Introduction

• Goals
• Principles
• Activities

All praises are due to Allah. We praise Him. We seek His help. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and our sinful deeds. For whoever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him. For whoever Allah sends astray, there is none to guide him. We bear witness that there is no God except Allah, the One, who has no partner. And we bear witness that Mohammad is His servant and messenger (the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). To proceed:

If we desire to achieve the final goal of reviving the Islamic nation to its proper state and condition, then we, while working for Islam, must return to its original spirit of work and action; we mean the spirit of working as a group. This is the manner by which Islam was led by the Messenger of Allah and his companions. Moreover, what obvious from human experience nowadays is that the organized and institutional work has much greater effect and has more ability to continue and be permanent than the work done by individuals on their own.

And since we are asked by the shariah to seek the means that will strengthen us to meet our goals, it is necessary for us to engage in a complete and comprehensive form of Islamic work. This must be based on the principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah and the guidance of the pious forefathers aiming at bringing together the efforts of many dawah (propagating Islam) activities and coordinating the activities of different Islamic centers and groups.

For that reason, the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA) was born in the beginning of 1414 A.H., corresponding to mid 1993 C.E. This was the result of a meeting of a number of individuals who are concerned and active in the field of dawah in the United States and Canada. These individuals were representatives of a number of Islamic Centers and organizations, in hopes that the reality of the dawah in America and elsewhere will achieve the important step of working as a group. IANA is one of the organizations of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. Its goal- by the will and support of Allah- is to gather together all of their energies and potential resources, dawah-wise, human and financial, to revive and meet the needs of Muslims. IANA has laid down specific goals and priorities it is achieving to attain, by the will and aid of Allah. These are:

GOALS

• Unify and coordinate the efforts of the different dawah oriented organizations in North America and guide or direct the Muslims of this land to adhere to the proper Islamic methodology.
  
• Spread the correct knowledge of Islam, built upon the Book of Allah and the authentic sunnah. and assist its dissemination among Muslim Americans and immigrants.
• Widen the horizons and understanding, both dawah wise and educational, among Muslims concerning different Islamic contemporary issues.
• Observe and analyze the current events in the Muslim world. Tie the Muslims of America into what is happening in the Muslim world and assist them in understanding the events and the implications of the current events.
• Assist the oppressed and tyrannized scholars, Islamic workers and Muslim masses in any locality.
• Produce a serious and effective media institute to serve the Islamic presence in North America.
• Create a dawah program that will keep in mind the youth and their needs and concerns in this Western society. Organize the dawah among them in order to create a new generation, that will protect the Islamic presence in North America.
• Create programs and institutions that will serve the English-speaking Muslims of North America.

ACTIVITIES

In order to achieve those goals, IANA will use a number of sound means and methods, including: conventions, general meetings, dawah-oriented institutions and academies, books of an academic, dawah-oriented or Islamic thought nature in both Arabic and English, magazines and other periodical literature, technical programs, youth programs, investment projects and other means possible in this country. Some of those means -by the grace of Allah- have already been used by IANA in the past. In achieving its goals and implement its programs, by the will of Allah, IANA will abide by clear and precise principles, including:

PRINCIPLES

• The correct Islamic methodology derived from the Book of Allah and the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, according to the understanding and application of the early pious forefathers is the basic premise and framework for the work of IANA.
  
• Independence of Islamic work is a must for its purity, earnestness and sincerity. From then, it will have the ability to bring about its desired goals in reality.
  
• Comprehensiveness and complementarity, are two of the unique aspects of the Islamic religion, IANA will attempt to fulfill these two principles with respect to every aspect of its activities and programs according to the actual abilities and potential.
  

Finally, IANA extends its hand to every Muslim in the world, individuals or groups, to support this foundation and to help it achieve its programs and works of dawah to serve Muslims throughout the world. Allah is final goal and He is the Guide to the straight path. And the blessings of Allah and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and his companions.

iana@iananet.org.