The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a left-of-center Muslim advocacy organization co-founded by Salam al-Marayati in 1988. Marayati was a member of the Executive Committee of the California Democratic Party and a Bill Clinton delegate at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. He was nominated to serve on the National Commission on Terrorism in the late 1990s by the Democratic Party’s then-leader in the House, then-U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO), who later withdrew Marayati’s nomination when it was  reported that he and his organization would not condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. Al-Marayati responded that MPAC condemns those groups’ terrorist attacks but not their charitable activities, so they cannot be condemned as a whole. ¹

The Muslim Public Affairs Council was one of the 82 groups that signed a 2017 statement urging against labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, claiming that the designation could “lead to a witch-hunt against Muslim civil society” and legal action by the government against Muslims and Muslim organizations by “invoking overbroad and unfair laws” that could lead to criminal prosecution for “providing support, services, resources, expert advice or assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood without any intent to support terrorist activity.” ²

Background

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a left-of-center Muslim advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The organization was co-founded by Salam al-Marayati, who is the organization’s president. ³

The organization was initially founded in 1986 as the Public Relations Committee of the Islamic Center of Southern California. It was renamed MPAC in 1988 when it also created the MPAC Foundation, a charitable arm of MPAC. ⁴

MPAC focuses on messaging legislation, and Muslim-related issue advocacy. MPAC states that it leverages relationships with “legislators, government agencies, executive departments, and thought leaders,” to change policies relating to issues including immigration, national security, and religious freedom. ⁵

MPAC operates its own “Policy Bureau,” the organization’s “public policy and government relations arm,” which focuses on advocacy that impacts American Muslims. ⁶

The organization also has a Hollywood Bureau, which “changes the narrative of Islam and Muslims in the entertainment industry.” MPAC states that it has consulted on projects with entertainment networks, streaming services, production companies, institutes, and studios such as Netflix, BBC One, National Geographic, The Walt Disney Company, and Paramount. ^{7 8}

Advocacy

Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation

The Muslim Public Affairs Council was one of the 82 groups that signed a statement urging against labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. ⁹

The statement was published on February 24, 2017, after media reports suggested the Trump administration was considering labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The statement claimed that designating MB as a terrorist organization “could lead to the stigmatization and targeting of American Muslim civil society,” including nonprofit organizations, religious organizations, and activists. ¹⁰

The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, is one of the most influential Islamist extremist organizations in the world. The Brotherhood established the Hamas terrorist group as its Palestinian wing in 1987. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission is to “Islamize society through the promotion of religious law, values, and morals.” There is disagreement among experts regarding whether the one side primarily citing the Brotherhood’s relationship with Hamas and record of advocating for terrorism, while the other side argues that the Brotherhood should not be treated as a monolith and points toward Brotherhood’s adoption of non-violence and participation in elections in various countries. ^{11 12}

MPAC joined a statement by a coalition of 82 organizations that opposed the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization because it could “lead to a witch-hunt against Muslim civil society,” and legal action by the government against Muslims and Muslim organizations by “invoking overbroad and unfair laws.” According to the statement, such “unfair laws” could include criminal prosecution for “providing support, services, resources, expert advice or assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood without any intent to support terrorist activity.” ¹³

Hamline University Controversy

Adjunct art professor Erika Lopez Prater was effectively let go from her teaching position at Hamline University in January 2023, after she showed a 14^th-century painting depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The university did not renew her adjunct professor contract after the incident. ¹⁴

The university administration, which received a complaint from a Muslim student, sent an email to undergraduate students stating the incident was “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.” ¹⁵

The Muslim Public Affairs Council published a statement of support for the professor, requesting the university re-hire her to her former position, and provide compensation. The statement also noted that although MPAC recognizes the “validity and ubiquity of an Islamic viewpoint that discourages or forbids any depictions of the Prophet,” it also said it recognizes “the historical reality that other viewpoints have existed” and that some Muslims have “no qualms in pictorially representing the Prophet,” a diversity in thought “which should be celebrated.” ¹⁶

Stances on Terrorism

MPAC argued against the U.S. government’s designations of Hamas and Hezbollah as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2003. ¹⁷

MPAC authored a policy paper in 2010 that argued in favor of embracing the Muslim Brotherhood as a counter-terrorism partner, arguing that it is peaceful and could draw potential violent extremists towards a non-violent path. It argued, “Conservative groups like the Muslim Brotherhood pose long-term strategic threats to violent extremists by siphoning Muslims away from violent radicalism into peaceful political activism.” ¹⁸

Maher Hathout has condemned political Islam, which he defined as a “system to assert Islam through governance” when he spoke at the inaugural event of the Muslim Reform Institute on October 26, 2013. He said “the ideas of the ruling Islam, Islamic government or any other similar attempts at imposing Islam will be obsolete or relegated to the museums and history books of human experimentation.” ¹⁹

MPAC sided with Egyptian protestors in 2013 who demonstrated against the Muslim Brotherhood-run government. The group celebrated the overthrow of the Brotherhood while stressing that it was not endorsing the military coup that accomplished it. ²⁰

Al-Marayati wrote in 2014 that “the failed response by Muslims [to the West’s alleged aggression] is political Islam.” ²¹

He also made an Islam-based case against the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) in 2014, as well as its broader ideology. Al-Marayati focused particularly on the practice of branding Muslims as apostates and the combination of mosque and state, arguing that “an unholy alliance of clergy and state” had caused the creation of ISIS and similar extremist groups. ²²

In 2019, al-Marayati endorsed a paper by Wayel Azmeh that made an Islam-based argument against the belief among Muslims that they must establish a Caliphate. The paper also argued against the “Hudud” punishments associated with theocratic Sharia Law. Al-Marayati said Azmeh’s work is a “seminal publication that will help us make Islam a positive, integral and enriching part of America.” ²³ MPAC reacted to the start of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7, 2023 by clearly condemning Hamas’s attacks on Israel, as well as Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. MPAC assigned overall blame for the conflict to Israel. ²⁴ According to Capital Research Center investigative researcher and counter-extremism analyst Ryan Mauro, MPAC was the only major Muslim-American organization to unequivocally condemn Hamas’s massacre and kidnapping of Israelis on October 7, 2023. ²⁵

People

Hathout Brothers

Maher Hathout, a co-founder and former senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and his brother Hassan Hathout, a former president of MPAC, have been accused of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.²⁶ When he was a student, he and three others were arrested in Egypt for belonging to the Brotherhood, which the government had banned. ²⁷

Maher Hathout said he is “very proud” of his time in the Muslim Brotherhood and has “nothing to regret or apologize for” because he was fighting against the British and the Nasser regime. He said that he has had no connection to the Muslim Brotherhood since arriving in the U.S. ²⁸

Maher Hathout, “praised Hassan Al-Turabi as a reformist working for peace and justice for all.” Al-Turabi was the leader of the Sudan National Islamic Front, an organization condemned by the U.S. government for supporting terrorism and starting a war in southern Sudan. Maher Hathout also claimed that the terrorist organization “Hezbollah is fighting for freedom,” and that it is “very American.” ²⁹

Hassan Hathout has written that his biggest life influence is the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna. He praised al-Banna, saying “centuries might roll over before a similar personality is produced.” ³⁰  U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) called for MPAC to “disown and sever all connection with the Hathout brothers” in 2008. ³¹

Maher Hathout praised Jamil Al-Amin, an anti-American extremist imam who was convicted of murdering a police officer, in 2001. He said that Al-Amin was innocent of the charges against him and repeatedly referred to him as “our brother.” MPAC helped raise money for his legal defense and advocated for his release after he was convicted. ³²

Salam al-Marayati

Salam al-Marayati is the co-founder and president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Marayati was a member of the Executive Committee of the California Democratic Party and a delegate for incumbent President Bill Clinton at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. ³³

Marayati was nominated to serve on the National Commission on Terrorism in the late 1990s by the Democratic Party’s then-leader in the House, U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO). Gephardt withdrew his nomination when it was reported that he and his organization would not condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. Al-Marayati responded that MPAC condemns those groups’ terrorist attacks but not their charitable activities, so they cannot be condemned as a whole. ³⁴ He also said, “When Patrick Henry said, ‘Give me liberty or give me death,’ that statement epitomized jihad.” ³⁵

After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Marayati was interviewed on a Los Angeles radio station. ³⁶ During the interview, Marayati said Americans should not conclude that the hijackers were Muslim terrorists, claiming instead that Americans should look to “groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents,” and that he believed “we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list.” ³⁷ Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) called for an apology from MPAC “for the statements of its executive director on September 11, 2001.” ³⁸

Al-Marayati said in 1999 that Hezbollah attacks on Israeli soldiers are “legitimate resistance.” ³⁹

Financials

The Muslim Public Affairs Council receives its revenue from contributions, gifts, and grants. The organization had a total revenue of around $1.6 million in 2020, all of which came from contributions and grants. The organization’s expenses for 2020 amounted to approximately $1.65 million, around $982,000 of which was spent on salaries and other compensation, while $671,000 went to “other expenses.” Of the money spent on salaries, MPAC’s president Salam al-Marayati received $123,232 in reportable compensation. ⁴⁰

MPAC’s funding decreased in 2021 when its total revenue amounted to just $56,095, all of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants. Its total expenses also fell to $23,079. ⁴¹

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