[vinnomot] Ohio Muslims Unite Behind Obama / LA Muslim Woman Forced to Leave Mal l Over Headscarf

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March 3, 2008

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CAIR-OH: Ohio Muslims Unite Behind Obama

A large majority of Muslim-Americans voted for George W Bush on the road to the White House eight years ago. But now their support seems to be coalescing around an African-American senator, whose first name derives from the Arabic word for blessing. . .

Building common-cause coalitions is one of the ways that Muslim activists believe they can make their votes - and their issues - count more. That is certainly the view of another convert, who is playing a central role in educating Cleveland's Muslim population about the voting process.

Julia Shearson's ancestors may have arrived in the first wave of English settlers to America, but now she is dressed like millions of other Muslim women around the world, and running the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) office in the city. . .

- CAIR-OH Helps Get Out Ohio's Muslim Vote
- Islam Op-Ed: Obama and the 'Muslim' Question
- CAIR: Anti-Muslim Sentiment in Attacks on Obama (Reuters)
- CAIR-CA: Faith Used as Scare Tactic (Mercury News)

CAIR: Muslim Woman Forced to Leave Mall Over Headscarf

A Muslim housewife says her civil rights were violated when a security guard forced her to leave a shopping mall when she refused to take her religious headscarf off.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim civil liberties group, made the incident public Friday. The group has asked the FBI and Louisiana officials to investigate the Feb. 22 incident. The woman and her family, U.S. citizens of Palestinian heritage, are considering legal action. . .

Ibrahim Hooper, a Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman, said the case opened unprecedented legal questions about hijabs, Muslim woman's head covering. In the past, he said, Muslim women have challenged orders to remove their hijabs by employers and upon being photographed for driver's licenses.

"This is the first time I've seen something this egregious," Hooper said. "This was not only humiliating, there may have been criminal, civil rights violations in this incident."

- CAIR: Muslim Ejected from Louisiana Mall Over Hijab

CAIR-AZ: Jews, Muslims Walk for Peace

As death tolls in the Gaza Strip continued to rise over the weekend, Muslims and Jews in Tucson marched to promote understanding and peace on a local level. . .

Hosam Risha, the executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he hoped government leaders would learn from citizens' ability to get together for the purpose of building peaceful relations.

"If we are going to leave the next generation with anything, let it be causes like this," he said. "We don't want them to inherit death and destruction but peace and the importance of collaboration."

- CAIR-LA Condemns Anti-Semitic Attacks
- NJ: Interfaith Shabbat Draws Jewish, Muslim Students
- CAIR-PA Condemns Anti-Semitic Attack on Jewish Student
- CAIR Supports Jewish School Teams' Plea Over Sabbath (AP)

VERSE OF THE DAY

Hatred Destroys Faith

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "(The people of Paradise) will have neither differences nor hatred amongst themselves; their hearts will be as (one)."

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Hadith 468

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