The establishment of the Islamic Circle of North America’s Council for Social Justice is a welcome development in the realm of faith-based advocacy. People of faith have long seen the importance of bringing the moral weight of religion to bear on public policy discussions. Doing so as a collaborative effort among colleagues of different faiths only adds to the influence we might have in these discussions. In this effort, the National Council of Churches sees the ICNA Council for Social Justice as a key partner.

Congratulations on this important step. I am delighted that ICNA has launched this new council.

This is indeed an important undertaking for you and for ICNA! May God bless this new work with vision and strength. We are all faced with problems of injustice that are so large that we need one another to address them; we can only succeed through common work. I will do what I can to bring Presbyterian Churches into partnership with ICNA and Muslim brothers and sisters around shared concerns.