“Our hearts are heavy, and our prayers are with the darling boy and his mother,” Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for the Chicago chapter, said in a statement on their website.

“[Wadea] loved everybody,” said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, during a news conference. “He has no clue about these larger issues happening in the world, but he was made to pay for it.”

At a news conference on Sunday, CAIR said Wadea was born in the US while his mother - originally from Beitunia in the West Bank - came to the country 12 years ago.

“This is a heavy day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,” said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago executive director, said in the statement.

On Sunday, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, denounced the stabbing and called it “our worst nightmare.”

Ahmed Rehab, head of the Chicago office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Anadolu that the funeral of the 6-year-old is expected to be "one of the biggest funerals" because "there's a lot of pain and anger in the community".

A Palestinian American boy and his mother were stabbed by their landlord, in their home on Saturday, October 14. The boy died and the mother is in critical condition. The accused killer yelled anti-Muslim epithets and stabbed the child 26 times. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that he had been listening to conservative talk radio about the Israel-Hamas war and had become concerned about his Muslim tenants.

A top official at the Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) National has warned of a potential rise in violence against Muslims and Palestinians in the US following the hate-crime murder of a six-year-old boy in Illinois and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

CAIR-Chicago Pres. Ahmed Rehab on allegations the suspect in a fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy “was incensed by what happened in Israel and has been watching the news”: “This atmosphere has created a monster out of a normal man who once built a treehouse.”

Meanwhile, Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago's executive director, said at a Sunday news conference with members of Wadea's family that he was "a lovely boy" who loved his family, friends, soccer and basketball, and who "paid the price for the atmosphere of hate and othering."

Wadea had celebrated his birthday shortly before his death, Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, said in a news conference Sunday.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is sharing details for the funeral and burial of six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume taking place TODAY.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today decried the stabbing to death of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy and the stabbing of his mother as "our worst nightmare."

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today reported a disturbing spike in hate calls/emails, and community concern outreach since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East. CAIR-Chicago says the volume of hate messages - dozens per day over the past few days – rivals that received following the 9/11 terror attacks or the announcement of Trump’s “Muslim ban.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago (CAIR-Chicago), today expressed alarm regarding the recent reprehensible Quran-burning incident by a student in Naperville, Illinois, and warned of a troubling connection to the RSS Hindutva movement that has teetered India into rogue state territory as far as its internationally-condemned minority and human rights record.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, vehemently condemns the recent hate crime incident that left an 11-year-old girl severely injured in North Lawndale, Illinois.

In the wake of the announcement regarding the opening of the Bally’s Casino within the historic Medinah Temple in Chicago, a significant debate has arisen surrounding the perception of the building’s religious significance. To shed light on this matter, the Chicago Reader has reached out to Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, for his perspective.

CAIR-Chicago is thrilled to announce the successful approval of asylum for one of our Afghan clients who fled persecution following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

We are thrilled to announce that registration is now open for CAIR-Chicago's highly anticipated 2023 Annual Banquet.

CAIR-Chicago is proud to have played a significant role in the recently concluded 2023 Parliament of World Religions convention at McCormick Place.