Welcome to The International Quranic Center website in English. The IQC is committed to spreading a vision of Islam that is true to the letter and spirit of the Quran and that focuses on the consistency between the word of God and democracy and human rights. Our goals are to:

1) To advocate peaceful reform in the Muslim world based on democracy and human rights and to offer practical strategies for such change;
2) To mobilize on the web and convene in person open-minded scholars of the Quran to share research demonstrating the consistency of Islam with democracy;
3) To communicate the value of ecumenical democracy to Muslims of all denominations;
4) To initiate a real inter-religious dialogue among Muslims, Christians, Jews, and members of all religions who believe in creating societies based upon tolerance and justice.
5) To educate Muslims in America to understand and interpret Islam as consistent with American democracy.

The International Quranic Center continues the struggle of its founder Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour to further a vision of moderate Islam.  As an asylee from Egypt now living in the U.S., Dr. Mansour is an internationally respected and distinguished scholar of the Quran with expertise in Islamic history, culture, theology and politics.  Dr. Mansour’s interpretation of Islam offers a fact-based understanding of the letter and spirit of the Quran and its systematic application in a manner that enhances the values of democracy and religious tolerance.

To achieve its goals, the IQC sponsors research, convenes conferences, and disseminates the ideas of its founder, Sheikh Ahmed Suby Mansour and like-minded advocates in the U.S. and abroad.  IQC will communicate these ideas through both scholarly and educational publications, Arabic and English-language websites, movies and TV productions.  The Center will be in constant communication with the international media and decision makers to educate them about true Islam.  IQC speaks out about misrepresentations of basic Islamic ideas by those who create hatred and misinterpret the fundamental tenets of Islam.

The IQC Board includes Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The Center welcomes enlightened members of all religions to the project of reinterpreting Islam as a religion sharing values with all of the world’s great religions and as a belief system committed to the liberal values of a democratic world.

Critical Work in Progress: Wahabist textbook analysis
An initial project of the IQC will be to analyze the Wahabist Arabic textbooks used to educate children in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States.  The Center will post the contents of these textbooks on its Arabic website and make clear the misunderstanding of the Quran they convey and their attacks on all other believers and those who are committed to democracy.  This Arabic language project will be summarized also here on our English language website.

The International Quranic Center aims to unite all the "Quranic people” and provide them a forum to interact with others in Islam and with followers of the other religions of the world.  The term “Quranic People” provides a conceptual umbrella for Muslims who subscribe to the following beliefs:

1.  The Quran is the sole source of Islam and its’ laws.
2.  The Quran is comprehensive, completely sufficient in itself.
3.  The Quran was revealed to Mohamed to clarify all controversial and mysterious religious issues.
4.  The Quran -not the Hadith- was the prophet Mohamed’s only tradition and he was ordered to abide by it alone.
5.  Islam is the religion of peace, mercy, justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

These fundamental principles distinguish the Quranic People from those Muslims who follow the principles of the Wahabists and other Islamists who consider the central tenet of Islam to require violent Jihad.

As scholars, researchers, and advocates, the Quranic People aim to assist the peaceful reform of Muslim countries and societies by going back to the authentic source of Islam—the Quran.  The Quranic People believe that reform will flow from the objective understanding of the Quran, according to its original terminology.  By such careful reading, one can judge the past and present actions of Muslims in relation to the word of God alone.  The Quranic people aren’t a political party or a religious sect, but rather a group of educated open-minded individuals who share the simple but profound and powerful beliefs outlined above. 

The IQC has applied for status as a charitable 501c3 organization in the United States, which will make all donations tax deductible for all those paying income taxes in the United States.  Our application is currently under review. When it is approved, all contributions will be retroactively tax deductible to the date of application in September 2006.  If prospective donors have any questions about the salient tax regulations, they should contact their tax advisors.  We invite all of those who wish to support our activities to make donations via our Paypal link at:

The Quranic People welcome people of all religions to join us in spreading a vision of Islam that is an equal partner in the religious dialogue of contemporary life.  Our Board includes followers of Islam, Christians and Jews.

Irving Spitzberg, Esq., Chair:  
Mr. Spitzberg is the President Emeritus of The Knowledge Company and an immigration lawyer.  During his academic career he was a professor of political philosophy and policy studies and dean at various universities and colleges.  He later was the General Secretary of the American Association of University Professors and founder of the Council for Liberal Learning of the Association of American Colleges.

Camel Haleem, Vice Chair  
Mr. Haleem is the President of Wilmette Real Estate and Management Company, LLC.  He is also the founder and the Chairman of Copts Assembly Association.  

Dr. Ahmed Mansour, President  
Dr. Mansour is an Islamic Scholar who from 1980 to 1987 was Professor of Muslim History in the College of Arabic Language
at Al Azhar University in Cairo.  After immigrating to the U.S. he was a Visiting Professor at Harvard University and a Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy.  He is the author of 24 books and approximately 500 articles in Arabic.

Sherif Mansour 
Mr. Mansour is an Egyptian political activist who managed a nation-wide election monitoring coalition led by the Ibn Khaldun Center in Cairo last year.  He is now a Fellow at The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy in Washington D.C.

Fawzi Farrag, Board Member  
Mr. Farrag is an Egyptian Chemist who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s.  Since his retirement he has been writing to promote democracy and human rights in Egypt and the Arab world.

Operating Staff

Ahmed Mansour (President)
Sherif Mansour (Vice-President)

Foreign Representatives

Othman Mohamed (Canada)
Ibrahim Dadi, (Algeria)
Abdellatif Said, (Egypt)