• CAIR Seeks Applicants for Rosa Parks Civil Liberties Scholarship
• CAIR: Algerian-American Assaulted in Bias Attack Outside Boston Restaurant (Boston Globe)
  
  • CAIR: Boston Bombing Suspect's Body in Limbo (USA Today)
    Cremation is not an option for a Muslim. The body must be buried underground, said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokeswoman Yasmin Nouh.
• CAIR: Oklahoma's Muslims Say New Law Could Spur Anti-Islamic Bigotry
  Gov. Mary Fallin and state lawmakers should "embrace diversity" instead of demonizing the Muslim community, said Adam Soltani, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
• Muslim 'Terrorist' Doll on Birthday Card Angers CAIR (NY Daily News)
  
  • CAIR: Making a Farce of a Faith: Where Do We Draw the Line? (Huff Post)
• CAIR-CT: Law Day Ceremony Honors Muslim Coalition
• CAIR-MI: Dems Slow to React to 'Racist' Politician Within Who Used the N-Word
  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR Condemns Brutal Attack on Elderly California Sikh

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 5/7/13) – The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned a brutal attack on an elderly Sikh man in that state.

CAIR-SV said 82-year old Plara Singh was beaten with an iron bar after he left a Sikh temple in Fresno, Calif., Sunday morning. He remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Sikh Coalition: 82-Year-Old Man Severely Beaten with Iron Bar

"We stand with the Sikh community in rejecting the religious and ethnic hatred that leads to such brutal and cowardly attacks," said CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra.

[NOTE: Sikh men who wear beards and turbans as part of their faith are often targeted by bigots who mistake them for Muslims.]

Elkarra said CAIR has in the past spoken out against bias-motivated attacks on American Sikhs.

Last year, CAIR said that American Muslims "stand with their Sikh brothers and sisters" following a deadly shooting attack targeting a house of worship of that faith in Wisconsin.

In 2011, CAIR offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals who gunned down two elderly Sikh men in Elk Grove, Calif.

SEE: Muslim Civil Rights Group Offers Reward for Info on Gunman in Deadly Shooting
CAIR: Muslim Organization Offers Reward

In 2010, CAIR called for an FBI investigation of an attack on a Sikh cab driver in West Sacramento, Calif. The driver said his passengers made anti-Muslim remarks during the attack. Two men were later arrested on charges of felony assault and commission of a hate crime.

CAIR: Muslim Assaulted In Bias Attack Outside Boston Restaurant (Boston Globe)

Yesterday, CAIR urged state and federal law enforcement authorities to bring hate crime charges against two suspects who allegedly verbally and physically assaulted a Muslim student in Boston, Mass.

CAIR recently asked prosecutors in Virginia to bring felony charges based on that state's hate crime law for an alleged assault on a Muslim U.S. Army reservist and Iraq veteran reportedly attacked by a passenger who compared him to those who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings and threatened to kill him.

Video: Taxi Driver Claims He Was Attacked Because He is Muslim (CAIR)

Several other bias-motivated incidents targeting Muslims may have been linked to the Boston bombings.

In Malden, Mass., a mother of Middle Eastern heritage wearing an Islamic headscarf, or hijab, was assaulted by a white male shouting anti-Muslim slurs. In New York, a Bangladeshi man was beaten hours after the Boston Marathon bombing by attackers who called him "a f**king Arab." The victim was punched in the head and body, resulting in a dislocated shoulder.

CAIR: Hate Crimes in MA, NY Follow Boston Bombings

CAIR's Oklahoma chapter also called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a second incident of vandalism targeting a mosque in that state to determine whether it is backlash from the Boston Marathon bombings.

SEE: CAIR Asks FBI to Probe Okla. Mosque Vandalism as Part of Boston 'Backlash'

CAIR is investigating other reports it has received recently of threats to American mosques and Muslim schools.

Muslim individuals and Islamic institutions, as well as houses of worship of other faiths, are being urged to review advice on security procedures contained in CAIR's "Muslim Community Safety Kit."

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its 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.

• Investigative Report: American Islamic Congress Funded by Islamophobes 
  Despite its claim to promote tolerance, the AIC has depended on substantial support from the very same elements that fought tooth and nail to sabotage the Islamic Society of Boston, and which seem determined to undermine Muslim communal organizing efforts across the country...According to Internal Revenue Service 990 information filings, the AIC is funded largely by a pool of right-wing donors responsible for bankrolling key players in America’s Islamophobia industry, from Charles Jacobs to Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism and Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum. 
• Missouri Lawmaker's Email Attacking Muslims Drawing Fire
  An email from a powerful Missouri lawmaker attacking Muslims is drawing fire from Christian pastors in the lawmakers St. Louis County hometown.
• CAIR: Calif. Sikh Beating a Possible Hate Crime (AP)
  The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, issued a statement condemning the attack.
  
  • Politicians Criticize Anti-Muslim Graffiti in Brooklyn
  • My Racist Encounter at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
  • CAIR: Store in Hot Water for Selling Muslim Terrorist Greeting Card
• IL: Medical Office Would Accommodate Muslim Patients (Chicago Trib)
• CAIR-CAN: Muslim Population is Fastest-Growing Religion in Canada

ISLAM-OPED: A Word of Truth on Jihad and Islam

ISLAM-OPED is a syndication service of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) designed to offer an American Muslim perspective on current political, social and religious issues. ISLAM-OPED commentaries are offered free-of-charge to one media outlet in each market area. Permission for publication will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.

Please consider the following commentary for publication.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

-----

ISLAM-OPED: A Word of Truth on Jihad and Islam
By Nihad Awad

Word Count: 810

[Nihad Awad is national executive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil liberties group. He may be contacted at: nawad@cair.com ]

There is a growing attempt by some commentators to label the recent bombings in Boston as "jihad" and to blame the deadly blasts on a non-existent concept they call "radical Islam."

I call "radical Islam" non-existent because radicalism or extremism is not permissible in Islam. Islam prohibits extremism and an essential part of the faith is moderation. A more accurate term might be "Al-Qaeda ideology."

The Quran, Islam's foundational holy text, states clearly: "We made you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with the example of your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind." (Quran, 2:143)

The Quran also states: "O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both." (Quran, 4:35)

There is no such thing as radical Islam, but there are radical Muslims -- just as there are extremists of every other religion or belief.

But there's a huge difference between the existence of radical individuals and a religion that permits radical beliefs or actions. These radicals certainly do not represent the teachings of Islam or the behavior or beliefs of mainstream Muslims.

In one Islamic tradition, called a "hadith," the Prophet Muhammad said: "Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the nights."

In recent years, we have seen the term "jihadist" come to be used as if it means a person who kills people out of a religious motivation, but this is terribly inaccurate.

"Jihad" does not mean "holy war." Literally, jihad means to "struggle," strive and exert effort. It is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense (e.g., - having a standing army for national defense), or fighting against tyranny or oppression.

For the sake of accuracy and to avoid spreading false information about a major world religion, extremist Muslims who commit crimes should be called criminals or, in cases where the definition fits, terrorists. We should not legitimize their actions by calling them jihadists, even if they attempt to call themselves by that label and seek a false religious connection or justification. These criminals should not be honored with a religious label.

Islam allows legitimate self defense, but prohibits the killing of innocent people, even in times of war or conflict. Aggression is never permitted.

"And fight in the cause of God those who fight against you, and do not commit aggression. Indeed God does not love those who are aggressors," (The Quran, 2:190).

So yes, there are some Muslims who have extreme views, or mental illnesses, or political grievances, or a host of other reasons that lead them to kill people, and this is not only a tragedy and a crime but an egregious violation of the principles of Islam.

The difference between Muslim killers and killers from other backgrounds is often the way they are described by the media and viewed by the public: with Muslim killers, the crime is almost always attributed to their religion.

Because the word "terrorism" is used almost exclusively to describe crimes whose perpetrators are Muslims, you might think that a majority of mass killings and acts of terrorism in the U.S. were committed by Muslims. But when we look at the facts, that perception does not hold up.

• According to FBI statistics, of all terrorist attacks on U.S. soil from 1980 to 2005, six percent were committed by Muslims.
  
• According to a study from the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy, since 2011, politically-motivated attacks by Muslim Americans have killed 33 people, while terrorist attacks by white supremacists and other right-wing extremists killed more than 200 people.
  
• According to a report by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, "66 Americans were killed in mass shootings by non-Muslims in 2012 alone, twice as many fatalities as from Muslim-American terrorism in all 11 years since 9/11."

In a well-known hadith, a man asked the Prophet Muhammad, "What is the best jihad?" to which Prophet Muhammad replied, "Speaking a word of truth to an oppressive ruler."

The constant misuse of terms like "jihad" and "radical Islam" is offensive to the truth and is counterproductive to our nation's efforts to achieve security.It is time we all speak a word of truth by applying the proper labels to criminals and their acts of violence, no matter their religious background.

• CAIR-WA to Seek 'Maximum Penalties' for Threats to Muslim Family 
  CAIR-WA will hold a news conference today to call for maximum legal penalties for a man who allegedly harassed and threatened a Muslim family at the Seattle Center last month. At the news conference, CAIR-WA will outline why this incident appears to be part of a pattern of recent harassment of and attacks on American Muslims and will ask the FBI to look into the case for possible federal charges.
• CAIR-St. Louis: State Rep. Rick Stream Defends 'Anti-Muslim' Email 
  
  • CAIR-St. Louis Seeks Apology for Mo. Lawmaker's Anti-Muslim Email
• CAIR Action Video: Abu Ghraib
• 82nd Airborne Sgt. Says Muslim Sounding Name Drew Harassment
• Missouri Legislature Sends Anti-Islam Bill to Governor
  
  • May 16 in DC: Sharia and Foreign Law Bans in a State Near You?
• OK: Permit Recommended for Edmond Islamic Center Over Opposition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR Submits Testimony for House Hearing on Boston Bombings

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/9/2013) -- The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, today submitted written testimony for a House hearing on the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.

Today's hearing by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), is a first in a series of expected public hearings to investigate what happened during the Boston attacks, what law enforcement and intelligence agencies knew prior to the attacks and what steps can be taken to prevent future attacks from occurring.

CAIR's testimony examines the attacks and offers a series of recommendations on how law enforcement can better organize counterterrorism programs to prevent acts of al-Qaeda-inspired violent extremism.

CAIR's recommendations include: 1) calls for stronger countering violent extremism (CVE) programs that support direct community outreach and engagement; 2) federal guidance on how to intervene with people vulnerable to violent extremism; and, 3) law enforcement investigations that pursue and prevent criminal actions, not religious beliefs.

While some members in Congress, like Rep. Peter King (R-NY), have called for increased surveillance of American Muslims, CAIR's testimony urges the committee to reject blanketed surveillance programs, such as that carried out by the New York Policy Department, which damage the trust of ethnic and religious minorities. 

"CAIR and the American Muslim community were horrified and dismayed by the tragic events that occurred in Boston," said CAIR Government Affair Manager Robert McCaw. "As a nation, we are obligated to examine how well federal law enforcement carried out their responsibilities prior to and after the attacks, and to determine what lessons may be learned to better protect our nation's citizens."

McCaw added: "We appreciate Rep. McCaul's sober and objective chairing of the hearing. Such a hearing contributes to protecting all Americans from violent extremists. This responsible approach is a welcome shift from Rep. Peter King's tenure, which was characterized by unsubstantiated allegations and biased attacks on the Muslim community."

SEE: Rep. Peter King's Anti-Muslim Congressional Hearings

CAIR encourages those who are unable to attend the hearing to watch it online and join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtags #BostonMarathon and #HomelandSecurityCommittee.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its 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.

• CAIR-MI: Dearborn Heights Police Provide Halal Food to Muslims 
  In recent months, members of the Council on American Islamic Relations of Michigan has held meetings with the Dearborn Heights mayor and police chief to discuss the need for the City's police force to better accommodate the community. These meetings have led to the recent halal food accommodation. 
  
  • CAIR-MI: Muslim Women Can Keep Head Covering(Detroit News)
    After meeting this week with officials from the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan, the Novi Police Department has agreed to allow Muslim women to wear the traditional hijab head covering during detainment. "We welcome the sensitivity shown by the Novi Police Department and look forward to working with them in the future, which will include providing sensitivity trainings," CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement.
• CAIR-MI: Malcolm X's Grandson Killed in Mexico (USA Today)
  Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who has known Shabazz for several years, said Shabazz regularly spoke at Islamic centers around the country, educating children of immigrants from the Middle East and South Asia about Malcolm X and the civil rights movement."He was a young man who was fighting his own past and trying to get himself together, and he was a very young and rising activist," Walid said. "By him striving to turn his life around, he was a huge influence on hundreds if not thousands of Muslims in our country."
• CAIR-CT: Local Nonprofits to Join Muslim Community in Serving the Needy 
  The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Center of New London will join with members of the local Muslim community to help serve food to the needy on May 11 at Parish Hall, 66 Union St., New London.
• CAIR: Greeting Card Company Converts Child Toy Into 'Terrorist' (Video)
  
  • Return of the Anti-Muslim Bigots (Salon)
    As the GOP coalition gets frayed, Islamophobia is one of the few things that can unify the party.
  • Islamophobe to Speak to California Republicans
  • Islamophobia Watch: NJ Jewish Group Told 'When Muslims follow their doctrine, they become jihadists'
• CAIR Blog: FBI Entrapment Harms Vulnerable Muslims
  Because mental disabilities often result in an inability to control physical behavior and speech, interviews that take place in this context have the potential not only to unfairly incriminate an innocent suffering person, but to mislead law enforcement and waste public resources on those who need treatment, not criminal penalties for crimes they would never have the capacity to commit. (Read more)

• Hadith of the Day: Paradise is at a Mother's Feet 
  A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: "(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet." (Al-Tirmidhi)
• Anti-Muslim Group Defends American Islamic Congress After Exposé
  There have been some very interesting reactions to Max Blumenthal's investigation that revealed the virulently anti-Muslim and pro-Israel donors behind the American Islamic Congress (AIC). . .If the Clarion Project's defense of AIC was supposed to help the organization's credibility with anyone other than extreme anti-Muslim elements, it is more likely to do precisely the opposite.
• CAIR: Boxer's Israeli Visa Bill Stirs Backlash (SF Chronicle)
  [CAIR] said the bill would give a U.S. seal of approval to "Israel's well-documented ethnic and religious profiling." As the organization noted, the U.S. State Department has officially advised travelers that U.S. citizens "of Arab or Muslim origin have experienced significant difficulties in entering or exiting Israel or the West Bank."
  • CAIR Action Alert: Ask Senate to Drop Israel Visa Waiver Exemption Making U.S. Muslims 'Second-Class Citizens'
• Jewish Voice for Peace Supports Campaign Criticizing Israeli Human Rights Violations
• CAIR-Cincinnati Honors Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
  Centennial Barn has been awarded the I-CAIR Award from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Cincinnati Chapter. The Centennial Barn was selected for the award for I-CAIR Encouraging Dialogue award for 2013. The barn serves as a ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor.
• CAIR-MN: Anti-Bullying Bill Passes House
  CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya testified before the House Education Policy Committee in support of the bill and shared a CAIR-MN case involving a Somali Muslim student who was bullied and harassed in high school.
  • Landmark Settlement for Sikh Middle Schooler Targeted by Bullies
    The Sikh student was referred to as "Osama," a "terrorist," and "curryhead," and told he has a "bomb on his head," and to "go back to your country."
• Islamophobia: Columnist Diana West Appears on Racist Anti-Muslim Program
  Interview with Diana West begins at about 48 minutes into the program.
  • Video: Debating Bill Maher on Muslims, Islam and US Foreign Policy
• Imam William Suhaib Webb Emerges as Face of Boston's Muslim Community
  • Jets' Aboushi a Rare Palestinian-American in NFL (Fresno Bee)
    Embracing his background, and being celebrated for it, is nothing new for Aboushi. He was one of about a dozen Muslim athletes honored in 2011 at a reception hosted by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the State Department in Washington.
• Voices of Faith: Is Abortion Ever Acceptable? (KC Star)
  Islam's approach to the issue of birth control and abortion is very balanced. It allows women to prevent pregnancy (for a valid reason) but forbids them to terminate it except in certain cases: if there is a clear threat to the life of the mother with continuation of pregnancy; if there is complete assurance that the fetus will have obvious mental or physical defects after birth; or in cases of rape, but most Muslim scholars hold that the child of rape is a legitimate child, and thus it would be sinful to kill this child.

• CAIR: 'USA Bomb' Backpack Left at R.I. Muslim Family's Home (Projo)
  A suspicious backpack left at a Muslim home should be treated as a hate crime, part of a possible backlash against the Boston Marathon bombings, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Sunday. . .On Saturday, state bomb investigators responded to a report of a suspicious backpack left at a residence on Cass Avenue near Woonsocket High School. . .The backpack said "USA Bomb" on it, Ead said.CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com
• CAIR Says Spray-Painting of Okla. Mosque May Be Boston Backlash (NBC)
  • Video: CAIR-OK Urges Safety Precautions After Mosque Vandalism
    Soltani said CAIR Oklahoma will reach out to other Muslim communities in the metro to make sure they take some extra safety precautions.
  • CAIR-OK: FBI Probes Vandalism at Oklahoma City Mosque (Oklahoman)
  • Outlook 2013: 3 Questions with CAIR-OK's Adam Soltani (Oklahoman)
    Q. What will the biggest change be in the Oklahoma City metro area, in terms of the religious community? A. I believe one of the biggest challenges facing the religious community in the Oklahoma City metro area is how can we work together for a better future, not only for our faith groups and congregations, but for Oklahomans of all faiths or lack thereof. 
• Open letter to Asra Nomani: Enabling Islamophobia (RNS)
  Sadly, there is a pattern of you standing with Islamophobes and against justice for years now.  
  • Obama: 'I'm Not the Strapping Young Muslim Socialist I Used to Be'
• IL: Mixing Islam with Medicine
  A Chicago doctor who owns a lavish Middle Eastern eatery on West Randolph Street wants to open the first outpatient surgery center in Illinois that he says will follow Islamic law.

• CAIR-MD: Don't Let Israel Discriminate Against Americans Based on Religion(Baltimore Sun)
  A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would allow a foreign country, Israel, to discriminate against select groups of American citizens ... Disappointingly, the bill, S.B. 462 (also known as the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013), is co-sponsored by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin ... It would enshrine into U.S. law a provision allowing another country to discriminate against Americans based on their ethnicity or religion. (Read more)
  
  • CAIR: Israel Visa Waiver Exemption Makes U.S. Muslims 'Second-Class Citizens'
• 500 Turn Out for CAIR-MD Banquet
  Some 500 guests turned out on Sunday for the inaugural banquet of the Maryland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MD) at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt, Md. The banquet theme was "Upholding Our Constitution, Defending Our Faith." (Read more)
• CAIR-FL: Judge Muslims on Actions, Don't Demonize Them All (Sun-Sentinel)
  We must deny those seeking religious legitimacy to support their crimes and hold individuals responsible and accountable for their actions. (Read more)
• CAIR-California: Muslim Day at the State Capitol
  Today is Muslim Day at the State Capitol, organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR informs Capitol Alert that they'll be focusing on three specific priorities: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's immigration bill AB 4, Ammiano's domestic workers rights bill AB 241, and a CAIR-authored resolution, currently without a carrier, that would underscore the need to protect free speech on college campuses. (Read more)
• CAIR-MI: School Board Member Removes Offensive Facebook Post
• Abe Foxman Rationalizes Blanket Spying on American Muslims
  That Foxman doesn't balk at the premise of the question--politicians calling for all Muslims to be tracked--might be less galling if not for the fact that there are already programs for blanket spying on the basis of religion by the New York Police Department's Intel Division.
• Okla. FBI Searching for Mosque Vandals in Possible Hate Crime
  
  • CAIR: 'US Bombs' Backpack in RI Yard Not a Threat
• The Importance of Keith Ellison, a Patriotic American Who's Also a Muslim
• Fox News Host: Denouncing Violence Against Muslims 'Perceived' as Offensive 
  
  • Former Fox News Pundit: Fox Waging 'Campaign' to Link 'Radical,' 'Islam' 
• Female Converts to Islam Facing Growing Scrutiny (RNS)