CAIR: HOUSE RESOLUTION ASKS FEDS TO COUNTER ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENT - TOP

Today, Congressman Conyers sent a dear colleague letter to all members of Congress, urging them to support a resolution calling for the federal government to take steps to counter anti-Muslim sentiment

Latest News: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Customs Agents Detain, Question Muslims For No Reason. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a news release Wednesday that it will file federal complaints. The following link is to a video detailing this development:http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/27300254/index.html

Dear Colleague:

Please join us as an original co-sponsor of the resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the federal government should take steps to counter anti-Muslim sentiment. Over the last decade, the American Muslim community has confronted a festering level of suspicion which has manifested itself in hostile government policies and bias from the general public. A CBS/ New York Times poll released in mid-September showed that as many as 20 percent of Americans said they have negative feelings toward Muslims because of the September 11th terrorist attacks. While Congress has confronted some of the more violent manifestations of this bias, the general climate faced by the community has continued to create barriers to full participation in public life that should be addressed by official government policy. (More)

-----

IMAM TEACHES ISLAM WITH A DISTINCT U.S. STYLE - TOP
Raja Abdulrahim, Los Angeles Times, 5/27/11

At the pulpit of an inner-city Chicago mosque, the tall blond imam begins preaching in his customary fashion, touching on the Los Angeles Lakers victory the night before, his own gang involvement as a teenager, a TV soap opera and then the Day of Judgment.

"Yesterday we watched the best of seven ... . Unfortunately we forget the big final; it's like that show 'One Life to Live,'" Imam Suhaib Webb says as sleepy boys and young men come to attention in the back rows. "There's no overtime, bro."

The sermon is typical of Webb, a charismatic Oklahoma-born convert to Islam with a growing following among American Muslims, especially the young. He sprinkles his public addresses with as many pop culture references as Koranic verses and sayings from the prophet. He says it helps him connect with his mainly U.S.-born flock. (More)

SEE ALSO:

IMAM FIGHTS STREET CRIME WITH MOSQUE FIGHT CLUB - TOP
By Eric Marrapodi, Dan Lothian, Chris Turner & Tom Foreman, CNN, 5/27/11

Editor's Note: This piece comes from a new CNN special "Stories: Reporter." Tune in Saturday at 7:30PM EDT to see the full story.

Philadelphia (CNN) -- Listen to the FBI and you will know that violent crime dropped over almost the whole country last year; murder, aggravated assault, forcible rape. Listen to people in some parts of Philadelphia and you will know that the Northeast is not part of that trend. Here the numbers keep climbing.

Violence comes to their streets as surely as sunset. Abandoned houses share corners with makeshift memorials to victims; often young men who get caught up in events they don't anticipate and can't escape.

"Around here it's not every safe to walk up the streets," one kid said. "Someone could come up to you and start shooting at you for no reason; just 'cause you're from that 'hood."

That is why Imam Suetwidien Muhammad chose this place to start hitting back.

"I came up in this neighborhood," he said sitting in the morning sun on the steps of a former plumbing supply warehouse. "This neighborhood was averaging six murders a month. There was a lot of violence, a lot of trash. We needed to bring about change."

So 10 years ago he started Masjid Muhammad of Philadelphia, a mosque in the old rundown warehouse. As he sat and explained how the mosque had grown to 500 members, workers above him pushed and slapped stucco into the three story stone facade above him. They started by fixing up the inside so people could have a safe place to come and pray.

Congregants said the place perennially smells like fresh paint because the imam is always busy fixing or improving something.

Inside the doors from what was once the plumbing supply loading dock are a small deli, a barber shop, a hair salon, a restaurant and a sprawling prayer space. But Imam Muhammad's pride and joy is upstairs, above the worship space; a boxing gym where the children of the neighborhood come every day ... .

The young boxers are a range of ages. Some were raised Muslim, some Christian, some follow no faith, but all are welcome. The lessons are free and not just about boxing. Imam Muhammad talks endlessly about discipline, respect, education and commitment; about young people turning into responsible adults. (More)

-----

CA: JEWISH, MUSLIM STUDENTS UNITE TO DEBUNK ISLAMOPHOBE'S CLAIMS - TOP
By Santa Barbara Hillel, UCSB American Students for Israel, UCSB Students for Justice in Palestine and UCSB Muslim Student Association, 5/26/11

The relationship between the Jewish and Muslim communities is often portrayed as one of enmity and opposition. In reality, this is just not true. Both Jews and Muslims are adherents of monotheist, Abrahamic religions that have a great deal in common.

Perhaps more importantly, American Jews and Muslims share the experience of living as minority communities within the larger fabric of American society. For many of our ancestors, the freedom of religion and expression afforded by the U.S. Constitution played a pivotal role in informing their decision to emigrate to our great country.

David Horowitz has claimed that opposition to A.S. funding for his upcoming speech is rooted in a desire to silence him and curtail his right to free speech. The truth is that we merely oppose the use of student funds to subsidize bigotry and prejudice. (More)

SEE ALSO:

NEW BOOK EXAMINES MUSLIMS, JEWS -- AND THEIR COMMON GROUND - TOP
Emma Silvers, San Francisco Jewish Community Publications, 5/27/11

Last summer, as the debate over the Islamic community center near ground zero reached a fever pitch, longtime friends and former classmates Reza Aslan and Aaron Hahn Tapper were watching, fascinated.

"There were some Jewish organizations coming down on the rights of Muslims to build that center, and then some other Jewish organizations were coming out in favor of it -- and criticizing those other organizations -- and it just seemed like such a perfect example of how complex that relationship really is," said Aslan, an internationally acclaimed religious scholar, writer and professor at U.C. Irvine. "That was a moment where we thought, 'It's time for this kind of book.' "

"Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions and Complexities," a collection of essays by preeminent religious leaders, thinkers and innovators -- eight of them Muslim, eight Jewish -- is the result of a longstanding friendship between Aslan and Tapper. (More)

-----

DARKNESS DESCENDS ON THE MUSLIMS OF MURFREESBORO - TOP
Leonard Pitts Jr., Seattle Times, 5/27/11

So, it turns out Islam is a religion. Imagine that.

Granted, this would be considered self-evident by most of us, but it has been a matter of great controversy in the Tennessee town of Murfreesboro, where 17 people went to court last year to prevent a group of Muslims from building a mosque. On their own land.

The need to defend this fundamental right was only one of the ordeals visited upon the Muslims of Murfreesboro, who have also faced threats, vandalism and arson. As recently, vividly illustrated in "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door," a troubling CNN documentary, the antagonists here are a clownish band of bigots scared witless by the prospect that a new mosque will be built in their community by a congregation that has already worshipped in said community for 30 years.

Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

The 17 had contended Muslims have no constitutional freedom to worship because Islam is not a religion. So the statement at the top of this column represents not just self-evident truth, but an actual ruling last week by an actual judge in an actual court. Again: seriously. Chancellor Robert Corlew, the aforementioned actual judge, was obliged to verify that Islam -- which has survived 14 centuries, and claims a billion and a half adherents -- is a religion. (More)

SEE ALSO:

VIDEO: SATURNA'S KAISER ON INVESTING UNDER SHARIA LAW - TOP

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nicholas Kaiser, chairman of Saturna Capital Corp. and manager of the Amana Income Fund, talks about investing according to Sharia law. Kaiser speaks with Lisa Murphy on Bloomberg Television's "Fast Forward." They spoke on May 23.

Watch the video here.

-----

CAIR-WA: STOP THE HATE TOWARD OTHERS - TOP
Samantha Pak, Redmond Reporter, 5/27/11

Redmond is a growing city.

And with this growth comes more diversity: In the last 10 years, populations in almost every racial group in the city have grown.

As our neighbors become increasingly different from ourselves, there needs to be more of an effort among us to understand each other. We need to learn what we have in common and let that bring us together rather than allow our differences to drive us apart.

On Monday, a Redmond resident found a note stuck to her vehicle stating, "We don't (want) Muslims in America" in English and "We don't want Muslims in our country, go away," in Arabic.

The woman, who is Muslim and wears an Islamic head scarf, had entered a Starbucks in town with her 9-year-old daughter for about 10 minutes and found the message -- written on a sticky note -- when they returned to their vehicle. (More)

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-CA: STOCKTON MOSQUE FIRE AN ARSON - TOP
Stephen Magagnini, Sacramento Bee, 5/26/11

An early-morning fire that burned down a Stockton mosque last month was the work of an arsonist, fire investigators said Wednesday.

They announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the April 23 blaze that destroyed the Masjid Al Emaan Mosque at 4212 N. Pershing Ave. in central Stockton.

Also damaged were adjacent businesses -- Reliance Real Estate Office and Living Well Ministries and Christian Center.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation with the Stockton Fire and Police departments. There were no injuries and the fire damage was estimated at $400,000, ATF spokeswoman Helen Dunkel said.

The ATF released footage from a video taken in the mosque of an image of a person wearing a bag over his or her head, entering just after 3 a.m. (More)

-----

CAIN CONTINUES WALK-BACK OF MUSLIM COMMENTS - TOP
Lynda Waddington, Iowa Independent, 5/27/11

In less than two weeks, former Godfather's Pizza chief executive Herman Cain will return to Iowa as a participant in a religious conservative group's presidential lecture series. For now, however, he is traveling the nation as a GOP presidential candidate and speaking with conservative-friendly media outlets in hopes of lessening the damage his remarks concerning Muslims have caused.

On Tuesday, Cain appeared on out-going Fox News host Glenn Beck's radio program, and reiterated his belief that earlier comments he had made about Muslims had been "misconstrued."

"I immediately said, without thinking, 'No, I would not be comfortable.' I did not say that I would not have [Muslims] in my cabinet. If you look at my career, I have hired good people regardless of race, religion, sex gender, orientation and this kind of thing."

When Cain was approached by a Think Progress blogger in Des Moines following a late March Conservative Principles Conference, however, he was very clear.

... Would you be comfortable appointing a Muslim, either in your cabinet or as a federal judge?

Cain: "No, I would not. And here's why. There is this creeping attempt, there is this attempted to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government. It does not belong in our government ... . The question that was asked that 'raised some questions' and, as my grandfather said, 'I does not care, I feel the way I feel.' ... " (More)

-----

CAIR-SAN DIEGO: POLICIES MUST MATCH PRESIDENT'S MIDEAST RHETORIC - TOP
Hanif Mohebi, San Diego Union Tribune, 5/27/11

President Barack Obama's 45-minute Arab Spring speech at the State Department last week signaled some hope and a potential new direction to U.S. policy in the Mideast and in North Africa. But then again, he delivered something similar almost two years ago inCairo only to disappoint Arabs and Muslims around the world later with a lack of clear, concrete action to match his rhetoric. So we can only wait and see if there is any substance to the hype. (More)

Mohebi is the executive director for the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He may be reached at hmohebi@cair.com

-----

NY STATE CONGRESSMAN DISCUSSES WAR ON TERRORISM AT MOSQUE - TOP
Staten Island Advance, 5/27/11

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rep. Michael Grimm addressed approximately 300 members of the borough's Muslim community today during a forum at Masjid al-Noor mosque in Concord.

Grimm (R-Staten Island) spoke for about 15 minutes during the Friday prayer congregation. Afterward he had lunch with the group.

"This is a great community on Staten Island. They've been here for generation," Grimm said afterward. "This community, and others like them, they are the most powerful force fighting terrorism." (More)