Pillars Fund hundreds of grant applications it receives each year. Pillars Fund Pillars Fund is a grant-making organization and Muslim community foundation named in reference to the five pillars of Islam, the third of which is Zakat. Founded in 2010 in the mold of United Way and Jewish Federations of North America, and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Pillars is focused on funding secular non-profit programs supporting American Muslims in media, public relations, and leadership development. It is one of the largest funders of Muslim issues in the United States. Pillars Fund is governed by a Board of Advisors, many of whom are
Islam in the United States Islam, while as many as a third were sold into slavery to the Americas through capture in conflict. Michael A. Gomez speculated that Muslim slaves may have accounted for "thousands, if not tens of thousands", but does not offer a precise estimate. He also suggests many non-Muslim slaves were acquainted with some tenets of Islam, due to Muslim trading and proselytizing activities. Historical records indicate many enslaved Muslims conversed in the Arabic language. Some even composed literature (such as autobiographies) and commentaries on the Quran. Some newly arrived Muslim slaves assembled for communal salat (prayers). Some were provided a private