Millati Islami

Millati Islami is based on twelve steps, similar to AA, but explicitly rooted in Islamic faith. These steps emphasize submission to Allah, self-examination, repentance, and personal responsibility. The program advocates for building a strong relationship with Allah, following Islamic teachings, and fostering connections with others who are also seeking recovery. Spiritual growth, prayer, and reading the Quran are central to the recovery process. 

www.millatiislami.org  

All substances and behaviors   

Theistic (Islamic)

Millati Islami is a twelve-step recovery program for persons who experience problems associated with addiction. The steps and traditions of Millati Islami are based upon Islamic principles. With the traditional twelve-step program, some principles have proven to be in accord with our Islamic way of life. When Islamic principles are included, they have proven to further enhance the recovery process. Millati Islami has modified the traditional twelve steps and twelve traditions practiced by other twelve-step programs.

Millati Islami was founded in Baltimore Maryland in September of 1989, at what was known as the Baltimore Masjid, located at 514 Islamic Way. Its founder Zaid Imani sought a way that he could incorporate the Islamic way of life with the traditional twelve-step approach to the treatment of addiction. His du’a (prayer) was for Allah to guide him to a way that he could stay rooted in the Islamic way of life while focused on recovery. Millati Islami (The Path of Peace) was developed.

Millati Islami remained a local effort until the fall of 1992, when Zaid Imani met Bilal Ali. Bilal Ali was a facilitator of Jama’at Al Tauba, in a Washington, D.C. based recovery group for Muslims. Soon after their meeting, Bilal Ali announced that the Jama’at Al Tauba group had decided to become a part of the Millati Islami network. In January of 1993, the decision was made to expand this recovery program. While attending a convention in Boston, Massachusetts hosted by one of the other twelve-step fellowships, Zaid Imani met with a group of believers from various parts of the country. He presented the Millati Islami program and since then over forty-two Millati Islami groups have been established in 16 states across the nation. Millati Islami meetings are currently held in Masajid (an Islamic school building), counseling centers, neighborhood recreation centers, recovery houses, members’ homes, members’ business, and various prisons across the country.

In February of 1993, Millati Islami held its first annual fundraiser breakfast in Baltimore, Maryland. Proceeds from that event were used to publish a manual. The manual outlines the Millati Islami twelve-step recovery process supported by the Qur’an and Hadith (sayings and practices) of Prophet Muhammad.

Millati Islami has a smaller presence compared to other recovery programs, but meetings are available in several major cities in the U.S., as well as online. Although there is no definitive membership count, Millati Islami continues to expand its reach.

Millati Islami Manual https://www.millatiislami.org/images/MillatiIslamiDocs/Millati_Islami_Meeting_Format.pdf 

Allah is the one and only God

1. We admitted that we were neglectful of our higher selves and that our lives have become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that Allah could and would restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to submit our will to the will of Allah.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
5. We admitted to Allah and to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Asking Allah for right guidance, we became willing and open for change, ready to have Allah remove our defects of character.
7. We humbly ask Allah to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through Salaat (prayer service) and Iqraa (reading and study) to improve our understanding of Taqwa (God consciousness; proper love and respect for Allah) and Ihsan (though we cannot see Allah, he does see us).
12. Having increased our level of Iman (faith) and Taqwa, as a result of applying these steps, we carried this message to humanity and began practicing these principles in all our affairs.

In-person and online: https://www.millatiislami.org/index.php/millati-islami-groups