As part of CAIR-Chicago’s Ramadan outreach program executive-director, Ahmed Rehab, will be visiting four mosques in the Chicagoland area to discuss the services that CAIR-Chicago provides to the Muslim community.

Ahmed Rehab will be speaking about “The New Egypt” at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois this Saturday March 26th at 7:30 pm.

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.”

Due to the high number of Muslim constituents in Bridgeview, the Police Department is working to develop more cultural sensitivity by gaining a better understanding of Islam and Muslims. CAIR-Chicago believes more training like this will serve to eliminate racial profiling and future injustices directed towards Muslims in Chicago and across the country.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham, who attended the hearing with Amal Abusumayyah, said afterward, “We are hopeful that this sent a message to the public that sort of behavior will not be tolerated by a fair and just society.”

CAIR-Chicago announced today that it is pleased with the plea agreement reached yesterday between state prosecutors and Valerie Kenney, a suburban woman who faced hate crime charges after attacking a Muslim woman at a Tinley Park grocery store 2 days after the Fort Hood shooting.

“It gives her an opportunity to learn from her mistake,” said Christina Abraham of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “And we think this does send a message to the greater community that hate crimes are not going to be tolerated and that this sort of behavior is wrong.”

An official with the Chicago-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which became involved in the case, said the backlash against Muslim-Americans had spiked somewhat in the days immediately following the Fort Hood shooting but has subsided.

“We try to rally community support for (victims and their families) and to make sure the state’s attorney is pursuing the case with the utmost importance,” said spokeswoman Christina Abraham.

Join CAIR-Chicago at the Mosque Foundation for a brief informational session on the services CAIR-Chicago provides to the Muslim community.