Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Robert Hillenbrand, “ ‘Ornament of 

the World’: Medieval Cordoba as a Cultural Centre,” 

in  The Legacy of Muslim Spain, ed. Salma Khadra 

Jayyusi. 2 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994), 1:112–135; 

Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How 

Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of 

Tolerance in Medieval Spain (New York: Little, Brown, 

2002).

cosmology

  See 

creation

.

Council on American-Islamic 

Relations

 

(Acronym: CAIR)

CAIR is the largest Islamic civil liberties group in 

the  U

nited

  s

tates

. It is headquartered in Wash-

ington, D.C., and has 28 regional offices in the 

United States and Canada. It was founded in June 

1994 by Omar Ahmad, a computer engineer from 

the San Francisco Bay area. He is currently the 

chairman of its board of directors, which has six 

other members to promote a positive image of 

Islam and Muslims in America. CAIR publishes 

reports for the media, government, and local law 

enforcement, including an annual civil rights 

report documenting cases of discrimination. 

Handbooks for local Muslim leaders demonstrate 

how to safely participate in the public sphere 

by holding 

mosqUe

 open houses and developing 

interfaith relationships. In addition to monitoring 

anti-Muslim hate crimes, CAIR publishes action 

alerts on its Web site and by e-mail to promote 

local activism.

On the national level, CAIR has sponsored 

public relations campaigns showing Muslims as 

fully American as well as organizing a voter reg-

istration drive. To help educate Americans about 

Islam, CAIR has also assembled a package of 

books and other resource materials that can be 

purchased and donated to public libraries. It also 

publishes a handbook that explains Islam to law 

enforcement officials, a “community safety kit” 

to help Muslims deal with religious and ethnic 

K  168  

cosmology

---

profiling and hate crimes, a survey of mosques in 

the United States, and annual reports on the status 

of Muslim civil rights. CAIR swiftly issued a con-

demnation of the attacks of September 11, 2001 

and has organized interfaith memorial services on 

subsequent anniversaries.

CAIR has also emerged as the leading Islamic 

community service organization on the local 

level. Local CAIR chapters spend the majority 

of their time dealing with individual cases of 

discrimination by advocating workplace, hos-

pital, and school accommodation of religious 

practices. Since September 11, 2001, CAIR has 

become increasingly involved in hosting confer-

ences, seminars, and town hall meetings to bring 

together American Muslims, non-Muslims, and 

government officials.

In addition to its primary goals of promoting 

a positive image of Muslims in America, reduc-

ing ignorance about Muslims, and protecting 

Muslim citizens from discrimination and criminal 

violence, CAIR works with related organiza-

tions such as the m

Uslim

  p

Ublic

  a

FFairs

  c

oUn

-

cil

 (MPAC) and the American Muslim Council 

(AMC) to lobby Congress on domestic issues and 

in doing so attempts to promote Muslim unity on 

a local and national level.

See also 

civil

 

society

; 

democracy

; 

dialogUe

.

Vincent F. Biondo III