* Verse: The Keys to Success
* Breaking/CAIR-MI: Wiretap Ruling Overturned (Free Press)
* CAIR-NY: Muslims Urged to Donate to Food Drive
* Video: CAIR Against Hate Crimes (WJHG-TV)
            - CAIR-FL: Alleged Hate Crime Against Muslim Family
            - CAIR-FL: Muslims Want Assailant Prosecuted
* Video: CAIR-IL Rep Reacts to Glasgow Airport Attack
* CAIR: GA Court to Review Hijab Policy (Times-Union)
* CAIR: FBI Says 2005 Threat Not Credible (Times-Union)
* CAIR Islamophobia Panel in Dallas July 8
            - CAIR-Chicago Sues Over Citizenship Delays
            - CAIR-MI: Iraqi MP Tells of Post-Saddam Iraq
* FL: Christians, Muslims Rebuild Torched Mosque (SP Times)
            - NC: Christians, Muslims Team Up on Aid (News & Obs)
            - CAIR-LA: Catholics, Muslims Discuss Shared Values
* WA: Priest Drawn to Islam Loses Her Collar (Seattle Times)
* IL: Islam and the Environment

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VERSE OF THE DAY: THE KEYS TO SUCCESS - TOP

"Indeed successful are those believers who are humble in their prayers, who avoid vain talk, who are active in deeds of charity, and who are mindful of their chastity."

The Holy Quran, 23:1-5

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BREAKING NEWS - CAIR-MI: FEDERAL APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS WIRETAP RULING - TOP
NIRAJ WARIKOO, Detroit Free Press, 7/6/07
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070706/NEWS06/70706033/0/ENT06

[CONTACT: CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, Tel: 248-842-1418, E-Mail: dwalid@cair.com]

An appeals court panel today vacated a ruling by a federal judge in Detroit that a Bush administration wiretapping program was unconstitutional.

In a 2-1 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati said that the plaintiffs, which included local Muslim and Arab-American groups, could not prove they have been harmed by a National Security Agency spying program created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Bush administration argued that such a program was legal and necessary to defend the nation from terrorism.

But the American Civil Liberties Union, along with groups and attorneys based in Michigan, filed a lawsuit in Detroit in January 2006 saying that the government's surveillance program was unconstitutional and interfered with their jobs. . .

Kary Moss, head of the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said "it's a really unfortunate decision."

She said that one of the reasons the plaintiffs had difficulty proving they were being adversely affected was that the government has kept information about the wiretapping program a secret.

Moss said they are considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations, one of the co-plaintiffs, said: "It's a shame that the court overturned the decision... what the executive branch was doing was unconstitutional."

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NEW YORK MUSLIMS URGED TO DONATE TO FOOD DRIVE - TOP
Food collection at mosques part of 'Muslims Care' campaign

(NEW YORK, NY, 7/6/07) - The New York chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) is calling on local mosques to host food drives and collect canned goods throughout July for City Harvest, a non-profit food rescue program. By placing collection boxes at mosques and encouraging contributions, Muslims can help City Harvest to feed more than 260,000 hungry New Yorkers each week.

SEE: www.cityharvest.org

Muslim support of the event is part of CAIR's annual summer-long "Muslims Care" campaign, launched to encourage volunteerism in the nation's Muslim community. The campaign's theme this July is "Helping the Needy."

SEE: http://www.cair.com/muslimscare/

Immediate action requested: Those mosques interested in hosting food drives for City Harvest can contact CAIR-NY for City Harvest signs and place boxes at mosques to collection donations throughout July.

The most needed foods are: instant formula and baby food; pasta, rice and whole grain cereal; canned vegetables; canned fruit; canned beans; canned protein foods (tuna, salmon, chicken); and canned milk products. Please note that City Harvest collects food exclusively.

Mosque members can drop off full boxes of donations at local fire stations or CAIR-NY can collect full boxes at the end of July to be delivered to City Harvest.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NY Civil Rights Coordinator Aliya Latif, 212-870-2002, E-Mail: alatif@cair.com.

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CAIR AGAINST HATE CRIMES - TOP
Muslims Call for Strict Prosecution of a Local Man in a Hate Crimes Case
Christian De La Rosa, WJHG, 7/5/07
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/8343012.html

VIDEO: http://www.cairfl.org/ViewArticle.asp?Code=CM&ArticleID=782

"Mommy this guy wants to break my neck;" that's what a 5-year-old told his mother as they waited in line at a Lynn Haven Taco Bell back in May.

The words allegedly came from Thomas Plaisted.

The child says Plaisted spit food at him, pushed his 11-year-old brother and cursed at their mother.

"This man not only called the children names like Muslim bastards, he cursed at them using the F-word."

Members of the Council on American Islamic Relations appeared on the steps of the Bay County Courthouse Thursday afternoon to show support for the Muslim community and to get one message across.

Ahmed Bedier, with the CAIR Tampa Chapter said, "Hate crimes of this nature, specially the ones directed at kids who didn't do anything wrong just because of their religion or their ethnicity or color is unacceptable."

The group asked State Attorney Steve Meadows to prosecute Plaisted for hate crimes, and urged him not to allow Plaisted to cut a deal.

A half hour later, Plaisted appeared in front of Circuit Judge Dee Dee Costello for arraignment.

He pled not guilty to two counts of evidencing prejudice, committing an offense, or hate crimes. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-FL: ALLEGED HATE CRIME - TOP
Tuquyen Mach, WMBB, 7/5/07
http://www.wmbb.com/gulfcoastwest/mbb/news.apx.-

content-articles-MBB-2007-07-05-0002.html

The nation's largest Muslim civil rights group is asking the State Attorney's Office to throw the book a Bay County man.

According to the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Thomas Plaisted, 60, of Cedar Grove, is charged with battery with prejudice.

The incident report shows it happened on May 22 at the Taco Bell in Lynn Haven. Asma Sidani told officer that Plaisted hit her 5 year-old son and spit on him.

Investigators say the man was asked to leave the restaurant by management.

"This man not only called the children names like Muslim b****** and cursed at them using the f-word and other profanity, but he also shoved the 11 year-old son, and he also attacked the 5 year-old son by spitting on him," says Ahmed Bedier from the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Mrs. Sidani was in shock that this was happening to her, and when she asked him why are you doing this, he told her because you are quote "F-ing Muslims," he says.

Asma Sidani, her husband, and several supporters gathered at the Bay County Courthouse for Plaisted's arraignment. CAIR held a news conference outside before the hearing.

"What happened that day is horrible, and I will never forgive Thomas Plaisted, but I'm here to make sure the law will take care of him," says Sidani.

Battery with prejudice is a felony.

CAIR says the incident was further complicated, because Lynn Haven police initially refused to file charges.

"We want to make sure that the right message is sent to the public, that hate crimes of this nature, especially ones directed at kids that didn't do anything wrong, just because of their religion, or their ethnicity or their color, is unacceptable," says Bedier.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office investigated and arrested Plaisted.

He pleaded not guilty to two counts of battery with prejudice and waived the right to a speedy trial.

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CAIR-FL: MUSLIMS WANT BAY BUS DRIVER PROSECUTED - TOP
Tony Bridges, Panama City News Herald, 7/6/07
http://www.epaperedition.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TmV3c0hlcm

FsZC8yMDA3LzA3LzA2I0FyMDExMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Representatives from a Washington D.C.-based Muslim organization were in Panama City on Thursday for the arraignment of a school bus driver accused of an anti-Muslim hate crime.

Thomas Plaisted, 60, pleaded not guilty to two counts of evidencing prejudice while committing an offense. He was arrested after an incident in May in which he allegedly cursed and spit at Muslim children in a Lynn Haven fast-food restaurant.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference before the arraignment, demanding that prosecutors not waiver on the felony charge and that the Bay District School Board fire Plaisted.

Ahmed Bedier, executive director of CAIR's Tampa chapter, said the group is worried because the number of anti-Muslim incidents in Florida has been increasing, from 112 in 2005 to 167 reported last year.

"We're concerned about the escalation of these incidents," he said. "We don't want to wait until it gets worse."

Plaisted could not be reached for comment Thursday.

According to Bay County Sheriff's Office reports, Plaisted was in a Taco Bell on State 77 when a Muslim mother and her children entered.

While the kids sat at a table, 36-year-old Asma Sidani, who was wearing a traditional Muslim scarf, went to the counter to order. That's when Plaisted cursed and made threatening gestures at the children, uttered anti-Muslim epithets, then spit food on Sidani's 5-year-old son, deputies reported.

Plaisted also shoved Sidani's 11-year-old son and left after customers and employees confronted him, according to his arrest report.

Sidani called Lynn Haven police after the incident, but two officers refused to take her complaint or interview witnesses, so she went to the Bay County Sheriff's Office instead.

Lynn Haven Police Chief David Messer said an internal investigation showed the officers violated departmental policy by not properly investigating. Sgt. James Smith and Officer Chris Faircloth received letters of reprimand.

"I felt that they did not act professionally, and I felt that they did not act courteously," Messer said. "There were steps they could have taken, and this thing could have been a whole lot easier.

"We're sorry for the whole incident. I can assure you it's not going to happen again."

Bedier said Thursday that the investigation and reprimands were a "step in the right direction" but that a third-party investigation was necessary to determine whether the officers failed to act out of racial bias.

He said other officers also acted unprofessionally when Sidani's husband called to complain, offering to give them Plaisted's address and photo.

"He felt like they were baiting him," Bedier said. "There are a lot of unanswered questions that this reprimand doesn't address." (MORE)

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CAIR-CHICAGO REP REACTS TO GLASGOW AIRPORT ATTACK - TOP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw4irdF9A2k

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab repudiates the recent attack on an airport in Glasgow.

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CAIR: VALDOSTA TO REVIEW POLICY ON HEADGEAR - TOP
Court officers acted properly, city says, after a woman in a headscarf is denied access.
Carole Hawkins, Times-Union, 7/6/07
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070607/geo_182600003.shtml

When newspapers told the story last week of how Aniisa Karim was denied access to the Valdosta Municipal Court for wearing a traditional Muslim headscarf, it attracted a slew of anti-Arabic slurs from Internet bloggers.

But what the bloggers didn't know is Aniisa Karim is not Arabic.

The lifelong Muslim is African-American, born and raised in Baltimore. A disc jockey for WAAC-FM Country Music Radio in Valdosta, Karim is about as apple-pie American as it gets.

"There are some real misconceptions out there," said Karim. "I saw comments on Web sites like, 'If you don't like the rules here, go back home. We don't try to make rules for Middle Eastern countries.' But I am an American. This is my home."

A statement released Thursday by Valdosta Public Information Officer Sementha Mathews claimed court officers acted properly, but expressed regret that Karim was offended by the court's rules and procedures.

Still, the city officials said they will review their policy next week.

Karim refused to remove her headscarf when she came to the courtroom of Municipal Court Judge Vernita Lee Bender on June 26 to contest a speeding ticket. Court officers had cited homeland security reasons and said wearing the headscarf would be a sign of disrespect to the judge.

Karim, who has worn the headscarf since she was 11, says it's the first time she has ever been made to feel uncomfortable over the religious custom. She has entered courtrooms in Baltimore and gone through airport security in the past without incident.

"I have never before been in a situation where I was so completely humiliated," she said. "Especially in a place like a courtroom. They're supposed to be upholding the law."

Muslim religious traditions require women to dress modestly in public. That includes wearing a headscarf, says Karim.

"Asking me to remove the scarf would be like asking a [non-Muslim] woman to remove her shirt," she said.

"I feel people who work in public offices should be more educated than this about other religions."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a Washington-based advocacy group, and attorneys with the Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers had confronted Valdosta about the incident, saying the judge's actions violated Karim's civil rights.

CAIR asked for a formal apology from Bender and an assurance that people wearing religious attire would be allowed to have their day in court. (MORE)

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CAIR: REPORT: JFK '05 TERROR TARGET - TOP
A London paper revealed the plot; FBI says it wasn't credible
Jeff Brumley, Times-Union, 7/6/07
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070607/met_182551385.shtml

The plot never unfolded, but learning that a group of extremist Muslim physicians schemed in 2005 to attack the USS John F. Kennedy and Mayport Naval Station has some on the First Coast sitting up and taking notice.

"The fact they're even talking about it gives us concern," Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton said Thursday, the same day that The Telegraph of London reported the Internet-based terror plot against the now-decommissioned aircraft carrier.

The Navy is also paying attention, Mayport spokesman Bill Austin said.

"When something like this arises, obviously we've got all hands looking into it," Austin said.

FBI Special Agent Jeff Westcott of the bureau's Jacksonville office released a statement Thursday saying the agency "thoroughly investigated" the plot in 2006 and determined the threat "was not credible."

Even so, news of the plot generated some local concern because of its similarities to last week's failed car bombings in London and Glasgow. Both plots were hatched by extremist Muslim doctors, The Telegraph and The Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press also reported that an al-Qaida leader in Jordan had vowed previously that "those who cure you are going to kill you."

"There's no way of knowing two years later whether it [the Kennedy plot] was just fantasy or whatever, but given what has happened here [in the United Kingdom] in the past few days it ... suggests to me this may be a theme in international jihadi discussions," John Steele, the author of The Telegraph article, told the Times-Union.

The Kennedy plot came to public light during the London trial of three men accused of disseminating terrorist material on the Internet, Steele said.

British investigators considered the information important enough to pass on to American law enforcement but have yet to find any connection between the Kennedy and London plots, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman told the Times-Union.

According to the Telegraph article, police uncovered a Feb. 12, 2005, chatroom transcript in which 45 Muslim doctors vowed "to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America."

The message said "nine brothers" would use six cars, three fishing boats and rocket-propelled grenades to attack the Kennedy and fuel tanks at Mayport, the Telegraph reported.

Some local officials said they were never notified about the plot, while others refused to say.

Peyton spokeswoman Susie Wiles said City Hall was not informed about the terror plan.

Laurie-Ellen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, referred all questions to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which in turn referred all questions to the FBI.

Lorin Mock, chief of emergency preparedness for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, said he was not informed but added that he wouldn't expect to be if the FBI dismissed the threat.

Real or not, news of the Kennedy plan was the source of concern for some.

Parvez Ahmed, a Jacksonville resident and chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he hopes Americans won't lump all Muslims or Muslim doctors in with the perpetrators of such plots.

"Any Muslim doctor who is planning any act of terrorism is betraying both their profession and their faith," Ahmed said. "I would urge people not to use this as a reason to stereotype doctors or Muslims." (MORE)

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CAIR: A TASTE O' THE MIDDLE EAST ALONG THE DALLAS NORTH TOLLWAY THIS WEEKEND - TOP
Dallas Observer, 7/5/07
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2007/07/a_taste_

o_the_middle_east_alon.php

If you're interested in the state of Muslim-non-Muslim relations, you have a jam-packed weekend ahead of you. On Sunday, as we've noted before, the Washington-based nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations holds a panel discussion on Islamophobia at the Crowne Plaza Park Central. If you need "a better understanding of the negative impact anti-Muslim bigotry has on American society," well, it's the place for you.

And on Saturday at 2 p.m., author and human rights activist Susan Abulhawa will give a reading at the Bookworm, 3245 Main Street in Frisco. The title of her most recent work -- just a little something called The Scar of David. Controversial? Nah. C'mon -- this is why people move to Frisco in the first place. It's just like the East Village. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-CHICAGO: MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS LAUNCH LAWSUITS AS U.S. CITIZENSHIP PROCESS DRAGS ON - TOP
Jessica Pupovac, All Headline News, 7/5/07
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007835175

An Iraqi refugee living in Idaho has joined a growing number of Muslims across the country who are suing the U.S. government for delays in processing their citizenship applications.

Ali Al-Lati has worked with the U.S. military for six years, as a language instructor and cultural advisor. He has learned English, passed his citizenship exams, and waited for almost five years for his FBI name check to be cleared.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, new regulations forced the FBI to conduct additional background checks on all immigrants seeking citizenship status. The number of checks received by the bureau has since reached over 4 million per year. The Denver Post reports that the FBI backlog currently exceeds 440,000.

The FBI acknowledges that there is a problem, but refutes the allegations that discrimination is a factor in the delays.

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, however, sees things differently. They filed a class-action lawsuit against the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2005 on behalf of all Muslims that they say have experienced "unreasonable delays" in obtaining their citizenship. They have since been joined by class-action suits in California and New York and dozens of individual lawsuits across the country, including Al-Lati's.

The lawsuits are getting results, which could lead to more and more would-be citizens turning to the courts for resolution in the future. An internal DHS memo obtained by the Denver Post indicates that a "lawsuit pending in Federal Court" is grounds for moving a person's paperwork towards the top of the growing pile.

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CAIR-MI: IRAQI MP TELLS OF POST-SADDAM IRAQ - TOP
Stacy Jenkins, Home Town Life, 7/5/07
http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/NEWS23/707050617

Conditions for the Turkmen people in northern Iraq are worse now than before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

That was the message from Dr. Sadettin Erge, a member of the Iraqi Parliament, who visited Farmington Hills Monday as part of his U.S. trip to raise awareness about the conditions the Turkmen ethnic group in northern Iraq is facing.

Erge also met with U.S. government officials at the State Department and the National Security Council in Washington D.C. and with United Nations officials in New York.

He was brought to speak at the Farmington Hills Manor by the International Visitors Council of Metropolitan Detroit board member John Akouri, of Farmington Hills, the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and Farmington Hills resident Nurten Ural, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Turkey. . .

The Turkmen and other ethnic groups in Iraq will wait a long time, according to Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Southfield.

"Each group in Iraq claims to be the most oppressed," said Walid. "And, each group has a grievance with another group - these are severe barriers to the healing process of the nation."

Walid said the U.S. occupation in Iraq needs to end and the religious groups need to accept one another, for there to be a unified Iraq.

"Our nation's occupation in Iraq is a catalyst for sectarian violence," said Walid.

"It's more than just a political situation, it's a spiritual, psychological situation that needs to be addressed. The religious leadership in Iraq needs to come together, because spiritual healing needs to take place first." (MORE)

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FL: FROM ASHES, FAITHS UNITE - TOP
Christians join Muslims to help rebuild a Tampa mosque that was burned by an arsonist.
Sherri Day, St. Petersburg Times, 7/6/07
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/06/news_pf/Hillsborough/From_ashes__faiths_un.shtml

Before someone set fire to the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, Dr. Akram J. Al-Asdi felt isolated, certain that many Americans viewed Muslims negatively.

But as word of the April fire spread, so too did the generosity of strangers.

In the mosque's sleepy Town 'N County neighborhood, residents stopped by to offer support. And to Al-Asdi's surprise, many people, Muslim and non-Muslim, gave financial donations intended to help the Islamic community rebuild.

Much work remains, but Al-Asdi feels encouraged.

"You feel their love and support," said Al-Asdi, 57, a retired pediatric surgeon and the center's chairman. "Of course, there is hatred. But I believe our community is good, our neighborhood is excellent and our nation is excellent."

Al-Asdi watched Thursday morning as contractors removed the charred ceiling from a concrete-block worship center still covered with soot and heavy with the stench of smoke. Mosque officials estimate that it will cost at least $50, 000 to restore the center, which an arsonist set ablaze in April after breaking a window in the main prayer hall and pouring gasoline inside. The building was uninsured, Al-Asdi said.

The FBI continues to investigate, said spokeswoman Sara Oates.

So far, the center has $20, 000 to rebuild, with most donations coming from individual Muslim donors and other Islamic centers around the state. Christian churches also are among the center's largest contributors, Al-Asdi said.

The Rev. Robert Gibbons, pastor of St. Paul's Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, asked his parishioners to contribute shortly after learning about the fire. In the fall, bay area Muslims donated $5, 000 to help restore churches in the West Bank and Gaza that were burned by Muslims in the wake of a controversial speech by Pope Benedict XVI. The local Muslims asked Gibbons, who was then vicar general of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, to help ensure their funds made it into the right hands.

"Our parishioners were so impressed and touched back in September by the warm outreach that we received from the Islamic community in Tampa, they were happy to be involved in this," said Gibbons, noting that his parish collected $1, 500 for the Islamic center. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

NC: CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS TEAM UP - TOP
N.C. resident leads Methodist group to cooperate on worldwide aid efforts
Yonat Shimron, News & Observer, 7/6/07
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/friday/life/story/628399.html

When it comes to international humanitarian relief work, North Carolina offers two models.

In the western part of the state there's the Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse, the international humanitarian relief organization. Graham has sometimes had harsh words about Muslims. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he called Islam "an evil and wicked religion."

In the eastern part of North Carolina, a Christian lay leader is offering a different model.

Cashar W. Evans Jr., the vice chairman of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and a resident of Kitty Hawk, helped broker a new partnership between his international relief organization and Muslim Aid, a British charity that works in many of the same hot spots across the globe.

The group Evans is a part of, known for short as UMCOR, hopes this new model of cooperation will set an example for ways that people of different faiths can work to relieve the effects of natural disasters, war and poverty.

"Muslims and Christians are not adversaries but teammates who can work together toward peace," said Evans, a retired restaurant owner and the only North Carolinian on the 17-member UMCOR board.

The two organizations first got together after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, when both worked to provide shelter and employment for people in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. More recently, they helped provide food and other relief to Sri Lankans affected by the upsurge in violence between the Tamil rebels and government forces. The new agreement, it is hoped, will allow UMCOR and Muslim Aid to raise $15 million in additional funding for projects around the globe.

Evans said one of the advantages of working together is the expectation that the two groups can speed up response times in countries where religion can pose a barrier. (MORE)

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CA: WEST COAST CATHOLICS, MUSLIMS DISCUSS SHARED VALUES - TOP
Tidings, 7/6/07
http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/070607/dialogue.htm

Catholic and Muslim leaders from several West Coast states met May 21-23 to discuss common values reflected in the biblical tale of Joseph --- called the prophet Yusuf in the Quran, the sacred book of Islam.

The meeting, designed along the lines of a spiritual retreat, was held at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. A press release giving the highlights of the gathering was released June 19 in Washington by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The story of Joseph is told in the Bible in Chapters 37-50 of Genesis and in the Quran in Surah 12. Participants found that sharing a reading of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Quran helped them approach those ancient texts in a new light.

They identified common ground in understanding virtues exemplified in the story of Joseph: fidelity, forgiveness, family relationships, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, patience rooted in trust in God, astuteness, compassion and wisdom.

Father Rafael Luevano, head of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Diocese of Orange, described the Joseph narrative as a profile of the virtues prized by the ancient Israelite community. He also noted the impact of the narrative on modern literature and even psychology, where the story figures in Sigmund Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams."

Iraqi-born Imam Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini, founder and director of the Islamic Education Center of Orange County, called Joseph a model of those who are completely loyal to God.

Co-chairing the dialogue on the Muslim side were Imam al-Qazwini and Muzammil H. Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County. The Catholic co-chairman was Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla of Yakima, Wash. Participants also included Professor June O'Connor, University of California at Riverside; Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer, Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Kalim Farooki, Shura Council of Southern California; Father José Antonio Rubio, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer, Diocese of San José; Msgr. Dennis L. Mikulanis, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer, Diocese of San Diego; Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director, CAIR Los Angeles; Father Paul D. Wolkovits, Office of the Synod, Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Imam Taha Hassane, Islamic Center of San Diego; Father Canon Francis V. Tiso, associate director, USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; and Khalil Momand, Islamic Center of South Bay. (MORE)

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WA: PRIEST DRAWN TO ISLAM LOSES HER COLLAR FOR YEAR - TOP
Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times, 7/6/07
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003776947_redding06m.html

The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, a local Episcopal priest who announced she is both Muslim and Christian, will not be able to serve as a priest for a year, according to her bishop.

During that year, Redding is expected to "reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam," the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island, wrote in an e-mail to Episcopal Church leaders.

Redding was ordained more than 20 years ago by the then-bishop of Rhode Island, and it is that diocese that has disciplinary authority over her.

During the next year, Redding "is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon," Wolf wrote in her e-mail. Wolf could not be reached for immediate comment.

"I'm deeply saddened, but I've always said I would abide by the rulings of my bishop," said Redding, who met with Wolf last week. Redding, who characterized their conversation as amicable, said the two would continue to communicate throughout the year.

During the meeting, Redding said she took off her priest's collar and accepted Wolf's invitation to hold it for the year. (MORE)

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IL: ENVIRONMENTAL IN THEIR FAITH - TOP
Religious groups incorporate environment into their beliefs
Lisa Smith, Daily Herald, 7/6/07
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/kanestory.asp?id=329038&c=k

For Linda Sonner, green living and her Christian faith have long been linked.

But it wasn't until two years ago that the Batavia woman and a few friends started a campaign to convince other people of faith - no matter if their belief lies in Christianity or another religion - that spiritual lives should be environmentally friendly lives. Faith In Place created a Chicago cooperative that provides local beef, lamb and poultry to its members in Chicago and the suburbs. The cooperative, called Taqwa Eco-Food, caters to Muslims looking for meat that is not only halal, or slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law, but also organically raised on small family farms.

For meat to be considered halal, it must come from an animal slaughtered in a humane manner, among other requirements. Taqwa Eco-Food also guarantees its animals are raised on farms where they are treated respectfully and fed only a natural diet free from antibiotics and hormones.

Naperville resident Umar Abdallah has been purchasing his meat there for two years or so and has found it to be better than the halal meat he used to buy from another supplier.

"Taking care of the environment and proper treatment of living things is a fundamental part of the Islamic faith," said Abdallah. "The merciful treatment of animals is one of the things that wins God's pleasure and brings forgiveness."

But he also believes the issue extends beyond Islam.

"I think, actually, living in harmony with the environment and respecting life, that's pretty much a universal religious belief, isn't it?" Abdallah said. (MORE)

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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: info@cair.com
URL: http://www.cair.com

 

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