Friday, August 3, 2012


  • Hadith of the Day: You Who Desire What is Good
    The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "When the first night of Ramadan comes ... a crier calls, 'You who desire what is good, come forward, and you who desire evil, refrain.'" (Al-Tirmidhi)
  • CAIR Seeks Fall Civil Rights Interns in D.C.
  • NY Muslim Leader to Give Congressional Invocation (Newsday)
    Nayyar Imam, 57, who also is the first-ever Muslim chaplain for the Suffolk County Police Department, said he is doing the invocation on Thursday in the House partly to break another barrier.
  • CAIR-TX: Ramadan Dinner with Houston Mayor 
    • CAIR-FL: Doing Without Food a Labor of Love (Sun-Sent)
      The Council on American-Islamic Relationsestimates there are about 75,000 Muslims in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
    • American Muslims Embrace a Greener Ramadan
      Some mosques, like Dar al-Hijrah and Adams Center, both located in Northern Virginia, educate their congregates on the importance of sustainability and have set up recycling programs to educate their members.
  • R.I. Prison Settles with Muslim Inmates over Religious Concerns
  • CA Democratic Party's Arab American Caucus Condemns Romney's Racist Comments 
    The California Democratic Party's Arab American Caucus (AAC) today condemned Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's racist comments about Arabs and Palestinians during a fundraiser in Jerusalem.
Posted by at No comments:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR Asks Myanmar, Bangladesh to Protect Rohingya Muslims
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/2/2012) –- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today sent letters to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh seeking protection for Rohingya Muslims who are facing a renewed wave of ethnic and religious persecution.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also urged the international community to address the suffering of the almost one million Rohingya in Myanmar (formerly Burma), as well as those who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which yesterday released a report on the humanitarian crisis:
"Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care."
Myanmar President Thein Sein said the "only solution" to the conflict was to expel the Rohingya to other countries.
Even when Rohingya Muslims are able to flee to the relative safety of Bangladesh, they face hostility and rejection. Today, Bangladeshi authorities ordered three international aid agencies not to help the Rohingyas fleeing to that nation.
In its letter to Myanmar President Thein Sein, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part:
"Your government must take urgent steps to end human rights violations by its security forces and to allow unimpeded access for relief organizations and international monitors seeking to enter affected areas. Once calm is restored, Myanmar must revise its 1982 Citizenship Law, which effectively denies citizenship to Rohingya Muslims.
"We urge you to cooperate with the international community to take immediate measures to address the ongoing killings and abuse of Rohingya Muslims."
In a similar letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Awad wrote:
"The government of Bangladesh, with the support of the international community, must offer full humanitarian assistance to those forced to flee Myanmar. Denial of this assistance will inevitably result in even greater suffering, which we should all seek to prevent."
In July, CAIR called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to take concrete steps to help stop the killing of civilians in Myanmar and Syria.
CAIR's letter to Secretary Clinton stated in part:
"As a world leader, our nation cannot stand on the sidelines while civilians are slaughtered in nations like Syria and Myanmar. More forceful actions must be taken to end the violence."
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.
- END –
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

Posted by at No comments:

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, July 24, 2012


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Mosques, Other Houses of Worship Asked to Pray for Rain
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/18/12) -- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on mosques and other houses of worship across America to offer prayers for rain to help relieve the drought that is impacting more than half of the nation.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged American mosques to offer the prayers, called "Salatul Istisqa" (sal-AT-al-istis-KA), during this week's Friday congregational services and for people of other faiths to offer prayers for rain according to their own religious traditions. Islam's Prophet Muhammad offered similar prayers during times of drought. Friday is expected to be the first day of fasting for the month of Ramadan.
CAIR-FL: Muslims Prepare to Observe Ramadan (Tampa Bay Times)
In Salatul Istisqa, the Prophet would offer supplications such as: "O God, give us rain that will replenish us, abundant, fertilizing and profitable, not injurious. Grant it now without delay ... Send down rain upon us and make it a source of strength and satisfaction ... O God, give us a saving rain, good and productive, general and heavy, now and not later, beneficial and not harmful."
The Quran, Islam's revealed text, states: "O my people! Seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance. He will send you from the sky abundant rain." (Quran, 11:52)
"We believe in the power of prayer, through which Americans of all faiths can provide a spiritual component to help relieve the nation from this crippling drought," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Awad said CAIR issued its call for multi-faith prayers in response to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicating that 55 percent of the contiguous United States is under moderate to extreme drought -- the largest area to be affected by drought since 1956.
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.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
Posted by at No comments:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR 'Grateful' Constitution Limits Michele Bachmann's McCarthyism
Muslim civil rights group challenges congresswoman's anti-Muslim fear mongering
(WASHINGTON, DC, 7/19/2012) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) today sent a letter to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in response to her recent calls for investigations of American Muslims who are participating in the democratic process.
In the letter, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part:
"We remain eternally grateful that, like Sen. Joseph McCarthy before you, your power is limited, enumerated and constrained by our nation's constitution."
Awad also wrote:
"Your letters challenging the loyalty of patriotic American Muslims based on discredited anti-Muslim conspiracy theories can only be described as devoid of a sense of decency. These are American citizens asking what they can do for their nation.
"Among those you accuse, Mrs. Huma Abedin helps the Secretary of State represent the best interests of our nation overseas. The Society of Former Special Agents last year honored Mohamed Elibiary for his 'extraordinary contributions to specific cases in support of the FBI's counterterrorism mission.' Dalia Mogahed was appointed to the president's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has advised the Department of Homeland Security. Imam Mohamed Magid enjoys widespread interfaith respect and has also advised the Department of Homeland Security.
"The honorable public service of these individuals deserves better treatment than political theatrics characterized by half-truths, overblown accusations and guilt by association."
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization's letter also condemned Bachmann's rhetorical attacks on the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), theMuslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and Muslim Advocates.
CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor had previously told ABC News: "America wants a serious national security conversation. Michelle Bachmann is giving us a six degrees of separation drinking game."
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said of Bachmann's efforts to target Muslims, "These attacks have no logic, no basis, and no merit and they need to stop. They need to stop now."
Similarly, Edward Rollins, who was Bachmann's campaign chief during her recent presidential run, said: "Having worked for Congressman Bachman's campaign for president, I am fully aware that she sometimes has difficulty with her facts, but this is downright vicious and reaches the late Senator Joe McCarthy level."
When asked about the controversy, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said today, "From everything that I do know of [Abedin], she has a sterling character and I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."
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.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail:csaylor@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

Posted by at No comments:


Posted by at No comments:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR Asks Pentagon to Drop Another Anti-Islam Trainer
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/23/2012) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to drop ananti-Islam lecturer at theJoint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA) in Elkridge, Md., who wrote on an Islamophobic hate site that he "renounced Islam and began the quest to find the real God." (Reza Kahlili: "Why I Renounce Islam and Choose Christ," WND, 8/24/11)
That lecturer, "Reza Kahlili," a pseudonym for a man who says he is a former CIA operative in Iran, also claims that Iranian agents are "coordinating operations out of [American] mosques and Islamic centers," that Iran already has nuclear weapons, and that Iranian agents have infiltrated the United States through the "Muslim Brotherhood's Muslim Students Association." (Daily Caller, 7/22/12; Washington Times, 10/27/11, Los Angeles Times, 7/6/12, American Thinker, 2/23/12)
A program coordinator for Iran instruction at JCITA confirmed to the Los Angeles Timesthat Kahlili is a paid lecturer for the DoD-chartered academy. His lectures are audio-only, allegedly to protect his identity. The newspaper called Kahlili "one of the most influential and outspoken voices in the U.S. advocating the overthrow of the Iranian government."
"This is yet another unfortunate example of our nation's military and counterterrorism personnel being trained by individuals who weaken America's security by promoting their own religious and political agendas," wrote CAIR national Executive Director Nihad Awad in a letter sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
CAIR chapters in Florida recently held news conferences in Tampa and Pembroke Pines to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to stop using a notorious anti-Muslim bigot as a counterterrorism trainer.
Last month, CAIR welcomed a decision by the U.S. military to stop using a target depicting a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf (hijab) and verses from the Quran to train Navy SEALs at the new close quarters combat range at Joint Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.
CAIR also recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions. The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.
An 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.
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.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)