfaith dialogue between Muslims and adherents of other faiths.

Details on the CIP website can be found at www.islamicpluralism.org.

We define "moderate Islam" in the American context as an Islam that finds its proper and equal place as one among the many religions represented in America, with rights neither greater nor lesser than any other. Moderate Islam recognizes its own history, the need to evolve, and the urgency for an intellectual revival, especially with regard to non-Muslims, women, and political governance. The CIP emphasizes pluralism to signal that it believes not in the tolerance of non-Muslims, but in their true acceptance.

The executive director of the Center, Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, notes that "Many Americans wonder about Islamic claims to be a 'religion of peace.' This statement is credible only to the degree that Muslims work to make their faith truly one of pluralism. Unless there is an Islam as American as the faiths practiced by Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists, there will be no Islam in America. Thus do we see CIP's role as critical."

The founders of the Center for Islamic Pluralism are (affiliations for identification only):

Kemal Silay, CIP president: professor of Ottoman and modern Turkish culture at Indiana University.
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, CIP executive director: author of The Two Faces of Islam (Doubleday), and associate of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Sarajevo.
Nawab Agha: chairman, American Muslim Congress.
Zuhdi Jasser: chairman, American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
Ahmed Subhy Mansour: former professor, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, author of Penalty of Apostasy: A Study of Islamic Law.
Salim Mansur: professor of political science, University of Western Ontario, and columnist, Toronto Sun.
Khaleel Mohammed, assistant professor of religious studies at San Diego State University.
Tashbih Sayyed: publisher, Muslim World Today.

The CIP is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity. Contributions are deductible under section 170 of the Code. It is qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers, and gifts under section 2055, 2106, or 2622 of the code.

Please direct inquiries to schwartz(at)islamicpluralism.org. Or call Stephen Suleyman Schwartz at 1.202.232.1750. Fax toll-free to 1.866.792.9439.