An official with Amana Publications pack copies of the Noble Qur’an for free distribution. (USA TODAY)

WASHINGTON,  June 7, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Thousands of Americans have requested free copies of the Noble Qur’an since the launch of the “Explore the Qur’an” campaign by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest US Muslim civil advocacy group. 

Almost 10,000 people have stepped forward to learn more about the Muslim holy book and Islam in response to the controversy generated by press reports and Pentagon’s admission that the Noble Qur’an had been desecrated by US guards at the notorious US military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, CAIR said in a press release Monday, June 6.

“The overwhelmingly positive response to our 'Explore the Quran' campaign reflects a desire by ordinary Americans to better understand Islam and Muslims,” CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said.

Calls are coming into CAIR's Washington , D.C. , headquarters at the rate of one-per-minute since the publication of an article on the campaign in mass-circulation USA Today newspaper.

The copies are the translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and are published by Amana Publications.

With each shipment, a letter explaining how Muslims are taught to handle the Qur’an with due respect is included.

“False and uninformed accusations have been leveled against the Qur’an for some time. But now, this initiative places the sacred text directly in the hands of the American people and encourages all people of conscience to discover the truth about Islam,” CAIR said.  

The US military detailed on Friday, June 3, five cases in which jailers at Guantanamo had desecrated the Noble Qur’an, including one incident which occurred as recent as March.

The statement followed the completion of a military inquiry launched after a May 9 Newsweek article, quoting a knowledgeable US government source, said US interrogators at Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Qur’an down a toilet to try to “soften” the detainees.

The report sparked angry and violent protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan to Gaza City .

Leading Senator Joseph Biden has called for shutting down the jail, which was described by Amnesty International as the “gulag of our times.” 

Different Backgrounds

Each shipment includes a letter explaining how Muslims are taught to handle the Qur’an with due respect. (Reuters)

The CAIR campaign has drew Americans from different cross-sections, who were curious about learning the true essence of Islam.

They included a police officer, Christian religious leaders and professors, CAIR said.

“It is not really a book that promotes violence. Its ultimate world view is peace in a community sense,” CAIR quoted as saying Arthur Ort, one of those who got a free copy of the Noble Qur’an.   

“I wanted to read it in English for myself and see just what it does say and see if I can understand it,” added Chuck Roth, a Vietnam veteran.

ABC’s veteran reporter Bill Blakemore commented that CAIR “is now entrusting their miracle into the hands of non-Muslims, hoping their neighbors will get to know them better.”

Representative John Conyers of Michigan introduced last month a resolution condemning “bigotry and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors and citizens of the Islamic faith.”

CAIR said on May 11 that anti-Muslim hate crimes, discrimination and harassment in the US have increased by half over the past year, echoing a 2004 report which said that the US Muslim minority had taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

A hate message scrawled last month on the inside cover of a Qur’an copy has rekindled post-9/11 fears of increasing discrimination.