| About the Islamic Association of Bosniaks in North America - IABNA
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Historical Background
Key Objectives
Significant Achievements
Underlying Assumptions
Scope of Programs/Activities
Constituent Participation
Working with Local/Regional/National Organizations
Historical Background of IABNA
The term "Bosniak" is the historical name referring to the majority ethnic group of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most Bosniaks are Muslims who speak the south-Slavic language Bosnian though there are non-Muslim Bosniaks. Indigenous Bosniaks also live in other lands of Southeastern Europe including in Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Sandzak, Serbia and Turkey. The Bosniaks arrived in America and Canada in about three waves, at the beginning of the 20th century, starting in 1902, then during the post-World War II period during the 1950's and lastly, during the war and Genocide against the Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990's. In fact, the first registered Bosniak-American organization (and American Muslim organization) was registered in Illinois in 1906 by Bosniak immigrants. During the last decade of the twentieth century, Bosniak Muslim immigrants and refugees from all over Bosnia-Herzegovina arrived in North America in great numbers during the Bosnian war and Genocide. Unfortunately, despite the growing size of the community, it remained separated along mostly social, educational and geographic differences. The emerging Bosniak Muslim community also lacked the sophisticated, professional resources necessary to effectively advocate on its behalf. In 2000, Bosniak Muslim leaders from across the North America met to discuss the possibility of uniting this enormous yet dispersed community under a common umbrella. An ad hoc committee was formed to investigate this ambitious project-a project that was without precedent in any other American Muslim ethnic Community. These leaders formed the Congress of North American Bosniaks in 2000 as a political and social network. Missing was the essential formal religious network.
In 2003, the Islamic Association of Bosniaks in North America (IABNA) was officially formed, with twenty member mosques and organizations. Since then, with the growth of the North-American Bosniak Muslim community, IABNA has grown to include almost 30 formal members, including large mosques and Islamic centers as well as smaller mosques. They are loosely affiliated or otherwise within the networking sphere of the IABNA. Today, IABNA is the premiere umbrella organization representing the cross-section of over 300,000 Bosniak Muslims in the U.S. and Canada. By way of its membership, IABNA has the knowledge, contacts and long-standing relationships to both reach out to and represent this scattered Muslim American community. IABNA is a not-for-profit organization that does not discriminate on any basis, including sex, gender, color, race, religion, or disability.
Key Objectives of IABNA
IABNA's goals and objective are to: facilitate and coordinate communication and key initiatives for North-American Bosnian Muslim organizations; provide effective advocacy on critical civil liberties and social justice issues impacting American-Muslims and others; establish and maintain productive collaborative relationships with government, civic, legal, Interfaith, social, and media organizations; and educate fellow Americans and others about Islam as a religion and a way of life, Muslim cultures and traditions, and critical issues and challenges facing American Muslims as well as Muslim in other parts of the world.
Significant IABNA Achievements
Over the course of its relatively short history, IABNA has achieved several significant milestones. The first accomplishment was IABNA's work to cultivate an open, collegial forum for North-American Bosniak Muslim imams and leaders to share ideas and concerns and to collectively resolve problems. From time to time, based on emerging needs in the community, IABNA has also actively facilitated support for and cooperation with new organizations such as the Congress of North American Bosniaks.
Through its outreach efforts on behalf of its members, the IABNA has formed invaluable relationships with several faith-based groups, including: the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Indiana. Consequently, a significant portion of the interfaith dialogue in the U.S. and Canada between Muslims and people of other faiths takes place under the auspices of IABNA.
Additionally, IABNA has successfully collaborated on major cooperative projects along with the Congress of North American Bosniaks. Among these: the annual conventions of Bosniaks in North America, successfully uniting Bosniak Muslims from across the United States and Canada and the world. IABNA has been an indispensable partner with the Congress in organizing and managing the conventions. In recent years, the annual convention has continuously grown to become one of the Bosnian Diaspora's largest gatherings of Bosniak Muslims, attended by 20,000 people. During these conventions, IABNA has also assumed full responsibility for organizing and hosting all religious and educational events held during the convention.
In 2004, IABNA established a high quality bi-monthly publication, Preporod, a Bosnian-language newspaper devoted to addressing the entire Bosniak Muslim community in the United States and Canada.
In recent months, IABNA actively assisted Bosniak Muslims in North America to perform their fifth pillar of Islam - Hajj (pilgrimage).
Underlying Assumptions Guiding IABNA'S Strategies
Bosniak Muslims are part of the diverse fabric of the United States and Canada. Muslim Bosniak-Americans or Canadians play a productive role in our society as neighbors, co-workers, colleagues, schoolmates, and friends. North-American Bosniak Muslims are also an economically diverse group, utilizing a variety of academic specialties and business skills, and figuring prominently in North America's business world to contribute to the betterment of the U.S. and Canada. Over 10,000 Muslims are in the United States armed forces, some of whom are from Bosnia-Herzegovina. There are Bosniak-Americans serving as American Diplomats. Muslim children are attending the same universities, working in the same work places and living in the same communities as other Americans and Canadians. Bosniak Muslims in North America share in the effort to make the U.S. and Canada more moral, just and peaceful places in which to live, worship and prosper.
Through its education, leadership, advocacy and outreach initiatives, IABNA strives to empower its member organizations and the Muslim community for the collective benefit of all the people and, hence, contribute to the betterment of American and Canadian societies.
Scope of IABNA'S Programs and Activities
IABNA is engaged in diverse community initiatives through a host of structured full-time and ad hoc committees, and the offices of the Chairman and the Director of Community Relations. The topmost are interfaith dialogue and relationships; media relations, including outreach, media watch, and press conferences; government relations, including participation in multicultural forums, high-level talks on critical issues impacting Muslim Americans and Canadians, and assistance with sensitivity training and recruitment; a wide variety of social service and civic projects-both independently and in collaboration with other organizations; advocacy on local, national, and international issues, policies, and events that have a significant impact on Bosniak Muslim-Americans or Canadians; community education on Islam as a religion and a way of life to universities, non-profit institutions, government, media, and corporations; and outreach to other institutions and corporations.
Participation of Our Constituents in IABNA's Work
IABNA's constituents are its member organizations and their respective constituents-collectively: the 300,000 strong North-American Bosniak Muslim community. IABNA's member organizations are involved in IABNA's work by being part of the decision-making process and by ensuring the participation of their leadership in programs facilitated, supported, or endorsed by IABNA. Member organizations nominate their official representatives to the Membership Assembly-the ultimate decision-making 'general body' of IABNA. In most cases, the representatives are experienced Imams and leaders or activists, including men and women, who are current or former presidents, executive directors, or senior officers of their respective organizations. Accordingly, IABNA's strategies, decision-making, and initiatives are closely in tune with and reflect the concerns and involvement of the grassroots community of Bosniak Muslim North-Americans in the U.S. and Canada.
IABNA's Interaction with Local, Regional and National Organizations
As a national organization, IABNA has dedicated itself to building bridges of understanding and productive collaboration on behalf of the North-American Bosniak Muslim community. IABNA's outreach and advocacy encompasses a vast array of local, regional, and national organizations, focusing on a variety of interests.
As the leading national Bosniak Muslim religious organization, IABNA also works with national Muslim organizations to discuss important policy initiatives and ensure representation of the North-American Bosniak Muslim community in national Muslim community decision-making.
IABNA would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have devoted their time and efforts in supporting the work of the Islamic Association of Bosniaks in North America.
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