• Alukah English HomepageSitemapRSS
  • Alukah English Homepage
  • Alukah Guestbook
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Make us your Homepage
  • Contact Us
Alukah in Arabic
Alukah is a rich, cultural website supervised by Dr. Khaled El-Jeraissy and Dr. Saad El-Hmed
 
Website of Dr. Sadd Bin Abdullah El-Hmed  Supervised By 
  • Homepage
  • Islamic Shariah
  • Thoughts and Knowledge
  • Society and Reform
  • Counsels
  • Muslims around the World
  • Library
 All Sections | News   Reportage   Articles   Special Coverage  
  •  
    Safi Kaskas and Abdalrahman Aboelmajd discuss The Qur’an, A ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Samira Amarir and Abdalrahman Abulmajd about Jenna the ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Marek Dziekan and Abdalrahman Abulmajd about Qur'anic ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Lisa Suhay and Abdalrahman Abou Almajd around Mrs. Lisa's ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Peter Bussey and AbdurRahman Abou Almajd Modern Physics ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Rebecca Ruth Gould and Abdalrahman Abou Almajd about ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    Sheeza Ali and Abdalrahman Abulmajd discuss God is not a ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
  •  
    This is what it’s like to do Ramadan fasting in the ...
    Independent
  •  
    Ramadan also about Quran’s True Message
    The Star
  •  
    Muslims free to observe Fasting in China
    The News
  •  
    Gambia bans music, dance during Ramadan
    punchng
  •  
    Jerry Bergman and Abdalrahman Abulmajd discuss Darwinism as ...
    Abdur-Rahman Abul-Majd
Home / Muslims Around the World / Reportage

Muslim Civil Rights Group raises $150K

The Detroit News

Published On: 30/4/2016 A.D. - 22/7/1437 H.   Visited: 4012 times     



Print Friendly Version Send to your friend Visitors CommentsPost a CommentFollow Comments



Full Text Increase Font SizeReset Font SizeDecrease Font Size
Share it



Livonia — The Michigan chapter of an American Islamic civil rights group raised some $150,000 Sunday toward its efforts to safeguard the rights of Muslims in the state.

The fundraising comes as Muslims face increased scrutiny and terrorism backlash, said CAIR-MI executive director Dawud Walid. At the same time, the group touted its successes in making Michigan more friendly toward Muslims.

“Since the presidential campaign season began, there has been a sharp increase in Islamophobia in the public discourse,” Walid said to the crowd gathered for the 16th annual fundraising dinner.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s comments on suspending the federal government’s resettlement of Syrian refugees in Michigan after the Paris terror attack in November prompted other governors to say the same, Walid told the audience. Since then, Snyder has sought to distance himself from Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, who wants to temporarily ban any person of the Islamic faith from entering the country.

Snyder, in a joint letter with Lt. Gov Brian Calley, credited CAIR for “dedication to (its) heritage.”

That commitment means not only defending Muslims the organization believes have been wronged, but also working to ensure followers can live their faith.

In a video on the organization’s legal work, three young Muslim men talked about their experiences at border crossings or being recruited to become informants for the federal government.

After repeatedly turning down the government’s advances, one of them called CAIR-MI. He was instructed to give them the business card of legal director Lena Masri.

“After that,” he said on the video, “I didn’t hear from them anymore.”

During the dinner at Burton Manor in Livonia, Warda Kalim, a staff attorney who serves as CAIR-MI’s safe spaces coordinator, touted the organization’s success in making Michigan’s public spaces more Muslim-friendly.

At Wayne State University, CAIR-MI helped secure the regular offering of food certified for Muslims in its dining halls. When students at Saginaw Valley State University heard of the success at Wayne State, they asked CAIR to help them do the same. That project, Kalim said, is in the works.

A number of secondary schools in the area have established reflection rooms for observant students, Kalim said. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, she said, even offers girls-only swimming classes for those who prefer modesty.

Hamtramck police have adopted hijab-friendly policies for female Muslim officers, Kalim said.

Mayor Karen Majewski, who attended the dinner, said she’s interested in America “being a nation that recognizes all residents and all our diversity.” “In CAIR’s advocacy, they’re really protecting all of our rights.”

Not every effort has been successful.

In 2015, a mosque proposed in Sterling Heights was opposed. The proposal failed 0-9.

Earlier that year, a Metro Detroit Muslim man tried to open a youth camp on his property in Ogemaw County. Residents expressed concern that the space would be used to indoctrinate fellow Muslims to become terrorists, or supporters of ISIS.

That proposal also failed.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, was scheduled to accept a community service award, but was unable to attend.

In addition to a videotaped message, Kildee asked Amir Hekmati, an ex-Marine who was captured by Iran but allowed to return to Michigan via Germany in January, to speak in his place.

Hekmati thanked CAIR for its efforts, such as the #FreeAmirNow hashtag on social media, and those that took place out of the public eye, such as talking to the leadership in Iran.

“It is thanks to you I am here now,” Hekmati said, to applause.



Print Friendly Version Send to your friend Visitors CommentsPost a CommentFollow Comments



Selected From Alukah.net

  • Muslim Civil Rights Leader Becomes Pastor Jones' Free Speech Defender(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • US forced American Muslim into 'exile': rights group(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • CAIR: Mo. Jailers Forcibly Remove Muslim Woman's Hijab

    Muslim civil rights group asks jail to grant religious accommodation
    (Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • My Mother’s Rights over Me, My Rights over Her, and the Extent of My Independence(Article - Society and Reform)
  • My Mother’s Rights over Me, My Rights over Her, and the Extent of My Independence(Article - Society and Reform)
  • GERMANY, MUSLIMS, CIVIL SOCIETY AND CITIZENSHIP: Expectations and experiences of Muslim organizations(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • Muslim Students' Anger At Student Rights' Extremism On Campus Claims(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • Muslim Student Association raises Funds for Hunger Relief Organizations(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • Mulayam raises Muslim quota issue in LS(Article - Muslims Around the World)
  • Marriage – A Civil Contract(Article - Society and Reform)

 


Add your comment:
Name  
Email (Will not be shown to visitors)
Country
Comment Title
Comment

Please write: COMMENT in this box to verify that you are human

Enter the above code here:
Can't read? Try different words.
Our Authors
  • Those who disobey God and follow their sinful lusts..
  • One can attain real happiness
  • Islam clearly reveals to us more details about the one true ...
  • Allah the one true God is Creator, not created
  • Allah is only one, he has no children, partners or equals
  • Allah is eternal, he does not die or change
  • Islam leads to ultimate truth and success
  • Try to find out the truth abut Islam
Participate
Contribute
Spread the word
Tell a friend
All Rights Reserved © 1444H / 2023 to Alukah.Net
Site was last updated on : 17/11/1444H - at: 11:58