Omar Ahmad ( ar, عمر أحمد) and Rafiq Jabir were the founders of the

Council on American-Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(CAIR), a

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

-based

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

civil rights organization. He also worked for the

Islamic Association of Palestine Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP, also known as Islamic Association for Palestine) was an organization accused of raising money in the United States for Hamas established in 1981 and defunct since 2004. It described itself as "a not-for-profit, ...

, a precursor to CAIR.

Biography

He was born in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Jordan. He holds a Masters in Computer Science from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

as well as a Masters in Political Science. He had been the chairman of CAIR's board of directors since its founding in 1994, but stepped down from that position in May 2005. At the time that he resigned, CAIR claimed to be the largest Muslim

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

organization in the United States, with over 30 regional offices and chapters.

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people American businesspeople American Muslim activists Jordanian emigrants to the United States People from Amman Santa Clara University alumni {{Islam-bio-stub