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
Engaging the Muslim World the Middle East." "The Economist" called it a "balanced and effective antidote to oversimplified Western views of Islam" and stated that it "manages to prick western misconceptions". Kirkus Reviews labeled it a "well-reasoned, useful vision for Western-Muslim relations." Vali Nasr, bestselling author of "The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future", commented that "Cole looks deep into what went wrong to show the way forward to a new engagement of the Muslim World" and he described the book as "[i]ntelligent, clear and erudite." "Library Journal" wrote that: "Publishers Weekly" gave a more critical review, stating that "For