Benefits of American Muslim Participation in Public Affairs
Serving the Interests of Faith and Nation

Major Points

• Your participation in public affairs protects Muslims and promotes good in society—reducing discrimination, poverty, helping to make quality medical care easily accessible, and ensuring everyone’s civil liberties.
• America was built on a set of principles. This contrasts with many nations that are centered on one ethnic group or faith. Making the effort to engage your neighbors in defending these principles ensures that our nation projects to the world the best of its values not the worst of its fears.  
• If you are not present to give your opinions your ideas will never be heard.
• Bringing your Islamic character to civic life supports such universal ideals as strong families, protection of the weak, and justice.
• You live here. You pay taxes here. It is reasonable to work to ensure that these taxes are spent for the public good.
• CAIR’s research reveals that people who know Muslims personally tend to have better views of Islam. By participating not only do you aid your cause but also you allow others to interact with you and put a human face on a faith many people in America do not understand. 
• Muslims have many friends who similarly wish to reform things we see as harming society—gambling, erosion of the family, questionable use of our superpower status. Choosing to disengage from the process abandons these friends and the Islamic principle of promoting the good.
• It is our duty to give our leaders sincere advice. We should support public figures that prove themselves trustworthy and a benefit to the nation. We should vote to remove from public office when they do not.
• Criticism without action toward improving a situation does not produce respect.
• CAIR’s activism model ensures that the time you have available can be put to substantive use. Most action alerts take less than five minutes of your time (but your contribution is magnified because it is joined with similar efforts by thousands of other people of conscience).