On June 12, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced its intentions, along with a broad coalition of Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations (including the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim American Society, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Islamic Circle of North America) to initiate a "nationwide census project, the first comprehensive survey of its kind, intended to collect accurate data about America's mosques."
That statement is particularly curious considering that CAIR, in 2001, issued a report titled, "The Mosque in America," which stated as its mission to present the:
…findings from the Mosque Study Project 2000, the largest, most comprehensive survey of mosques ever to be conducted in the United States. The purpose of the Study is twofold: to provide a comprehensive, detailed portrait of mosques, which can be subsequently used by mosque leaders and Muslim scholars to envision ways to strengthen mosques. Secondly the Study provides a public profile of mosques that will hopefully further the understanding of the Muslim presence in America. (emphasis added)
So in 2001, CAIR gave us the "most comprehensive survey of mosques ever to be conducted in the United States" and now they are promising "the first comprehensive survey of its kind" on American mosques. So which is it? Are they admitting that the first report was, indeed, non-comprehensive?
Of note and particularly troubling, from both a research and propaganda perspective was this statement from the 2001 report:
"Estimates of a total Muslim population of 6-7 million in America seem reasonable in light of the figure of 2 million Muslims who associate with a mosque."
Seem reasonable? Not a very scientific measure, to be sure. CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the U.S. have a history of wildly inflating the Muslim population of America, in a cynical attempt to achieve more political clout for these self-appointed "spokesgroups." And once this report was issued, the Muslim Brotherhood groups and an often gullible and frequently lazy media repeated these numbers until it became part of the public consciousness -- taken for granted.
Yet, in 2007 (a full 6 years after CAIR's initial mosque report), the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press issued a report titled, "Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream," which stated:
Based on data from this survey, along with available Census Bureau data on immigrants' nativity and nationality, the Pew Research Center estimates the total population of Muslims in the United States at 2.35 million.
That could not have pleased CAIR, so the organization has now mobilized to counter reality. The June 12 press release states:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) will conduct the study over the summer and fall, publishing the findings in a report to be released in early 2009.
CAIR and ISNA are both unindicted co-conspirators in a Hamas fundraising trial in Dallas, and both have copious links to terrorist groups. Unhappy with the Pew poll, as it contradicted and undercut their first "comprehensive" report, the groups have decided to assert control over future media talking points by issuing yet another "comprehensive" report.
Lest anyone believe the forthcoming "census" figures are not preordained to exceed the 6-7 million "estimate," CAIR has provided the following dog-whistle:
"As the American Muslim community continues to grow and flourish, it is imperative for scholars to provide an in-depth understanding of the American mosque and its Muslim adherents. The vibrant diversity of our community is an asset to our nation, and understanding the American mosque is essential to understanding U.S. Muslims," said CAIR Board Member Dr. Ihsan Bagby, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky who is directing the study.
Ihsan Bagby, listed as the main contact on the press release for the new report, was the chief author of the 2001 report. And now, of course, he is on record talking about the growth of the Muslim community.
Don't expect this report to be in line with the much more accurate and reliable Pew figures.