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MyJIhad Inc.

Website:

myjihad.org
Type:

Muslim Advocacy Organization
Formation:

2004
Founder:

Ahmed Rehab

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MyJIhad Inc. was a public relations and outreach campaign designed to counter both anti-Muslim sentiment as well as Muslim extremism. 1 The organization was founded as a project of CAIR-Chicago, the Chicago branch of the Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and was run by the executive director of CAIR-Chicago Ahmed Rehab. 2

History and Activities

Internet Archive’s first recorded the existence of MyJihad Inc’s website in December 2012. Press reports at the time note that MyJihad was not an independent organization, but rather an educational campaign introduced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago chapter. 3 At that time, MyJihad Inc. defined “jihad” as struggling for “goodness, justice, passion, compassion, etc.” The organization claimed that the term “jihad” had been hijacked by Islamist extremists as well as opponents of Islam 4 and was improperly being used to mean “holy war.” 5 According to founder of MyJihad Inc. Ahmed Rehab, the true meaning of jihad is a struggle “against the lower self, or the purging of the self or the soul of evil intention, a kind of spiritual struggle.” 6

As part of its public relations campaign, MyJihad Inc. urged supporters to tweet about jihad using the hashtag #MyJihad, sponsor a bus ad promoting its definition of the term, or host an event at ones college, high school, church, synagogue, or media office. 7

MyJihad Inc. launched a national bus and train ad campaign on December 11, 2012, beginning with bus ads in Chicago, Illinois. 8 The ads included text such as “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle,” “My Jihad is to march on despite losing my son,” “My Jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule,”  and “My Jihad is to not judge people by their cover,” which featured a woman wearing a hijab. 9

By 2013, the ad campaign had expended to San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 10

In 2015, My Jihad Inc. condemned the extremist group ISIS and supported an organization making a statement to “reaffirm Islam’s absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism.” 11

In November 2016, MyJihad Inc. called on its supporters to donate “generously” to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fund lawsuits to stop the implementation of then-President-elect Donald Trump’s policies after his inauguration. 12

In January 2017, MyJihad Inc. claimed that then-President Donald Trump’s proposed limits on migration from select Muslim-majority nations with significant terrorist activity was creating terrorism.” 13 Around the same time, MyJihad supported the inaugural Women’s March on January 21, 2017. 14

As of January 2024, MyJihad Inc’s website was defunct 15 and the organization last posted to Twitter on July 10, 2017. 16 Internet Archive’s service Wayback Machine last recorded an active website for MyJihad Inc. on December 1, 2016. 17

Leadership

MyJihad Inc. was founded by Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of CAIR-Chicago, the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is an advocacy organization for Muslims in the United States. 18 Founders of the national CAIR organizations have been suspected of supporting radical terrorist groups, including Hamas. 19

Rehab is a contributor to the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago Public Radio. He is also the founder of ChicagoMonitor.com, a left-of-center news outlet focused on Chicago, U.S., and world news. Rehab also founded the Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium and is the co-founder of Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University, a project focused on combatting anti-Muslim sentiment. 20

Previously, Rehab sat on the board of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights and sat on former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s (D-IL) Muslim Advisory Council. He was also the vice chairman of RefugeeONE, a refugee resettlement organization based in Illinois. 21

References

  1. “Our Staff.” CAIR-Chicago. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.cairchicago.org/our-staff.
  2. “Our Staff.” CAIR-Chicago. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.cairchicago.org/our-staff.
  3. “’My Jihad’ Bus Ads Debut in Chicago (PHOTOS).” Huff Post. December 14, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/my-jihad-bus-ads-debut-in_n_2303222.
  4. “MyJihad.” MyJihad.org. Archived December 17, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20121217051004/http://myjihad.org/
  5. “@MyJihadOrg.” Twitter. Tweet on July 9, 2017, at 10:13pm. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://twitter.com/MyJihadOrg/status/884249091777191936.
  6. Maher, Heather. “Campaign Aims To Reclaim True Meaning Of ‘Jihad.’” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. March 29, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.rferl.org/a/meaning-of-jihad/24942464.html.
  7. “MyJihad.” MyJihad.org. Archived December 17, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20121217051004/http://myjihad.org/
  8. “MyJihad.” MyJihad.org. Archived December 17, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20121217051004/http://myjihad.org/
  9. “’My Jihad’ Bus Ads Debut in Chicago (PHOTOS).” Huff Post. December 14, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/my-jihad-bus-ads-debut-in_n_2303222.
  10. Maher, Heather. “Campaign Aims To Reclaim True Meaning Of ‘Jihad.’” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. March 29, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.rferl.org/a/meaning-of-jihad/24942464.html.
  11. “MyJihad.” MyJihad.org. Archived February 28, 2015. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20150228192805/http://myjihad.org/.
  12. “@MyJihadOrg.” Twitter. Teet on November 21, 2016 at 11:34AM. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://twitter.com/MyJihadOrg/status/800754238586396672.
  13. “@MyJihadOrg.” Twitter. Tweet on January 30, 2017 at 1:11PM. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://twitter.com/MyJihadOrg/status/826145759095558145.
  14. “@MyJihadOrg.” Twitter. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://twitter.com/myjihadorg?lang=en.
  15. “Looks like this domain isn’t connected to a website yet.” Myjihad.org. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.myjihad.org/.
  16. “@MyJihadOrg.” Twitter. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://twitter.com/myjihadorg?lang=en.
  17. “MyJihad.” MyJihad.org. Archived December 1, 2016. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20150228192805/http://myjihad.org/.
  18. “Our Staff.” CAIR-Chicago. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.cairchicago.org/our-staff.
  19. “The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).” ADL. August 21, 2015. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/council-american-islamic-relations-cair.
  20. “Our Staff.” CAIR-Chicago. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.cairchicago.org/our-staff.
  21. “Our Staff.” CAIR-Chicago. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.cairchicago.org/our-staff.
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