• Is the Push for Anti-Muslim Legislation Starting to Wane?
  2014 appears to be the year when bills to ban court use of international/foreign law, or specifically sharia law, start to wane. I mentioned two weeks ago that at least three states that saw such bills introduced in the past did not see them reintroduced in 2014. Update 2/6/14: The Mississippi legislature's bill tracking system now indicates that HB 44 of 2014 has in fact  made it out of committee.
  
  • CAIR Community Toolkit: Securing Religious Liberty 
    A Muslim community handbook for opposing legislation that restricts religious freedom and threatens the U.S. Constitution.
    
• CAIR-NY Applauds Mayor on Plans to Close NYC Schools for Muslim Holidays
  • CAIR-NY: NYC Schools to Get Islamic Holidays Off (NBC News)
    "The NYC Muslim community looks forward to finally having the Eid holidays recognized in our public schools. It will be gratifying to know that Muslim children will soon no longer have to choose between honoring and celebrating their faith or missing class," said CAIR-NY Executive Board Member Zead Ramadan in a press release Wednesday.
    
• John Riutta: Why I'm Reading the Quran
  For those who might like to join me in reading the Qur'ān, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has a wonderful program through which a copy of the same edition I am presently reading -- The Message of the Qur'ān complete with the original Arabic text as well as translated, transliterated, and annotated by Muhammad Asad -- will be sent directly to you for the cost of the postage necessary to send it. 
  
• Greek Life, Muslim Style (NY Times)
  Shortly before sunup, a dozen or so students at the University of California, San Diego, stumbled dutifully out of bed. They ironed their collared shirts, knotted their ties and piled into their cars. Their destination was the Islamic Center of San Diego, where they were to be initiated into the country's first Muslim fraternity, Alpha Lambda Mu, named for three letters that start several chapters of the Quran: Alif Laam Meem.
  
• CAIR-SV: Muslim Group Wants Federal Help in Hate Crime Inquiry
  The nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization is now calling on state and federal law enforcement agencies to aid in the investigation of what they're calling a "possible hate crime" at a Manteca prayer center.
  
  • CAIR-SV: California Islamic Center Vandalized with Expletives, Bacon (Video)
  • CAIR-SV: Calif. Anti-Mosque Hate Crime May Get Federal Attention
    
• The Hummus Takes a Satirical Look at Islamophobia