On Tuesday, June 25, the County announced its agreement to a monetary settlement of $445,000 with CAIR-Chicago's client, the Irshad Learning Center.

The DuPage County Board has reached a $445,000 settlement with the Irshad Learning Center.

Kevin Vodak, CAIR-Chicago's Litigation Director, defends the Irshad Learning Center near Naperville and aims to help them restore the center with a conditional-use permit.

CAIR-Chicago is pleased to announce the decision by Federal District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer on Friday, March 29, 2013, granting summary judgment to its client the Irshad Learning Center, which is an Islamic religious institution primarily serving the Iranian community.

CAIR-Chicago is pleased to announce the decision by Federal District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer on Friday, March 29, 2013, granting summary judgment to its client the Irshad Learning Center, which is an Islamic religious institution primarily serving the Iranian community.

Representatives for each side were scheduled to submit responses by Monday to motions for summary judgment filed by both parties. The deadline for turning in that paperwork to Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois was moved to Wednesday.

CAIR-Chicago's Litigation Director, Kevin Vodak, comments on the struggles of the Irshad Learning Center and the opposition to proposed mosques in the U.S.

CAIR-Chicago Litigation Director, Kevin Vodak, responds to DuPage County's objections to a proposed mosque in the Western Suburbs - making parallels to the difficulties in the development of the Irshad Learning Center in Naperville.

The lawsuit naming DuPage County for its refusal to allow an Islamic prayer center just east of Naperville is moving ahead after attempts to settle the issue apparently fell short.

The vote is next week! Call the DuPage County Board and show your support for MECCA as well as the other mosques seeking permits: the Islamic Center of the Western Suburbs (ICSW) and the Irshad Learning Center (ILC).

For area Muslims, practicing their faith can require traveling to mosques outside their communities or gathering in residential homes to pray. Now after years of fundraising and preparation, several groups want to move ahead with plans for their own places of worship in DuPage County.

The DuPage County Development Committee (CDC) voted yesterday to recommend granting a permit to the MECCA Mosque, but the issue is not over yet. The County Board will vote on the matter next week. Call the County Board and show your support for MECCA as well as the other mosques seeking permits.

CAIR-Chicago participated in an interfaith press conference held on behalf of the Muslim Education and Cultural Center of America (MECCA), the third mosque denied a permit in DuPage County in the past year.

"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."

In tough economic times most neighborhoods would welcome development. But in suburban Willowbrook, they’re waving it off for an unusual reason: religious oversaturation.

Christian, Muslim, Jewish and civic leaders affirm religious freedom and call on the DuPage County Development Board to reconsider the Zoning Board's decision to deny a permit for MECCA, a mosque in Willowbrook.

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). Make your voice heard and make a difference!

"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.