CAIR issued a news release launching a new initiative in its 2010 Strategic plan: distribution of 100,000 Qurans to US state and local officials. In the news release CAIR said it was prompted to conduct Da’wa (preaching) by President Obama’s Cairo speech:
"In the multi-year initiative, American Muslims will sponsor Qurans for distribution to governors, state attorneys general, educators, law enforcement officials, state and national legislators, local elected and public officials, media professionals and other local or national leaders who shape public opinion or determine policy," the statement said.
According to the press release from CAIR, the "Share the Quran" educational campaign "was prompted by President Obama's recent address to Muslims worldwide in which he quoted from that holy text."
CAIR Chairman and North Carolina Democratic State senator, Larry Shaw noted:
"Through this ground-breaking outreach initiative, we hope not only to educate policy-makers and opinion leaders about Islam, but also to provide an opportunity for American Muslims to reach out to their fellow citizens of other faiths."
The "Share the Quran" initiative, according to the CAIR statement, is part of the celebration of the council's 15th anniversary.
In an interpretation of a verse from the Quran used by Obama in his Cairo speech , WorldNetDaily noted:
During his speech "to the Muslim world" from Cairo on June 4, Obama referred to the Quran as "holy" four times and quoted several verses from the Islamic text. He also used Muslim terminology, such as the Quranic obligation of "zakat" or charity.
As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth,'" Obama said. "That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart."
Obama was reading from chapter 9 verse 119 of the Quran, which scholars pointed out to WND carries two interpretations: the primary exegesis, or tafsir, which deals with speaking the truth, and a second, underlying tafsir urging Muslims to follow Muhammad in waging jihad against nonbelievers. [This is based on context].
In an NER article, “ Is CAIR’s 2010 Plan a Fiasco?” we noted prior efforts to spread Da’wa (preaching among Americans:
CAIR trumpeted one element of the “hearts and minds” campaign, the delivery of more than 40,000 press kits to newspaper editors, radio and TV stations and electronic media outlets in a blitz distribution in late 2007. Note this report from PRWeek:
WASHINGTON: The Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) has launched a campaign called "Beyond Stereotypes," featuring a new publication called American Muslims: A Journalist's Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims, which intends to educate the media and disabuse journalists of misinformation about the religion.
The guide and the campaign were developed by the nonprofit advocacy group's national office. The campaign's aim is to provide the Islamic perspective on such issues as democracy, women's rights, and "interfaith relations."
CAIR plans to distribute the publication to as many as 40,000 editors, reporters, and producers at major media outlets across the country, as part of the broader initiative to educate the media about Islam.
As regards the particular version of the Quran, perhaps, CAIR might distribute one of the translations of the ‘holy work’ such as the Pickthall version. A worthy project to counter the CAIR Da’wa project might be to enlist a benefactor to send a kit to all these state and local leaders composed of critical works such as Andrew Bostom’s, “ The Legacy of Jihad,” Robert Spencer’s, a “Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)”, Ibn Warriq’s What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary; or the Center of the Study of Political Islam series, starting with A Simple Koran.
But we seriously doubt that a benefactor will come forward to do this. Sic Gloria “Stealth Jihad.”