A group of 25 DePaul students and staff visited the CAIR-Chicago office last month to learn about the organization’s civil rights activism on behalf of immigrants. The students were part of a class that focuses on young people from diverse cultural backgrounds and teaches about the realities of life for immigrant youth and the organizations that facilitate and incorporate them into Chicago’s wider community.

“We know people don’t vote in midterm elections like they do for presidential elections,” said Ali Malik, American Democracy Project fellow at CAIR-Chicago. “But I’m telling people that for us in the Muslim community it goes far beyond the controversy over the proposed New York City Ground Zero mosque. There is serious Islamophobia going on and we need to vote for people who will represent all voters equally.”

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif emceed a banquet hosted by the Northwest Suburban College on Friday, September 24. Speakers included Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Dr. Zaher Sahloul, Chairman of the CIOGC (Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago).

With Pastor Terry Jones’ “Burn A Koran Day” fiasco and the ongoing Park51 debate taking center stage in the media, CAIR-Chicago is taking action. We are challenging misinformation and anti-Muslim rhetoric through interfaith and outreach efforts to educate the public. You may have also seen us in the news recently, adding balanced and informed perspectives to public discourse.

“This is the holiest day for Muslims out of the year,” said Amina Sharif, communications coordinator for CAIR-Chicago. “And since this year it falls so close to 9/11, it’s an opportunity for us to discuss tolerance and peace. It’s a day that we pray for those who are struggling around the world, and that includes the families of 9/11 victims.”

As a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf herself, Syed is particularly concerned with the misconceptions of Muslim women who choose to cover their hair and dress modestly.

“After 9/11, I noticed people were confused, not wanting to learn but just going on what they see in the media,” said Syed, 36. “The impression it leaves is … that Muslim women are being oppressed, suppressed, abused and forced on — everything that Islam does not stand for. Islam respects women.

A measure that could streamline the process of establishing places of worship and other forms of assembly in unincorporated DuPage County is heading to the zoning panel that recently has taken up two zoning proposals from Islamic groups.

“The survey will be asking about 3,000 respondents how Islamophobia has affected them and to identify where they see the most examples of it,” Amina Sharif, Chicago spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday.

“Chicago is a diverse metropolis, but that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from racial and ethic tensions.”

CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Kevin Vodak talks to the Naperville Sun about recent developments in the Irshad Learning Center’s lawsuit against Dupage County.

The Naperville Sun’s Susan Carlman illustrates a regular day for congregants at the Irshad Learning Center. The ILC recently made headlines when the DuPage County Board rejected their request for a zoning permit to build an Islamic School. CAIR-Chicago is suing DuPage county on the ILC’s behalf.