The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) 

A non-profit organization, based in Washington DC, dedicated to studying Islamic and democratic political thought and merging them into a modern Islamic democratic discourse.

The organization was founded in March 1999 by a diverse group of academicians, professionals, and activists--both Muslim and non-Muslim--from around the USA who agree on the need for the study of and dissemination of reliable information on this complex topic.

There is no narrow ideological or sectarian litmus test for involvement in CSID--the organization has no agenda other than the production and dissemination of rigorous research into Islam and democracy--but its members are united in the conviction that this subject has been widely misunderstood both in the West and the Muslim world, and that this fact has caused much fitnah (discord) among Muslims and continues to hamper attempts at cross-cultural dialogue today.

www.csidonline.org

The Minaret of Freedom Institute was founded in 1993 with a dual mission for educating both Muslims and non-Muslims. For non-Muslims our mission is: 

• to counter distortions and misconceptions about Islamic beliefs and practice 
• to demonstrate the Islamic origins of modern values like the rule of law and sciences like market economics 
• to advance the status of Muslim peoples maligned by a hostile environment in the West and oppressed by repressive political regimes in the East 

For Muslims, in fulfillment of the obligations laid upon them by the Qur'an and the Sunnah, our mission is: 

• to discover and publish the politico-economic policy implications of Islamic law (shari`ah) and their consequences on the economic well-being of the community, 
• to expose both American and Islamic-world Muslims to free market thought 
• to educate Islamic religious and community leaders in economics and in the fact that liberty is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for the achievement of a good society, 
• to promote the establishment of free trade and justice (an essential common interest of Islam and the West)

To build upon the words of Thomas Jefferson, in fulfilling these goals we are pledged to wage unending holy struggle (jihâd) against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.  We shall implement these goals through: 

• independent scholarly research (ijtihâd) into policy issues of concern to Muslim countries and/or to Muslims in America; publication of scholarly and popular expositions of such research; 
• translation of appropriate works on the free market into the languages of the Muslim world with introductions and commentaries by Muslim scholars; 
• and the operation of a scholars exchange program both to allow institute associates to make presentations to academics and policy makers in Muslim countries and to permit libertarian Muslims from abroad to spend time in contact with market-oriented Muslim scholars in America and to have access to resources not available in their home countries. 

The Minaret of Freedom Institute is classified as a tax-exempt entity under § 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. It relies upon voluntary contributions from private corporations, foundations, and individuals to continue its work. 


www.minaret.org