The North American Islamic Trust is a not-for-profit, American religious institution, tax-exempt under IRS section 501(c)(3). It was founded in the 1970s in order to assist the growing nascent Muslim community in the United States. As many immigrants from Asia and the Middle East arrived for higher studies and to settle down with their families, there were very few indigenous masajid or Islamic centers, particularly in the rural and suburban areas of the United States. The students and other immigrants realized that organizing their lives around a masjid would be central to the growth of a spiritual healthy American Muslim community.
Accordingly, the young Muslim Student’s Association of America and Canada helped to launch NAIT in 1973 as a waqf or trust organization. Even though Muslims have been immigrating to the United States since the founding of the nation, many people and communities ultimately lost or abandoned their Islamic heritage due to social, and political reasons. Indeed, many indigenous masajid and centers were lost or forgotten. To prevent this in the future, the organizers believed that creating a waqf or general trust to safeguard the properties of masajid and Islamic centers would be vital for the growth and maintenance of the American Muslim community.
NAIT’s waqf program is a variant of the conventional Trust/Endowment program, because of two important aspects of waqf, i.e. the perpetual status of the waqf properties and the unalterable sanctity of the will of the donor. Even the donor cannot alter his/her intent at a later time. Thus, NAIT is unique among national Muslim non-for-profit organizations. However, NAIT does not manage, organize, or interfere with any masjid or Islamic center. Each masjid or Islamic center is independently organized, managed and controlled. NAIT serves as the record owner of the property in the capacity of a trustee for the local community. While, the decision-making body of a non-profit corporation can dispose of, or encumber communal property, NAIT management cannot do so to waqf properties.