Nihad Awad is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR is the most prominent Muslim lobby group in the US and is frequently sought out by the media and politicians for the Islamic perspective on events. Awad is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You and participates regularly in the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Awad coordinated the formal release of the Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi, signed by over 120 leading Muslim scholars and academics, which rejected the extremist teachings promoted by DA’ISH.