CAIR-Chicago met with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-Illinois), the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), and the Muslim Bar Association (MBA) to discuss an ACLU class action law suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for their inadequate policies concerning the reentry of Muslim U.S. citizens from abroad into the U.S., when those citizens have names similar to someone else on a government watch list.

(CHICAGO, IL, 7/29/05) – A number of leading Chicago Muslim organizations today publicly endorsed the fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) against terrorism and extremism during a news conference held this morning at the Downtown Islamic Center. The fatwa, recently issued by the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), is endorsed by more than 150 U.S. Muslim groups, leaders and institutions.

On July 28, 2005, CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Director Fadi Farhan took part in the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) meeting of faith-based leaders called, “Strengthening Relations Between Police and Chicago’s Diverse Communities”. The meeting is a regular forum in which scores of prominent representatives and leaders of Chicago’s faith-based community come together to discuss problems that each community sees on its streets and the manner in which the CPD can help to solve those problems.

On July 26, 2005, CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Director Fadi Farhan and Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham met with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Deputy Superintendent Ellen Scrivner and Dr. Lorie Fridell to discuss issues of racial profiling in light of a new report issued by the CPD. CAIR-Chicago expressed the need for a separate category for Middle Easterners/North Africans/South Asians in order to more accurately determine the profiling of Muslims by police departments.

On Sunday, July 17, CAIR-Chicago and the other organizational members of the Civil Liberties Coalition of Illinois (CLCI) held a town hall meeting to discuss the issues involved in the expiring, or sunset, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. The town hall meeting occurred between 1 and 3 pm on the campus of Loyola University and had greater than 120 attendees in a packed house from a diverse cross-section of the Chicagoland community.

Dr. Shakeela Hassan, CAIR-Chicago Board member, and Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations, took part in a gathering of Palestinian and Israeli children aged 14 to 16 hosted by Islamic Foundation in Villa Park on Friday, July 15, 2005.

CAIR-Chicago participated in its first Cafe Finjan event on Thursday, July 14th, at Che Cafe - 1058 W. Taylor Street. Cafe Finjan is a series of interfaith arts exchanges, begun in 2004 by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs as part of its Jewish-Muslim Community-Building Initiative.

As part of Muslims Care (www.muslimscare.org), a national campaign promoting community service, CAIR-Chicago organized a volunteer opportunity for enthusiastic Muslims in the Chicagoland area. 18 volunteers prepared and served meals to residents at Hilda's Place, an Evanston-based homeless shelter.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham met with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Civil Rights representatives to discuss what the Office for Civil Rights (OJP/OCR) can do for victims of discrimination by agencies that receive federal financial assistance. The OJP/OCR enforces civil rights laws such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, among other laws.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago's Civil Rights Coordinator, and Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations, took part in a meeting on June 24 at the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Headquarters in which the topic of discussion was racial profiling during traffic stops in the city.

CAIR-Chicago hosted a booth at IMAN's Takin' it to the Streets, Saturday, June 25th. Takin' it to the Streets is a daylong community festival held every other summer in Marquette Park on Chicago's Southwest Side.

(CHICAGO, IL, 6/17/05) - CAIR-Chicago conducted a seminar, titled "Hate Crime: Define and Respond," at the Muslim Community Center (Community Hall), 4380 N. Elston Ave., Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago participated in Foundation Fair at Islamic Foundation in Villa Park on Sunday, June 12. The Foundation Fair was an enjoyable afternoon bazaar of booths filled with everything from international cuisine of the Middle East, Persia, and South Asia to booths containing ethnic clothing and jewelry.

CAIR-Chicago is a lead organization in the Civil Liberties Coalition of Illinois (CLCI). The CLCI is a grouping of respected organizations in Illinois that each stands firmly in collective opposition to the reauthorization of the sunset, or expiring, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Project O, the CAIR-Chicago American Muslim organizing initiative, is moving forward full steam. Thousands of Muslim registered voters' names have been entered into the CAIR-Chicago’s databases over the last couple of weeks. The total number of names now exceeds 11,500 and is growing daily.

For the last three weeks, CAIR-Chicago has registered new voters during Friday prayers at the Muslim Community Center (MCC) located at 4380 North Elston.

CAIR-Chicago is taking part in a summer-long campaign called Muslms Care (www.muslimscare.org), initiated by CAIR-National, to promote community service in the Muslim community. A theme is selected for each month (June-August). June was Health Awareness Month.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham spoke at an event held by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) for the Jewish holiday, Lag Ba’omer, last Thursday, May 26th.

As part of our political empowerment endeavor called Project O, Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations and Dina Rehab, Outreach Coordinator, held CAIR-Chicago's first Marathon Day at the Downtown Islamic Center (231 S. State Street, Chicago IL 60604) on May 13.

CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator, Dina Rehab, and Outreach Intern, Tamer Abouzeid, conducted an interactive multimedia presentation on the Muslim Experience Post 9-11 at a Chicago High School last Friday. Over the course of 3 class periods, approximately 180 students ranging from freshmen to seniors gathered in Englewood High School's auditorium for the discussion.