Girl Scouts of the USA is pushing back against claims that the organization is teaching Islam after reports highlighted mosque visits, Islamic prayer, hijab activities and Muslim faith awards connected to some local troops.

The national organization said Wednesday that it does not teach religion and that faith-specific recognition programs are created and administered by outside religious organizations.

“Girl Scouts is proudly for every girl,” a GSUSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Contrary to misinformation circulating online, 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.”

The controversy follows a report alleging that mosque-based Girl Scout troops in several states had incorporated Quran study, prayer, Ramadan observances and hijab activities into their programs. Examples were cited in California, Illinois, New York and Virginia.

GSUSA acknowledged that girls can participate in religious recognition programs but stressed that these programs are optional and not developed by the national organization.

“Our national My Promise, My Faith pin invites girls to connect the Girl Scout Law with their own faith,” the spokesperson said. “Any other faith-based patches are developed by independent faith organizations, not GSUSA, and participation in these programs is always optional.”

Girl Scouts materials show that the organization recognizes religious programs created by various faith groups and allows their insignia to be worn on official uniforms. Those include programs associated with Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and the Baha’i faith.

Four Islamic recognitions — Bismillah, In the Name of Allah, Quratula’in, and Muslimeen — are listed in Girl Scouts materials that direct Muslim families to the Islamic Committee on Girl Scouting.

A separate “All About Islam” patch program, which is not hosted on GSUSA’s national website, includes activities centered on the Five Pillars of Islam. Depending on age, participants can choose activities such as attempting a partial fast, giving to charity and completing a Five Pillars worksheet.

Critics argue that offering faith-specific awards raises concerns about whether girls of different religious backgrounds could feel excluded.

“No Girl Scout chapter should push one faith over another by incentivizing it with badges that some girls, because of their own faith, will not be able to earn,” Moms for Liberty New Jersey Ambassador Alexandra Bougher told Fox News Digital.

The examples drawing scrutiny appear to involve local troops, councils or outside faith organizations rather than a mandatory nationwide Girl Scouts curriculum. GSUSA has previously highlighted Muslim troops in Orange County, California, that hosted an Open Mosque Day for other Girl Scout families.

American Heritage Girls, a Christian scouting organization founded in 1995 as an alternative to Girl Scouts, responded to the controversy by emphasizing its explicitly Christian identity.

“American Heritage Girls is unapologetically Christ-centered, and we lead with that identity rather than obscure it,” an AHG spokesperson said, adding that families are informed before joining that its programming is “built around a relationship with Jesus.”

“We welcome girls from all faith backgrounds, but we don’t soften or hide our core beliefs and values,” the spokesperson added. “Faith formation shouldn’t be a surprise for a parent to discover.”

For its part, Girl Scouts maintains that its religious programs are designed to allow girls from different backgrounds to explore their own faith — not to promote one religion over another.