HADITH OF THE DAY: EXERCISE AUTHORITY WITH HONESTY - TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Anyone who God has given authority over people, and does not look after them in an honest manner, will never experience even the scent of Paradise."

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Hadith 264

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CAIR-CA: UCI ASKED TO REMOVE SYRIAN REGIME REP FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES -TOP

(IRVINE, CA, 4/2/12) -- More than a dozen prominent advocacy and interfaith groups in Southern California today released an open letter addressed to University of California Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake, urging him to take immediate action regarding its Board of Trustees Chair Hazem Chehabi, who continues to hold the highest diplomatic seat in the U.S. as a representative of Syria's brutal Assad regime.

The open letter follows an overwhelming UCI Associated Students' March 15 vote, which called for Chehabi's removal from the university's Board of Trustees. (More)

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500+ TURN OUT FOR SOLD-OUT CAIR-OK BANQUET - TOP

(OKLAHOMA CITY, 4/2/12) -- More than 500 people turned out on Saturday for the sixth annual awards banquet of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK).

Attendees at the sold-out event, with the theme "Making Democracy Work," heard about CAIR-OK's work in the last year, including its stand against anti-Sharia legislation, the creation of new community outreach and youth empowerment programs and the defense of the civil liberties of American Muslim victims of discrimination.

At the banquet, CAIR-OK raised more than $100,000 to continue its efforts to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

"We thank all those who helped make our banquet such a success and we pledge to use the resources provided by the community to redouble our outreach and advocacy efforts," said CAIR-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad. (More)

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CAIR-TX: CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS GATHER FOR CONFERENCE - TOP
Louis Casiano, Houston Chronicle, 4/2/12

The deaths of Trayvon Martin and Shaima Al Awadi sparked national outrage and have since fueled continued conversation on civil rights in Houston and across the nation.

Dozens of concerned citizens met Saturday at an all-day Civil Rights Coalition conference at the Houston Community College West Loop campus to discuss civil rights, immigration and the criminal justice system in a post 9/11 world.

Participants discussed the deaths of Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old who was shot and killed in Florida last month by a community-watch leader, and Al Awadi, who died last week in California after being found severely beaten next to a note that read "go back to your country."

'Anti-everything'

"We do have a lot of people in this community, a significant minority, who are anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic, anti-everything," said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director for the Houston chapter for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Representatives for CAIR touched on the rise of islamophobia after 9/11 and privacy issues, such as the monitoring of particular people and organizations.

Carroll said that while Islamophobia in the U.S. is not widespread, the rhetoric of some public officials creates an environment where it can flourish. (More)

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CAIR-CA: UNSOLVED KILLING IS THE TALK OF IRAQIS' ENGLISH CLASS - TOP
Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, 4/2/12

El CAJON, Calif. -- This day's English lessons for Iraqi immigrants at Cuyamaca College involved learning how to talk about bad news.

From their text, "Day by Day: English for Employment Communication," the 25 students repeated dialogue wrapped around common occurrences: "I lost my wallet" and "My husband got fired from his job."

But the students had a horrific piece of real news on their minds: the March 24 death of an Iraqi immigrant who had been bludgeoned with a tire iron in her home three days earlier. A note near her bloodied body called her a terrorist and told her to "go back to your country."

"They can't stop talking about it," said the instructor, Hayfa Dalali, an immigrant from Baghdad. "They just keep saying: 'She was a mother of five, from a nice family, in a safe neighborhood.'"

Predictably, the unsolved killing of 32-year-old Shaima Alawadi has led to heightened concern among some women about their safety.

But in this working-class suburb east of San Diego, the nation's second-most-populous community of Iraqi immigrants, the fear does not seem to spring from a belief that the killing was a hate crime committed by a predator stalking Iraqis. ...

Officials of the San Diego branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council have urged residents not to jump to conclusions and to wait for the police to find the killer. So did Imam Sharif Battikhi at a memorial service for Alawadi at the mosque in nearby Lakeside. (More)

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CAIR: CALIFORNIA MUSLIM DAY AT THE CAPITOL - TOP

Be part of this historic event!

The first-ever California Muslim Day at the Capitol will take place on Monday, May 7, 2012 in Sacramento. Community members from across California will have an opportunity to meet State Legislators to discuss issues pertaining to education, immigration, healthcare, and civil rights and help bring about positive social change.

LIMITED SPOTS

If you're interested, please complete the following registration form. A $50 registration fee applies. A CAIR-CA representative will get back to you once you complete the form below.

Click here for more information or here to register.

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CAIR-FL: ISLAMIC SPEAKER CONTROVERSY THINLY VEILED CENSORSHIP (TAMPA BAY TIMES) - TOP
Ernest Hooper, Tampa Bay Times, 4/2/12

The parents complaining about the appearance of Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a Steinbrenner High classroom should have more trust in teachers and more faith in their parental abilities.

Concerns about indoctrination are unfounded, but even if Shibly aimed to "brainwash" students, the protesting parents should believe in the lessons they teach at home.

For example, we've raised our kids to be respectful of differing opinions and reject intolerance. I wouldn't worry if someone preached bigotry in their class.

They know better.

Education should be about the marketplace of ideas, not thinly veiled censorship. ...

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VIDEO: ANTI-MUSLIM HATE COMES TO FLA. SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS (CAIR) -TOP

Video: Anti-Muslim Hate Comes to Fla. School Board Meetings (CAIR)

In November 2011, a Tampa, Fla., high school invited a Muslim lecturer to speak about Islamic history and tradition to college level advanced placement students. When anti-Muslim extremists David Caton and Terry Kemple found out, they brought dozens of Islamophobes to spread lies, fear and hatred against Islam and Muslims at school board meetings.

Video: Student Praises CAIR-FL Rep's Class Presentation (Tampa Trib)

Parents have complained multiple times to the school board after the Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations spoke to a Steinbrenner High School World History class. (More)

Watch the video.

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NJ: NEWARK COUNCIL WANTS NYPD MUSLIM SPYING INVESTIGATED - TOP
LocalTalkNews.com, 4/2/12

All six Municipal Council members present at their March 21 meeting unanimously approved an ordinance that call for an investigation of those involved with the New York Police Department's covert surveillance of the city's Muslim community.

The ordinance, which passed at 7:50 p.m. before a packed council chamber gallery main floor audience of 250, calls for "an investigation of any and all government and law enforcement personnel with regard to the intelligence gathering activities of the NYPD and the Newark Police Department throughout the Muslim community."

The measure, authored and sponsored by Central Ward Councilman Darrin Sharif, was in response to the 2007 surveillance of various masjids, schools and businesses owned and/or operated by Muslims or frequented by Muslims. Controversy erupted in Newark when the Associated Press received and published a 60-page top secret NYPD intelligence report on their surveillance observations and findings.

The NYPD surveillance in Newark was conducted as part of that law enforcement agency's intelligence gathering throughout the tri-state New York metropolitan region five years ago. Such activities included similar observations in Paterson and following e-mail messages among Islamic student associations in Rutgers and Yale universities. "Big Apple" police went as far as sending an undercover officer along an Islamic student group's whitewater rafting trip in upstate New York. (More)

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HOUSE DEMOCRATS SLAM BLOOMBERG'S 'UNDERHANDED' RESPONSE TO CONCERNS OVER NYPD MUSLIM SPYING - TOP
By Associated Press, 4/2/12

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are criticizing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for what they called his "underhanded and unprofessional" response to criticism of the New York Police Department's spying programs. (More)

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TENN. LEGISLATURE HONORS HEAD OF ANTI-ISLAM GROUP - TOP
Betsy Phillips, Nashville Scene, 4/2/12

On Monday's calendar is House Joint Resolution 823 to honor Bobbie Patray for being one of those residents of the State of Tennessee who has "dedicated themselves to improving the quality of life for their fellow citizens."

Has Bobbie Patray improved the quality of life for her fellow citizens? Not if her fellow citizens are Muslim. She totally has it out for those folks.

In her role as "citizen lobbyist" and president of the Tennessee Eagle Forum -- yes, Phyllis Schlafly's group, and yes, their secret motto is probably, "We hate feminism and think women should embrace traditional gender roles, except for us, because we have important work to do!" -- Patray and her organization helped to embarrass us all nationally with their legislation to ban Sharia law, and they're working on embarrassing us all nationally again by trying to make it illegal for U.S. residents who aren't citizens to teach at charter schools (because they might teach scary Muslim things).

I know what you're thinking. Causing us all to cringe in embarrassment and making our Muslim neighbors feel unwelcome sure doesn't sound like "a public-spirited citizen of the highest order and as an exceptional asset to her community," but people, look at what she has done for Tennesseans: (More)

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NEW BOOK -- CRUSADE 2.0: THE WEST'S RESURGENT WAR ON ISLAM - TOP
John Feffer, Religion Dispatches, 4/2/12

What inspired you to write Crusade 2.0? What sparked your interest?

I was drawn to the subject after my first visit to Turkey several years ago. I'd read the comments by Western European leaders and some American pundits about the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and how it was leading Turkey down the wrong path. When I was in the country, however, I was struck instead by how much political ferment was going on, how the economy was booming, how once-forbidden topics were being discussed. Of course, th AKP is flawed in many, many ways. But the move away from Turkey's militant--and military--secularism gave me pause.A

The second inspiration, if you can call it that, was the very ugly stereotyping of Muslims taking place--particularly in Europe. Much of the language used to describe European Muslims sounded eerily similar to Nazi descriptions of Jews in the 1930s. It was extremely important when non-Jews stood up for Jews during this period. Likewise, I thought it was important for a non-Muslim to write a book about Islamophobia for the general reader. (More)