SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1988
In the 1980’s, Detroit’s Muslim community, recognizing the mix of rapidly growing Islamic institutions that reflected the diverse ethnic, sectarian, racial and national identities, embarked on the critical task of bringing Muslim communities under an umbrella. At that time there was no united platform to tackle the often-controversial Muslim issues of local, national and international concern. The Muslim leadership began work on the creation of a Council. The need to better address concerns and unite the most diverse religious community in the State led prominent Muslim leaders to establish the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, incorporated in 1993.
The council was structured as an “organization of organizations” to best represent the interests of the Muslim community. In those early days, the member mosques were either already established or were in the process of being founded as groups of families who came to the Metro-Detroit area from South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe were settling down, along with the African American Muslims of the area and early Lebanese and Yemeni immigrants who had settled in Dearborn since the early 1900s.
In its formative years, CIOM played a largely uniting role on behalf of the Muslim community, working towards such things as a common Islamic Day of annual Eid prayers and responding to early Islamophobia in reaction to the Iran hostage crisis. Interfaith work brought the Council into coalition with other segments of the Detroit’s religious community. The very first organized efforts of the developing Council was an annual Eid Unity Banquet in celebration of the end of Ramadan that also allowed the Muslim community to be recognized by the political, media and civic leaders in the state of Michigan, as a distinct and single faith community. At that time, CIOM partnered with Channel 62 to broadcast the TV program Islam.
CIOM has been a strong united voice of the community to counter Islamophobia and response to terrorism in recent times. Growing concern about media portrayal of Muslims after 9/11 terrorist attacks, civil rights concern, and the need to collaborate with the government on various security and policy issues led to a further adjustment in CIOM’s Mission in expanding its work of building wider community relations and responding to various needs of the Muslim community. Greater emphasis was placed on seeking allies among leaders in government, religious and other leading institutions, and on shaping public opinion through media relations and coalition building activities.
As the Muslim community grew, support and coordination among various Muslim institutions and groups also became important, along with services to its member mosques such as Open House Mosque Day and other community service projects.
Ties between the Muslim community and the Metro-Detroit’s rich mix of ethnic and religious groups needed to be strengthened. The council formed or joined coalitions on civil rights issues, strengthened relations with local and state government as well as law enforcement agencies, and became an active partner in community projects designed to help revitalize the metropolitan area.
As Islamophobia intensifies, CIOM finds it necessary to expand and institutionalize its efforts to be involved in domestic public policy agenda, reach out to the wider American community, and build powerful connections between Islamic institutions.