Mission

To move people to strive for God consciousness, liberty, and justice, and to convey Islam with utmost clarity.

Vision

A virtuous and just American society.

Overview

MAS Freedom is a national grassroots Muslim American advocacy organization. Our mission is to advance a broad agenda for justice, freedom and peace in the United States and throughout the world through a comprehensive empowerment process which includes civic education and political engagement, coalition building, media outreach, and civil and human rights protection.

 MAS Freedom, through its organizational activities, contributes to the promotion of peace and social justice. It seeks to build an American Muslim community that is politically empowered, civically engaged, fully protected in the areas of civil and human rights, and able to contribute to the advancement of society, both in the United States and the world, as impacted by our nation and guided by Islamic values and beliefs.

 Activities

• Civil and human rights advocacy
• Civic education and engagement
• Youth leadership mentoring
• Coalition building and interfaith outreach
• Media relations
• Congressional affairs and public policy
• Legal activism
• Workshop and training forums
• Director action campaigns
• Immigration reform and litigation

Signature Projects

1. The Center for Civic Empowerment (CCE) - This project was established in 2006 to promote good citizenship through civic training, education, and non partisan electoral involvement. Through the centers Voting is Power (VIP) campaign, emphasis is placed on voter registration, education and mobilization.

1. The Community Outreach Campaign, "Faith Over Fear" - This project was established as an avenue through which the Muslim community joins forces with the interfaith community in striving to promote the values of tolerance and understanding between religious and ethnic groups through dialogue, domestic services, i.e., hunger, poverty, health care, unemployment, public safety and disaster responsiveness, etc., and advocacy of public policy addressing social and economic justice.

1. Young Muslim Leadership of America Project & MAS Freedom Leadership Civic and Certification Training Program - This project provides workshops, lectures, and seminars that focus on building an understanding of the civic, political, cultural, religious, and media landscape of America.  These programs are designed to stretch the leadership skill-sets of American Muslim youth by fostering a confidence within our youth that they can successfully lead and engage the greater American society without compromising their religious integrity and core values.

1. The MAS Freedom Thurgood Marshall Legal/Immigration Clinic -A Bureau of Immigration certified and accredited project.  The immigration clinic provides immigration services to indigent immigrants regardless of religion or national origin.

1. Muslim Center for Non-Violent Change - This project provides training for non-violent approaches to addressing social and economic justice issues.

1. Let Gaza Live Interfaith Project – A multireligious faith based campaign to respond to the embargo and humanitarian crisis facing the people of Gaza. The campaign calls for an unimpeded flow of food, medicine, fuel, building supplies and the basic necessities of life desperately needed by the residents of Gaza.

1. National Muslim Legislative Agenda 2008-2012 – A 12-point domestic and international socially responsible legislative agenda for 2008-2012. Please view electronic version here:  http://masfreedom.org/campaigns/mas_freedom_2008-2012_legislative_agenda.pdf

1. MAS Freedom Training Series – This project provides a series of interactive and experiential workshops in the areas of: Activism 101, Media Relations, Immigration Rights & Law, Coalition Building, Civic Empowerment and the History of Religiosity and Nonviolent Activism in America ‘Pursuing Social and Economic Justice Through Religious and Nonviolent Principles’.

1. Civil Rights Town Hall Meetings – This is a public forum that focuses on the current status of civil rights and civil liberties within the Muslim community and the greater American society. It provides an opportunity to assess problems and opportunities to address them through comprehensive and collaborate action items.

MAS Milestones 

• MAS is a recipient of US Federal Grant as part of the President’s Faith Based Initiative Program. 

• Trained over 1500 federal, state and local law enforcement officers in an outreach effort to build healthy relations between law enforcement and the American Muslim community.   Outreach Director awarded by the Justice Department for the quality of these trainings.

• Along with other national organizations, MAS participated in meetings with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to discuss joint efforts against domestic violent extremists, and to work with the government to address community concerns about DHS policies, such as racial, ethnic, and religious profiling at airports and the border, that have eroded the government’s trust and credibility with the communities.

• The first American First Muslim organization to hold a Citizen Civil Rights Hearing on Capitol Hill.  The Citizens Hearing was co-chaired by the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers.
• MAS trained over 7000 civic and community activists.
• The organization received commendation for outstanding services by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee for “MAS Boots On The Ground”, a project that provided assistance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
• MAS established MAS Service Corps.  A major project of the service corps is the MAS Service Corps Meat Project, which provides food for shelters, food banks, soup kitchens and other social service groups serving the poor.  Also, the Corps provides school backpacks and material for needy children.   
• MAS received recognition in the national media for civic and electoral achievements through MAS Freedom’s Center for Civic Empowerment and the Voting is Power (VIP) program. 
• Cited by CNN and other media sources for positive programs dealing with youth on the key issues of extremism, violence, hate and intolerance. 
• Presented at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia (December 2009).  Plenary speaker at an international conference on nuclear abolition, peace, and sustainable development in New York City (April, 2010). 
• Developed and distributed, for congressional staff members and representatives, the first American Muslim “Four Year Legislative Agenda”.
• Hosted a Muslim Community Action Forum with the Governor of Massachusetts, where some 1,000 persons attended.
• MAS leaders serve on numerous major nonprofit organizational boards and councils, including: Steering Committee of Religious Non-Governmental Organizations at the United Nations, the Board of Advisors for the Harvard University Islam in the West Project Boston Muslims Survey, and the Board of the Cooperative Program, The Interfaith Alliance, Board of Interreligious Council for Public Life, Board of Center for Jewish Muslim Relations, Religions for Peace, Interfaith Workers Justice, Washington DC Mayor’s Office on Metropolitan Ministries and The Temple of Understanding (hosted by the United Nations).

Imam Mahdi Bray is a long time civil and human rights activist currently serving as the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society's MAS Freedom (MASF) based in Washington, D.C. Bray also serves on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Alliance, America's largest interfaith organization with over 150,000 members, the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice and is a National Co-convener of Religions for Peace - USA, in addition to being a Washington, DC television and radio talk show host and former President of the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO). Bray has appeared on CBS News, Fox Television, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Aljazeera and many TV and radio talk shows. He has served as a major consultant and a political advisor to Bonner & Associates, Washington's largest grassroots lobbying firm, the National Center for Housing Management, Alexandria City Redevelopment & Housing Authority, Community Relations Department, The City of Norfolk, Virginia, Department of Community Improvement, and the Independent Voter League. He has also served as Political Advisor and Strategist to several national, state, and local political campaigns.

Imam Bray was also an organizer for the "No War on Iraq" movement and has led peace missions in Bosnia, East Africa and Darfur. He has served as a liaison between the President's White House Faith-Based Initiative Program and congressional affairs on behalf of the Muslim Community. Imam Bray is also the author of The Mosque Voter's Guide and The Political Guide for Mosque Activists.