Last month, LGF reported that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) was offering free copies of the Koran to anyone who wanted to give CAIR their address.

At muslimsweekly.com, an article about CAIR’s Koran-a-Thon reports that 12,000 Americans have decided to explore the Koran’s message of “prayer, worldwide pilgrimage, and jihad:” 12,000 Americans Request A Copy of Qur’an. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)

WASHINGTON: Almost 12,000 people have requested free copies of the Qur’an since the launch of CAIR’s “Explore the Quran” campaign on May 17.

According to CAIR, the residents of California top the list of those asking for Qur’ans, with 10 percent of total requests. The percentage of requests from the top 15 states breaks down as follows:

CA - 10.20%
TX - 8.23%
FL - 7.17%
NY - 5.69%
OH - 5.06%
PA - 4.71%
IL - 3.82%
MI - 3.58%
GA - 3.51%
VA - 3.39%
NC - 2.80%
WA - 2.52%
NJ - 2.50%
MD - 2.26%
IN - 2.03%

The program was in response to a news report, later retracted, that said interrogators of Muslim detainees had flushed a Qur’an down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

”We’re trying to get Qur’ans into the hands of the American public because we believe that’s the best way to educate people about what Islam really stands for,” said CAIR spokesman and campaign coordinator Ibrahim Hooper.

Now that the holy book and its significance for Muslims have become front-page news, CAIR is urging potential donors to seize the opportunity to ”give the gift of faith to your neighbor.”

Americans curious to crack the mysteries of Islam are about to delve by the thousands into the challenging text that inspires Arabic calls to prayer, worldwide pilgrimage and jihad: the book known to Muslims as The Holy Koran.

Peaceful internal struggle for self-improvement, anyone?