Summary

Founded in 2001, the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) is an organization focused on strengthening and growing the African American Muslim community. MANA’s stated goal is to bring together a diverse group of African American Muslim organizations and individuals to collaborate in addressing the needs of the African American Muslim community.

By 2001, historical factors in the African American Muslim community led many to conclude that an effort to unite them was necessary and would be successful. One important factor was the dramatic lessening of hostility and tension among African American Muslim groups, offering the hope of coming together. Another factor was the uncomfortable sense that the promise of establishing vibrant, influential mosques and communities was unfulfilled, compounded by the sense that leaders were aging and did not have many more years to make a difference.

As an “alliance,” MANA does not seek to establish a centralized, hierarchal organization, but rather to facilitate the formation of decentralized networks of organizations and individuals to address the needs of the African American Muslim community. MANA envisions itself as an activist organization that struggles for social justice and engages in bettering the condition of African Americans. The experiences of the group over two decades demonstrates the challenge and potential of operating an advocacy organization, as well as the doctrinal and logistical compromises that such a group must make in order to achieve its stated goals.