By Joshua Arnold
Girl Scout troops have become a vehicle for Muslims to promote their faith in an American style, according to a recent investigation by independent journalist Natalie Winters. Winters found Girl Scout troops operated out of mosques from coast to coast, with specific awards created for a “Girl Scout of the Islamic Faith.” Winters notes that the awards were created by the National Islamic Committee on Girl Scouting (NICGS), rather than Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA), indicating the extent to which the Girl Scouts have allowed their brand to be Islamized.
The NICGS has created four award ribbons Girl Scouts can achieve that advertise a “Girl Scout of the Islamic Faith.” These awards are named “Bismillah,” “In the Name of Allah,” “Qurat ul A’in,” and “Muslimeen.” The NIGCS says the awards emphasize the “theory and practice of Islam.” The NIGCS also offers a Hajj patch and “Hajj Passport” for Girl Scouts who complete the required Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
Separately, a Girl Scout Bronze Award offers an “All about Islam” patch, requiring scouts to complete the five pillars of Islam. Older girls can perform optional fasts without food or water.
One Girl Scouts Patch is named “Share Ramadan with a Friend.” To earn the patch, younger girls can invite non-Muslim friends to the Iftar (“the breaking of the fast”) and explain the significance of fasting for a month. Older girls can also take their friends to the mosque and have them observe Muslim prayers. Effectively, the patch is awarded for Muslim evangelism.
One Girl Scout troop is based out of the SALAM mosque in Sacramento, and the mosque has featured an event for the “broader Girl Scout community” that included a hijab photo booth, modesty lessons, and an “informative booth about Palestine.” In the Washington, D.C. area, Girl Scout groups linked to mosques host a Ramadan Lock-In and instruct attendees to bring Muslim prayer garments.
Winters also identified mosque-based Girl Scout troops in Naperville, Long Island, Virginia, Brooklyn, and San Diego. The Post Millennial added that nearly a dozen “predominantly Muslim” Girl Scout troops were formed in Minneapolis after deliberate outreach by GSUSA to Muslims in 2007.
The Muslim-themed Girl Scouts programming is notable at a time when many Christian parents have pulled their children out of the Girl Scouts (and Boy Scouts) for explicitly Christian alternatives.
The Scouting organizations were originally formed to help children develop outdoor skills, particularly as more and more families relocated to urban areas, as well as character virtues. For decades, there was plenty of shared ground for Americans who disagreed about other things to cooperate together on these goals. But, as the culture shifted in an anti-Christian direction, the scouting organizations shifted, too. When the scouting organizations left their original moorings, Christians had to build other organizations to take their place.
Muslims, however, come from a different perspective. Most Muslims in America come from families who have only been in this country for, say, one to three generations. Their culture never participated in the Americana that informed the original scouting organizations. For them, American culture is at least foreign, if not hostile. This may explain why Muslims are willing to participate in the Girl Scouts, even if it does not entirely align with Muslim values. And they are tickled if they can get some approval for their religious preferences under its umbrella.
But the Girl Scouts’ approval of Muslim practice seems to go far beyond any favor it ever bestowed on Christianity. Did the Girl Scouts ever offer a badge for Christian evangelism? It appears that wokeness has once again led an organization into religious favoritism for Islam in the name of “diversity.”
On Tuesday, the Girl Scouts responded, calling the reporting “misinformation.”
“Here are the facts,” they said. “Girl Scouts is not a religious organization and does not teach religion. For more than a century, we’ve welcomed girls of every faith and background. Our national My Promise, My Faith pin invites girls to connect the Girl Scout Law with their own faith. Any other faith-based patches are developed by independent faith organizations, not Girl Scouts of the USA. Girl Scouts is proudly for every girl.”
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Girl Scouts approved the Muslim faith patches, thus allowing a very Islamic brand of scouting to advance under its auspices. At the very least, this seems to suggest a type of favor not shown to other religions.
Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand. This article originally appeared here.
