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REUTERS: U.S. MUSLIMS MOVING INTO PRIME-TIME POLITICS By Michael Conlon October 27, 2006 CHICAGO (Reuters) - At less than 3 percent of America's 300 million residents, Muslims are still on the fringe of political influence and power, experts say. But that may be changing. A voter registration and get-out-the-vote drive is under way in the Muslim community before the Nov. 7 mid-term election. And it comes at a time when their interest in politics may have been sharpened to a new edge by the expected election of the first Muslim to the U.S. Congress. That will likely come in a heavily Democratic Minneapolis district for 43-year-old Keith Ellison, a native-born convert to Islam who would also be the first black member of Congress from Minnesota. His candidacy "is being followed very closely in the Muslim community throughout the country," said one activist in Chicago, where more than 1,000 new Muslim-American voters have been registered in recent weeks. Ellison's likely election would carry "a great symbolic meaning" but future political gains will be one step at a time, cautioned Louise Cainkar, research fellow at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "Muslim-Americans are emerging as a voice to be recognized in American society," she said. "I don't think they have power yet. You must first acknowledge you have a right to be part of the discourse. They are working on that now and to some degree they have attained that." "But there are a lot of people who don't want that voice to emerge," she said, a common theme in American history where Irish, Jews and other newcomers were repeatedly treated with suspicion and discrimination by those already established. Cainkar said experts believe there are 6 million to 8 million Muslims in America. While the total is a small percentage, they tend to live in urban pockets where concentration can lead to political punch. Ellison's primary victory, tantamount to election in his district, came with heavy support from Somali immigrants living there. Nationally about 2 million Muslims are registered voters -- including 30,000 added to the rolls in recent weeks, according to Mukit Hossain, who is heading up a voter registration drive for the Muslim American Society. 'STRONG SENSE OF URGENCY' This year "there is a great deal of concern and a strong sense of urgency to come out and vote in large numbers," he said. "We are callously eroding civil liberties and dismembering civil rights," while pursuing a foreign policy that targets Muslim countries, he added. The group, which has set up voter registration booths in mosques across the country, is concentrating on 12 states. A recent poll found that 42 percent of Muslim voters were Democrats compared with 17 percent Republicans, with 28 percent having no party affiliation. But in terms of public office, Muslims have not gained much of a foothold above the local board level, said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office. "Ten years ago the biggest challenge to the Muslim community was its own political immaturity or organization and understanding of the political process," he said. But since then Muslims have become engaged around issues. "The biggest challenge we face today is no longer political maturity but resistance from right-wing groups who see Muslim engagement as problematic. We're already seeing that with the Keith Ellison saga. It's become a question of who he is and his past associations," Rehab said. Ellison once had ties to Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan but has renounced him. The chance to flex political muscle, however, is evident among Ellison's supporters. "He's making history," said Somali immigrant Abdi Kahin, 31, shortly after Ellison won the primary. His election would show "we are a diverse nation that can elect whoever we want." © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. 
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 'PRANK' GETS TEEN LESSON IN TOLERANCE By Jason George October 23, 2006 David Huffman told police it was just a prank gone wrong: On April 22, at a McDonald's in Tinley Park, he tapped a Muslim woman on the head, nearly pulling off her headscarf. The woman, a young mother with her children, didn't see it as harmless. She was scared and embarrassed; her faith had been attacked. She told police, and they called it battery. But in a surprising twist, a Cook County circuit judge did not fine or jail Huffman, who pleaded guilty. He was instead ordered to undergo sensitivity training at the downtown Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization. During the past three months, Huffman, 18, has spent 40 hours listening to and talking with Muslims across Chicagoland. He has completed required tasks that seemed ripped from reality television: watching Muslim youths play basketball, attending a 9/11 event and visiting area mosques, which Huffman called "synagogues" at the beginning of his training. But what exactly did David Huffman learn? Day 1 When Huffman first arrived Aug. 4 at the Muslim civil rights organization's office, his hands were shaking from nervousness, and he appeared as though he'd rather have been anywhere else. He was late, for starters. He arrived with his shoes untied and a patchy stubble, looking more like he had just stumbled out of bed than spent the better part of an hour commuting from Tinley Park. "I'd rather not talk about it," Huffman said of the April incident, soon after arriving. "I want to forget it." He eventually told his version of the events. He said he knew he was wrong, but he was confused why the woman had become so upset. "I understood immediately after I did it. But even after I apologized, she was still so angry," he said. "I didn't understand that." Explaining that to him would be the responsibility of Veronica Zapata, the organization's sensitivity training coordinator. That day, she led Huffman around the corner to the Downtown Islamic Center on South State Street, where she showed him the empty mosque. "Religion is a waste of time," Huffman said without apparent malice, as his fingers traced ceramic tiles that spell out the 99 names of God in Islam. He checked his mobile phone text messages with his other hand. Zapata, 32, a Mexican-American Muslim convert, winced at the comment, but she later said she was optimistic about the next several weeks. "I don't know how reflective he's going to be. I feel the resistance," she said. "I think he has good potential." `I got in trouble' Huffman's April arrest came less than two months before he was to graduate from Tinley Park's Andrew High School, where he struggled to stay out of trouble, he said. "I'm a legend in my high school," he said with a self-conscious swagger. Still, his brushes with authority have not soured him on applying to a police force when he graduates from community college. It's a calling Huffman said he feels because he wants to help people and because he's a good communicator. Those communication skills were initially absent as he spent a Friday evening with numerous youths at the Muslim Youth Center in Bridgeview. Huffman was timid around the teens, which could have come from the fact that three young men asked why he was there soon after his arrival, and they left little doubt that they already knew the answer. "I got in trouble with some Muslims," Huffman said, as the teenagers waited for a longer answer. "I tapped a woman on the head, and they gave me 40 hours." Conversation turned to sports and video games until everyone broke for evening prayers. Luqman Rashad, the center's energetic director, led prayers that evening on the basketball court, where Huffman watched intently, taking off his baseball hat as if the national anthem had begun. Rashad filled his sermon with several topics, telling the 30 or so boys that one must always struggle to do right. And he said Muslim women have it hard in America because the hijab, or head scarf, alerts others to their religion. "It's important to understand the struggles our sisters are going through," he said. Huffman looked away. Minutes later, he was sitting at a conference table with three Muslim teenagers who all wear hijabs. "It's not just a scarf; it's who you are," said Amneh Noubani, 19, who like one of the younger women said she started wearing her hijab at the suggestion of her parents and to honor God. The young women explained that the hijab is part of Islam's call for modest dress, although Muslims disagree exactly what modest is. The hijab has become a lightning rod as the religion has increased its presence in western countries, where the hijab is sometimes seen as oppressive, and protests have surrounded it from Florida to France. The group asked Huffman if he had any questions or comments. He said he had none. Ramadan lessons By the beginning of October, after other activities around town, Huffman was back at the Council on American-Islamic Relations' office, where he worked hard to complete a PowerPoint presentation he was required to give to the organization's volunteers at the end of his 40 hours. The month of Ramadan had begun, and the office was full of people fasting from dawn to sunset. Huffman surrounded his computer with a spread of cookies, pasta salad and soda. He told all who would listen that he was going to be a millionaire one day by inventing a cell phone with a parachute that deploys when dropped. He spoke loud and often, and seemed unaware that his chosen topics, such as the proliferation of bikinis on the social networking Web site MySpace, were doing little to endear him to the office. But he was learning something. "What time does fasting end today?" Zapata asked another Muslim sitting nearby. "6:15 p.m., I think," Huffman responded out of nowhere. They both smiled. Not because he was right--he wasn't. But at less than 10 minutes off, he was pretty close. PowerPoint praise At their final meeting Oct. 13, Zapata and Huffman playfully teased each other like siblings. In Huffman's PowerPoint slides, he described Zapata as "probably one of the nicest" people he's ever met. "She made [it possible] for me to understand the religion." He smiled at her in the darkened room. "I really did learn a lot from this experience. It made me [realize] some things that I might not have noticed without this training," he said. "And I am going to take this experience with me through my entire life." Of course, he was supposed to say all of this, but Huffman seemed serious and earnest. And he took the time to reach out to those in the office, whether they had ignored him previously or not. "I hope you guys take away from this that I am a really nice guy and I care about other people" he said. "People make mistakes; don't let it judge the person for the rest of their life." The group applauded, and several people patted Huffman on the back, telling him he should return as a volunteer, although next time without the threat of jail time. Ahmed Rehab, CAIR's executive director, later said he was so impressed with Huffman's development. "The great thing about Dave's progress is that he didn't come in full of hate," Rehab said. "He, like so many people in the general population, had simply come to his opinions because he never knew a Muslim." For the first time since his initial day at the council, Huffman again visited the Downtown Islamic Center, walking with two young Muslim men from the office, who did not talk to him the whole way there. There was a crowd at the mosque this time, since it was during Ramadan, which ended Sunday, according to the Islamic Society of North America. Once inside, one of the men told Huffman he could wait in the hallway, which Huffman did, returning to stare at the tiles listing the names of God in Islam: The All Forgiving. The Hidden. The Majestic. As the imam preached peace and togetherness, Huffman was feet away but not listening, in a different world altogether. The faithful packed the mosque that day; Huffman checked text messages. He did however go into the stairwell to check those messages, which, based on the previous weeks, may be a small step of improvement. ---------- jageorge@tribune.com Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
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KNOW YOUR MOSQUE SERIES: The Midwest Islamic Center (Masjid al-Huda) By Dina Rehab November 2, 2006 The Midwest Islamic Center, commonly known as Masjid Al-Huda, is the only Islamic Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. The center, comprised of a mosque and a weekend Islamic school, serves several neighboring suburbs located within an 8 mile radius of the center; suburbs include: Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Roselle, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Bartlett and Elk Grove. "The center serves approximately 10,000 families within an 8 mile radius," explained Rezwanul Haque, one of the key leaders at the Midwest Islamic Center, "that's 10,000 families not individuals," he emphasized. Congregants are of a variety of ethnicities which include roughly 85% Indo-Pakistani, 15% Bosnian, Arab (predominantly Egyptian and Moroccan) and white. The female attendance to the mosque is approximately 80% (male) to 20% (female) for prayer, and 60% (male) to 40% (female) for events. History Real steps to build a mosque in the Schaumburg area began in 1992, as the need to serve the rising Muslim population in the area became more prevalent. Extreme measures; however, to expedite the fundraising and building process were evident post 9-11. "After 9-11, it was very difficult for us to rent out a place for Friday prayers" said Haque. The need of building a mosque, as well as an Islamic Center, increased post 9-11 when residents could no longer rent out halls for Friday prayers. Congregants first prayed in the mosque in December 2001. The Islamic center received its temporary occupancy in 2004 and official occupancy in mid-October of 2006. Programs & Services The center holds a variety of services which include two Friday sermons and prayers (with a total of approximately 1,000 attendees each week), a weekend Islamic school (pre-school through 8th grade), Tafsir classes (an explanation of the meaning of the Qur'an) classes, lectures, charity distribution, performance of Nikah (religious wedding ceremony) and funeral services, an annual Mawlad Al-Nabawi (birth of the prophet) celebration, an annual workshop on Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) that educates pilgrims on the proper protocols of Hajj, an annual busy bee camp for girls and boys and an annual interfaith iftar (breaking of fast during Ramadan) with members of the Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates Clergy Association. "I have been coming for four years," said Syeda Hussain, sophomore at UIC majoring in Math Teaching Education, referring to Rabab Gomaa's weekly lectures for teenagers and college students. "It's great! Every time, I learn something new." The Board The board currently has 11 members of which 5 are life-time trustees and 6 are rotating members. Rotating members are selected every 3 years by the existing board members. Currently board members include: Dawood Gul (President), Jawed Akram (General Secretary), Abdul Wahid Karim, Mohammed Farooq Patel, Ahmed Karim, Rezwanul Haque, Jamil Zara, Aqeel Akhtar, Mir Maqsood Ali, Mustafa Abdullah, and Asif Sabri. When asked about the absence of female board members, Haque responded: "We plan on nominating active female members during the next rotation, insha'Allah. We are not against female participation, actually the current principal of the weekend school is female and over 50% of the teachers are female." Goals The Midwest Islamic Center has purchased additional parking space to better serve local congregants; however, funds are being collected as part of a short-term project to pave the parking lot. The center also has long-term plans of expanding the prayer hall, which the mosque design accounted for during the planning stages of the mosque. Those who wish to contribute to these expansion projects can do so by contacting Rezwanul Haque, or by attending the center's upcoming fundraising dinner on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006, 7 p.m. at Montys Elegant Banquet in Bensenville. For more information, please call the Midwest Islamic Center at 630-529-1786. Dina Rehab is CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator, contact her at outreach@cairchicago.org for more information on the "Know Your Mosque" series. Copyright © CAIR-Chicago 2006
CAIR-CHICAGO RESOLVES EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT WITH COOK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT October 26, 2006 CAIR-Chicago's Legal Advisor Maaria Mozaffar served as the key negotiator and representative in a case involving a complaint of employment discrimination by a police officer who has served the Cook County Sheriff's Department for the past 12 years with a clean record. The officer alleged repeated instances of discrimination, specifically two derogatory statements made by his supervising Lieutenant. After filing a complaint against his supervisor, the officer was moved from his 7am to 3pm desk job to a midnight patrol position. Additionally, his county squad car was also taken away and he began to receive several reprimands which he believed were retaliatory. The officer filed a claim of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chicago District Office regarding his supervisor. CAIR-Chicago immediately became involved in the matter and Legal Advisor Maaria Mozaffar contacted the Cook County Sheriff's Department requesting negotiations. Both parties met several times during the past few months in order to negotiate a resolution. CAIR-Chicago was able to secure compensation for medical hours and vacation hours used by the officer to resolve this issue. Also, CAIR-Chicago secured the officer's return to full duty with the same hours he held prior to the incident, along with being reissued a county vehicle. Most importantly, the officer now may approach the General Counsel directly, allowing for future complaints to be expedited. CAIR-Chicago is pleased to have resolved this complaint through negotiations. This is an excellent example for others who are facing discrimination at work but are afraid of their employer's retaliation. We would like to commend the officer for his bravery in coming forth with this complaint, as officers who daily serve and protect the county should not have to face discrimination and retaliation by their fellow officers. For more information contact Legal Advisor Maaria Mozaffar at legal@cairchicago.org. Copyright © 2006, CAIR-Chicago
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View reports of ongoing progress for cases with the Civil Rights Department in the "Progress Report" section. ACTION ALERTS: Citizenship Delay Project - Religious Discrimination Delays Citizenship Process: As a joint effort with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), CAIR-Chicago is asking individuals who passed a citizenship examination and have been waiting for over 90 days, or have been waiting for a Green Card for permanent residence for over 90 days to contact us at either civilrights@cairchicago.org or mennakhalil@gmail.com Travel Free Project - Muslim Americans Detained and Questioned When Traveling Outside of the U.S.: As part of a potential class action law suit, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and CAIR-Chicago is asking anyone who has been detained and questioned on return to the US at any border crossing (land or airport) to please contact travelfree@cairchicago.org immediately. It is important for Muslims who have faced this type of treatment to join the lawsuit so as to show that it is not an isolated case. The more people that join the case the more strength it will have to force positive changes in how Muslim Americans are treated in the future at our borders. Also, if you are being consistently delayed, detained, or have otherwise had your rights violated while traveling, contact travelfree@cairchicago.org. Religious Discrimination at Standardized Testing Centers: As part of a potential class action law suit, CAIR-Chicago is asking for anyone who has experienced any form of religious discrimination at a testing center to please contact us at civilrights@cairchicago.org. An example of a possible form of religious discrimination includes requiring or requesting the removal of a headscarf for searches, or discriminatory remarks made by employees about Muslims or Islam. The facts of the above case are as follows: A Muslim student was asked to remove her headscarf on two separate occasions at a testing center before she began a standardized test required for graduate school. The supervisor and employees of the testing center refused to show her a written copy of the policy requiring Muslim women wearing a headscarf to be searched. A witness at the testing center also observed the employees making discriminatory remarks about Muslims while the victim was taking the test. Please let us know if you or someone you know have experienced a similar incident and would like to take action to prevent such forms of religious discrimination at standardized testing centers in the future. 
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Election Day is Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 7! 
If you are a registered voter in the State of Illinois, don't forget to vote! Polls are open from 6 am to 7 pm on Election Day so you can vote before you go to work, school, or your way home! For information on your local polling place, visit the Cook County Board of Elections website at: http://www.voterinfonet.com/default.asp for complete information on voting. What do you need to vote? Don't know who to vote for? Click Here for Useful Voting Information! 
CAIR-Chicago's Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab and Dr. John Esposito addressed a packed house of an estimated 1200 students at the Hutch Commons Hall of the University of Chicago on Wednesday.
Dr. John Esposito is the Director of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the author of a number of titles on Islam and Muslims. The lecture, titled 'Understanding Islam in the Modern World II' was the second lecture series hosted by the Office of the Vice President & Dean of Students. The event was cosponsored by the University of Chicago's Muslim Student Association, MESSA, Interfaith Dialogue, and the office of the Reynolds Club and Student Activities. View Event Photos 
Are you an Undergraduate or Graduate Student Looking to Earn College Credit While Interning at CAIR-Chicago? CAIR-Chicago, the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is currently offering 17 new internship opportunities. CAIR is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization. The organization's mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. All internships are unpaid. Internships last one semester and include a 12-hour/week commitment. Applicants should email a resume and cover letter to Dina Rehab, Outreach Coordinator, at: internships@cairchicago.org. APPLICATION GUIDELINES: clearly indicate which internship opportunity you are applying for in your cover letter. If you are applying for more than one position, please list in order of preference. All fall applications are due by August 28th (please note: fall internships run from August/September through December/January). Applications that do not list the above information will not be processed. If you have any questions, please email all inquiries to internships@cairchicago.org. Students interested in receiving class credit, should indicate so in their cover letters. Credit will be arranged during the first week of the academic semester. Listing of all internships by department: Civil Rights: CIVIL RIGHTS INTERN LAW CLERK (Law Students Only) Communications: COMMUNICATIONS INTERN CHURCH PROJECT INTERN FAITH CORE ONLINE MAGAZINE INTERN Governmental Relations: GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS INTERN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING LEAD INTERN VOTER EDUCATION PROJECT INTERN POLICY RESEARCH INTERN Operations: OPERATIONS INTERN RECEPTIONIST INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTERN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT INTERN Outreach: PUBLIC RELATIONS INTERN PUBLIC EDUCATION INTERN HUMAN RESOURCES INTERN MUSLIMS CARE PROJECT INTERN Dina Rehab is CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator, she can be reached via email at outreach@cairchicago.org 
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For more information, please contact: CAIR-Chicago (A Chapter of The Council On American-Islamic Relations) 28 E. Jackson Blvd, Suite 1410, Chicago IL 60604 Phone: 312-212-1520, Fax: 312-212-1530 Email: info@cairchicago.org, Website: www.cairchicago.org Please email your comments and suggestions to info@cairchicago.org If you have received this email directly from CAIR-Chicago and wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, you may go to www.cairchicago.org , or simply reply to this e-mail and put "unsubscribe" in the subject line. You are also encouraged to read our Privacy Policy. |
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