The Illinois State Police have revoked the appointment of the force’s first Muslim chaplain.

At a press conference today, CAIR-Chicago and an interfaith community coalition responded to a recent decision by the Illinois State Police (ISP) to revoke a chaplaincy position previously extended and confirmed for Imam Kifah Mustafa, a leading Chicago Muslim cleric. (See Press Release HERE))

ISP revoked its decision citing an internet report attacking Imam Kifah that was written and distributed by Steven Emerson, an anti-Muslim blogger who has a well-known reputation for fighting against American Muslim civic participation.
Read FAIR’s detailed expose on Steven Emerson and his dubious work,
HERE

In a statement, state police officials said Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, the associate director of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, could not serve as a volunteer chaplain “due to information revealed during the background investigation.” State police declined to be more specific.

Last December Illinois State Police made history by naming Mustapha the department’s first and only Muslim chaplain. Sheikh Mustapha was one of seven ministers who went through chaplain orientation training in Springfield.

On Wednesday, June 23, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) together with an interfaith and community coalition will hold a press conference responding to a recent decision by the Illinois State Police (ISP) to revoke a chaplaincy position previously extended and confirmed for Imam Kifah Mustafa, a leading Chicago Muslim cleric.

Officials from the Illinois State Police have revoked the appointment of a prominent Chicago-area cleric to be its first Muslim chaplain.

In a statement, state police officials said Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, the associate director of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, could not serve as a volunteer chaplain “due to information revealed during the background investigation.”

Ahmed Rehab discusses the recent Muhammad cartoon controversy, this time sparked by Comedy Central’s “South Park”, and provides some context to the various reactions it has garnered – context missing from most media coverage.

The controversy surrounding Tariq Ramadan is based on hype spurned by the usual detractors for whom every significant Muslim voice is a foreign fifth column, feigning moderation, and secretly plotting to destroy Western civilization.
For anyone who has actually read any of his books or heard his speeches, Ramadan’s thoughts and positions are unmistakably pro-peace.