In May he then performed at conference events cohosted by the Islamic Circle of North America and Muslim American Society staged in Hartford, Connecticut.

He is also the chief patron of Project WhyIslam of Islamic Circle of North America.

The tour was organized in part by an arts group in England and the relief agency of the Islamic Circle of North America, a grass-roots group.

"These are my sisters," said Malika Bey Rushdan, who works for the Islamic Circle and who is an Irish-American convert to Islam.

"We are open, our books are open, everything is open," said Naim Baig, secretary general of the Islamic Circle.

"People are fearful," said Muhammad Rahman, executive director for social service and relief at the Islamic Circle of North America in Queens.

The third largest group is the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

They knew each other from the ICNA Center, a mosque affiliated with Islamic Circle of North America, in Arlington, Virginia.

The Association holds joint annual conferences with the Islamic Circle of North America.

The document was signed by 15 groups, primarily small ones, but including two prominent organizations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Circle of North America.