
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS - CHICAGO | DEFENDING CIVIL RIGHTS. FIGHTING BIGOTRY. PROMOTING TOLERANCE

“How many mosques constitute an oversaturation in unincorporated DuPage County, according to the Zoning Board of Appeals?” asked Ahmed Rehab, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, at a news conference. “The answer would be one. One would be one too many apparently, and that’s very disconcerting to us.”
The AAUW put together the conference at DePaul University in order to achieve more knowledge on the role of women in Islam. The presentation, which drew around thirty audience members, allowed Abraham to bring up present day issues and misconceptions regarding Muslim women.
“Islamophobia is the last form of racism that is tolerated in mainstream America,” said Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator. “You won’t see Fox News go out of its way to defend anti-black or anti-Semitic comments but they went out of their way to defend an Islamophobic statement.”
Amina Sharif, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said she is concerned that officials are trying to limit religious institutions. In April, the group filed a lawsuit against the county alleging discrimination in rejecting a zoning proposal for an Islamic education center and place of worship near Naperville.
Call the DuPage Country Board and show your support for: the Islamic Center of the Western Suburbs (ICSW), the Muslim Education and Cultural Center of America (MECCA), and the Irshad Learning Center (ILC).
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“There is a large and growing number of Muslim families who live, work, and pay taxes in DuPage County yet are being denied the same right as their neighbors to establish institutions to accommodate their religious and community needs,” said Ahmed Rehab.
The DuPage County Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-2 to reject the petition by the Muslim Educational Cultural Center of America (MECCA).
Last year, CAIR-Chicago filed a federal lawsuit against the county, alleging discrimination in the rejection of a zoning proposal for an Islamic educational center and place of worship near Naperville.
CAIR-Chicago is advocating on behalf of Jacqueline Pasha, a Muslim woman who was not allowed to ride a Greyhound bus because of her face veil, or niqab. CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator discusses the case with NBC’s Natalie Martinez.
The Chicago Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) filed two complaints in Circuit Court on behalf of Mahmoud Yaqub, his wife, and two children. The Cook County Forest Preserve is being sued for religious discrimination because Yaqub and his family were denied admission to a swimming facility.
CAIR-Chicago filed two complaints in circuit court today against the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. The complaints were filed on behalf of a Muslim family that was barred from entering a children’s water park last year because of their clothing.