The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is an organization built around research and scholarship on Islam suited for the contemporary period. Often called a think tank, IIIT's main activities are publishing, hosting conferences and workshops, and supporting research. It also runs a small educational division called The Fairfax Institute (TFI). These activities lead to IIIT's unique character. Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C. but with autonomous branch offices around the world, IIIT is quite diffuse as an organization, with a number of figures only loosely associated with it, and its focus is simultaneously local and global. In addition, it does not engage in advocacy or political outreach, making any ideological inclinations difficult to pin down.

IIIT's primary aims are intellectual and religious. It describes itself as “dedicated to the revival and reform of Islamic thought and its methodology in order to enable the Ummah to deal effectively with present challenges, and contribute to the progress of human civilization in ways that will give it a meaning and a direction derived from divine guidance.” IIIT presents itself at the forefront of a global movement of Islamic intellectual reform, necessary for adapting Islamic thought to contemporary circumstances. Throughout its history, dating back to its very founding, it has been connected with some of the major contemporary trends in Islamic thought, and the changes in its intellectual orientation over time have mirrored broader shifts globally.

Today, IIIT is at once concerned with “preserving the authenticity of Islamic values in the twenty-first century” and reconciling faith and reason, science and religion, and “establishing peace, prosperity and freedom for all humanity.” It intends to accomplish these goals through academic and scholarly endeavors. Its diffuse character is important in this regard. Without having an explicit orientation beyond promoting the reform of Islamic thought, IIIT is able to maintain a degree of distance from intra-Muslim disputes. This is furthered by IIIT's extensive connections with mainstream academia, which allows for a degree of scholarly objectivity in its activities.

Focusing primarily on the headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, IIIT is engaged in an ambitious project to integrate itself into American academia— current executive director Abubakar Al-Shingieti states that its “goal is to become the primary institution for the scholarly study of Islam”—while leading an effort to reform Islamic thought from within.