[2] Louay Safi is also chairman of the Syrian American Council and testified in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Syria.
He is a fellow with the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding[8] (ISPU) and serves on the steering committee of the Muslim-Christian Initiative on the Nuclear Weapons Danger[9] (MCI).
Safi believes that Democracy as a system of self governance, accountability of holders of public office, and the rule of law is fully compatible with Islam.
[13] Safi insists that war is not an instrument for advancing Islam, but for repelling aggression and, in limited cases for rescuing a brutally oppressed minority.
He, for instance, opposed the application of apostasy rules in modern Muslim society, and argued that a proper reading of Islamic sources would affirm religious freedom.
Individuals, he insisted, should be able to accept or reject a particular faith on the basis of personal conviction, and that no amount of external pressure or compulsion should be permitted.
Referring to recent statistics released by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), a federally funded organization, he pointed out that the number of terrorist incidents increased worldwide from 2,013 in 2002 to 3,646 in 2004, to a staggering figure of almost 6,500 in 2006.
The Far Right, he insists, wants to see deep rift between Islam and the West, and has turned Muslim Americans into targets and suspects, thereby reducing their ability to play the bridge-building role.
He accused his critics of exploiting the climate of fear in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks to marginalize Muslim American organizations and activists.
Safi accused the Custom Service agent who led the raids of relying heavily on information provided by the Steven Emerson's Investigative Project and his former assistant Rita Katz's SITE Institute.
[20] In July 2005, Michael Fichter, reporting for the Tampa Tribune, made a vague reference to a conversation Safi had in 1995 with Sami Al-Arian.
Fichter contended that Safi asked Al-Arian whether an Executive Order issued in early 1995 by President Bill Clinton would affect the latter.
"[24] While critics like Emerson and Daniel Pipes have censored Safi for his involvement with, and defense of, Muslim American organizations, others have commended his work for promoting forward looking understanding of Islam.
Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware Professor and Brookings Institution fellow, identified him among leading moderate Muslims involved in reforming Islamic thought.
[27] Louay Safi is identified as one of several leading Muslim American reformers in a new book edited by Shireen Hunter and published in October 2009 by M.E.
More specifically, ISNA was identified by the Justice Department at the successful Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing conspiracy trial as an unindicted co-conspirator .
Search warrants executed in 2002 were supported by an affidavit alleging its involvement in moving large sums of money to terrorist groups.On Dec 9, 2009, The Dallas Morning News inquired about Louay Safi, and was told "He has not been the subject of any indictment.
Thirteen Republican members of Congress asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Dec. 17 to halt lectures by anyone affiliated with ISNA on military bases.