Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), founded in 1996 by

Rami Nashashibi Rami Nashashibi is a Palestinian-American activist, community organizer, sociologist, and Islamic studies scholar. He founded the nonprofit organization Inner-City Muslim Action Network in 1997, working as its executive director for many years, an ...

, is one of the leading

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 ...

charity organizations in the United States. According to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, IMAN seeks "to utilize the tremendous possibilities and opportunities that are present in the community to build a dynamic and vibrant alternative to the difficult conditions of

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

life." IMAN sees understanding

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

as part of a larger process to empower individuals and communities to work for the betterment of humanity. Consequently, IMAN has initiated a diverse set of

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

programs and projects with the hope of changing the conditions in the inner city, in particular the communities on Chicago's South and Southwest Side. IMAN provides a range of direct

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

through the IMAN/ICIC Food Pantry, IMAN Health Clinic, and IMAN's Career Development Initiative (ICDI). "Takin' It To The Streets" is IMAN's most popular and well-known project. The festival draws people from all over the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area for a day of festivities, musical performances, sports tournaments, and carnivals. Directors are listed as: Rami Nashashibi, Ayat Elnoory, Asad Jafri, M. Altaf Kaiseruddin.

References

External links

IMAN WebsiteTakin' it to the Streets 2016 Website
Islamic organizations established in 1996 Islamic charities based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Chicago {{Islam-org-stub