(RNS) Many racially-oriented hate groups have ties to and roots in religion — Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The American Islamic Congress was founded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and works to fight steroetypes about Islam and battle extremism and terrorism. It runs programs in the U.S. and overseas. Zainab Al-Suwaij is executive director.

Johanna Birnir is an associate professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland in College Park, as well as a researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. She is an expert on terrorism and society.

Omar Ashour is a senior lecturer in Middle East politics and security studies at the University of Exeter in England. One of his areas of expertise is Islamist movements and ideologies.

J.M. Berger is an analyst and author, and he focuses on extremism, extremist activities in the United States, and extremist use of social media. He works with the Brookings Institution and the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, publishes the web site Intelwire.com and contributes to Foreign Policy. He recently co-authored ISIS: The State of Terror with Jessica Stern. He can be reached through Ashley […]

Neil J. Kressel is a professor of psychology at William Patterson University in Wayne, N.J., and the author of Bad Faith: The Danger of Religious Extremism. His scholarship focuses on religion, psychology, prejudice and race relations, history, journalism, politics and political research. He is an expert on religious extremism and anti-Semitism.

While nearly 1 in four people identify as Muslim across the globe, a Pew Research survey in 2019 found that only six-in-ten U.S. adults know that Ramadan is an Islamic holy month and that Mecca is Islam’s holiest city and a place of pilgrimage for Muslims.  Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Muslim […]

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and domestic terrorism, says there were more than 1,000 hate groups in the United States in 2012. These groups often have a religious element to their agendas.