Omar Ahmad

This article is about the founder of CAIR. For the American politician, see Omar Ahmad (American politician). For those of a similar name, see Omar Ahmed (disambiguation).

Omar Ahmad (Arabic: عمر أحمد; born 1959) is the founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington D.C.–based Muslim civil rights organization.^[1] He also worked for the Islamic Association of Palestine, a precursor to CAIR.^[2][3][4]

Omar Ahmad
Born	1959 Amman, Jordan
Alma mater	Santa Clara University
Occupation(s)	Businessman, founder of Council on American-Islamic Relations

Biography

He was born in Amman, Jordan. He holds a master's degree in computer science from Santa Clara University as well as a master's degree in political science.^[5]

He had been the chairman of CAIR's board of directors since its founding in 1994, but stepped down from that position in May 2005.^[6] At the time that he resigned, CAIR claimed to be the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the United States, with over 30 regional offices and chapters.^[7][8]