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In order to continue CAIR-Chicago’s strong tradition of engaging the community, Executive Director Ahmed Rehab spoke at an event put on by DePaul University’s Muslim student group, UMMA, on the topic of Muslim activism.



See photos HERE

The Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) in Chicago hosted its sixth annual gathering. Muslim High school students from around the Chicago area came to learn how they can become leaders in their community and what it takes to turn ideas into action.

CAIR-Chicago staff and interns participated in a rally alongside the Assyrian community of Chicago to condemn violence against Iraqi Christians. The rally was organized in response to the massacre of dozens of Assyrians Christians in Baghdad on October 31st.



Read CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab’s reflections on the rally at his blog, www.ahmedrehab.com.

Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif presented to a DePaul University class about Middle Eastern communities in the U.S. Sharif’s presentation aimed to give students a broad understanding of the Muslim-American community in terms of its ethnic diversity, socioeconomic levels and political beliefs.

While CAIR-Chicago believes that Hizb ut-Tahrir has a right to their views that Muslim’s shouldn’t vote, the organization says that American Muslims must be civically engaged, from voting to running for office.

Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson specifically objected to the organizations point that even though Muslims have voted in the United States and around the world, it’s done them little good.

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, will be speaking on November 9th at an event sponsored by DePaul University’s UMMA.

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago said, “We feel sickened by this attack, and will not be silent. Those who perpetrated these cowardly murders cannot purport to call themselves men of God or men of faith.”

“We appreciate Judge Bernthal’s bold and principled decision and his acknowledgment that such threats are acts of terror,” said CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif. “We hope this sends a clear message to Islamophobes who try to threaten and intimidate Muslim Americans – that we will not live in fear.”

CAIR-Chicago’s complaint alleges the Irshad Learning Center’s First and 14th Amendment rights were violated when county officials refused to grant a special use permit to open an Islamic worship site and school.

Kevin Vodak, the attorney representing Irshad through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the judge hopes to issue her ruling within the next couple of weeks.

“Language is to ideas what the body is to the soul. It is the physical manifestation of thought. It is the mortar with which we shape our understanding of the world.” – Ahmed Rehab

CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinater Gerald Hankerson discusses Muslim American involement in this election:
“Even with the election cycle there is much argument and debate whether Muslims should be involved. One way or another we are living here, and our life is being impacted by whether or not we decide to offer our voice and our balance. So most definitely religion may factor into it on certain issues, such as immigration reform, such as protecting first amendment rights, because we definitely want to see that our faith is not impeded for us to be truly considered Americans,”

When the topic was brought up, yet again, that America has been attacked by Muslims, Ahmed Rehab responds:

“Here’s also a pattern that you need to be aware of. In almost every one of those cases it was Muslims who helped foil these terrorists plots. In the case of the “underwear bomber” it was his own father, a Muslim, who reported him. In the case of the “time square bomber” it was a Muslim who saw the smoke from the car who reported him. Even in this case Saudia Arabia was actually the country that tipped us off about this plot.”

Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson discusses the importance and the potential power of mobilizing young people to vote in elections. He describes some of the efforts CAIR-Chicago makes to reach young people early in life, to instill in them a sense of civic duty.

“For American Muslims, the biggest concern right now is the quality and tone of the debate,” added Rehab. “Whether this debate is on our national security, or our jobs or the economy or even the place of Muslims in America, our concern is that the nature of the debate in America has become more and more divisive, cynical, frenzied, paranoid, and we are very concerned about that and we wish that they debate itself, regardless of the positions people take, to be rooted in more intellect and empirical analysis and honest debate and mutual understanding.”

Exercise your right to vote! Polls are open from 6:00am-7:00pm. Find your polling place here: http://www.vote411.org/pollfinder.php

We are the most diverse religious community in this nation, representing people different needs and interests, who grow in complexity and variance. We all pay taxes to maintain the upkeep of our neighborhoods and its institutions. And we have a responsibility to make our voice count—we can, and should vote.

CAIR-Chicago applauds the efforts of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States, Europe and the Middle East to foil an apparent plot to ship packages containing explosives from Yemen to synagogues in Chicago.