Verse: Excel One Another in Good Works

CAIR: Hearing Monday on Oklahoma Anti-Islam Amendment

CAIR: Backlash Grows Over Pat-Downs, Scanners (USA Today)

Video: CAIR-CA Gets Complaints About Invasive Pat-Downs

Muslims Sue AirTran for Discrimination

CAIR Video: No Holidays for Muslims on NY School Calendar

CAIR: No Apology is Due From Innocent Muslims

(Roanoke Times) Video: Keith Olbermann Names Pam Geller 'Worst Person in the World'

NY: Exhibit Shows Muslim Contributions to Science, Technology

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VERSE OF THE DAY: EXCEL ONE ANOTHER IN GOOD WORKS - TOP

"If God had so willed, He could have made all of you a single nation. But He willed otherwise in order to test you in what He has given you. Therefore try to excel one another in good works. Ultimately you shall all return to God. Then He will show you the truth of those matters over which you dispute."

The Holy Quran, 5:48

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CAIR: HEARING MONDAY ON OKLAHOMA ANTI-ISLAM AMENDMENT - TOP (WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/18/2010) -- On Monday, November 22, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Oklahoma chapter (CAIR-OK) will hold a news conference in Oklahoma City following a hearing to determine whether a preliminary injunction will be granted to block certification of an anti-Islam state ballot measure (State Question 755).

That measure, which passed in the November 2 election, would amend Oklahoma's constitution to forbid judges from considering Islamic principles (Shariah) or international law when making a ruling.

WHAT: New Conference to Follow Hearing on Anti-Islam Amendment WHEN: Monday, November 22 -- Hearing begins at 10 a.m. local time. The news conference will be held in front of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma courthouse immediately following the hearing. WHERE: 200 NW 4th Street, Oklahoma City, OK CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: mawad@cair.com

On November 4, CAIR-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad filed a lawsuit as an individual challenging the constitutionality of the ballot measure.

SEE: Oklahoma Surprise: Islam as an Election Issue (NYT)

Awad's lawsuit, based on his own Shariah-compliant will, said SQ 755 violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause that bars government bodies from making laws "respecting the establishment of religion." 

SEE: Full Text of Awad's Lawsuit

On November 8, U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted a temporary restraining order blocking certification of the amendment by the Oklahoma State Board of Elections. Judge Miles-LaGrange also scheduled a hearing on November 22 for arguments as to whether she should grant a preliminary injunction that would extend the restraining order until a final determination is made in the case.

Hate messages have been received by Muslim institutions in Oklahoma following the passage of State Question 755.

Video: CAIR Rep Discusses Okla. Shariah Ban with Rachel Maddow

CAIR says the ballot measure would infringe on the constitutional rights of ordinary Oklahomans -- including the right to wear religious head scarves in driver's license photographs, choose Islamic marriage contracts, implement Islamic wills, or to be buried according to one's religious beliefs.

CAIR Q&A on Oklahoma Anti-Islam Ballot Measure CAIR Video: SQ 755 Sponsor Explains Purpose of Amendment on MSNBC

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. 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-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: mawad@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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CAIR: BACKLASH GROWS OVER PAT-DOWNS, SCANNERS - TOP By Charisse Jones and Thomas Frank, USA Today, 11/17/10

The government's efforts to keep the airways safe by subjecting travelers to more scrutiny are facing their biggest backlash since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- even as recent terror attempts indicate that air travel remains a prime target for groups linked to al-Qaeda.

Just days before a busy Thanksgiving weekend when hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the air, frequent travelers, unions, passengers groups and civil libertarians are filing lawsuits and urging boycotts of new airport screening procedures. Those procedures include machines that see through passengers' clothing, and more aggressive pat-downs by security personnel, which some travelers say amount to fondling or strip searches.

Even as some senators on Wednesday urged authorities to scale back the measures to help preserve passengers' privacy, Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole said the intensified screening methods are necessary -- and that the agency would not back down. ...

Others express religious concerns. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group for American Muslims, opposes the whole-body scanners and what it deems "invasive" pat-downs. The group's spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, says modesty is very important to the Muslim faith, but "I don't think travelers of any faith would approve of being touched in the genital area." (More)

SEE ALSO:

VIDEO: CAIR-CA GETS COMPLAINTS ABOUT INVASIVE PAT-DOWNS - TOP

Watch the video here.

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MUSLIMS SUE AIRTRAN FOR DISCRIMINATION - TOP By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, 11/17/10

Nine Muslim American passengers from the Washington area sued AirTran Airways in federal court Wednesday, alleging that the airline discriminated against them by removing them from a Jan. 1, 2009, flight out of Reagan National Airport and refusing to rebook them.

"We want to send a clear message that discrimination will not be tolerated and ensure that others will not have to endure this unfair and embarrassing treatment," said Michael Kirkpatrick, a lawyer with Public Citizen and co-counsel for the plaintiffs, brothers Kashif Irfan of Alexandria and Atif Irfan of Rockville; their families; and a friend, Abdul Razak Aziz of the District. ...

The lawsuit alleges that two teenaged girls seated nearby mistook an innocuous comment by the group about safety at the rear of the airplane as a threat. The suit claims that AirTran refused to rebook the group even after FBI investigators cleared them to travel. (More)

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CAIR VIDEO: NO HOLIDAYS FOR MUSLIMS ON NY SCHOOL CALENDAR - TOP

Watch the video here.

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CAIR: NO APOLOGY IS DUE FROM INNOCENT MUSLIMS - TOP Joan Bugbee, Roanoke Times, 11/18/10

My friend Gail Lambert wrote an op-ed, "Why haven't Muslims apologized?" published Oct. 25, that suggested Muslims need to apologize for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Knowing Gail to be intelligent, honest and open-minded, I'm certain she wouldn't mind if I offer some thoughts on the other side of the question. Reasonable people may differ, after all, and still remain friends.

For example, she pointed out that the parents of the Korean-American student who carried out the Virginia Tech massacre apologized for that horrendous act. To apologize is to accept responsibility for something you did.

They apologized because their son did it. Does anyone really believe that the nearly 2 billion Muslims on this planet "did it"? That they are responsible for the terrible actions of 17 lunatics? Does anyone remember that Muslims, too, died in the attacks that day?

Apparently, there's a myth floating around that says Muslims were silent in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. A quick search of the Internet shows that isn't so. Numerous Muslim organizations condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms, and they did so on the day of the attacks.

The American Muslim Political Coordination Council "utterly condemned the vicious and cowardly terrorism." The American Muslims for Jerusalem said, "As Muslims, we utterly deplore these heinous and barbaric attacks." The American Muslim Alliance asked members to donate blood for the victims. The Council on American-Islamic Relations strongly condemned the attacks and asked Muslim medical professionals to go to the aid of victims.

And on, and on. Muslims were anything but silent on 9/11 -- it's easily checked out. (More)

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VIDEO: KEITH OLBERMANN NAMES PAM GELLER 'WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD' - TOP

Watch the video here.

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NY: EXHIBIT SHOWS MUSLIM CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY - TOP

1001 Inventions at the New York Hall of Science Uncovers a Thousand Years of Science and Technology Developed Throughout Muslim Civilization Groundbreaking Exhibition Explains Why the Dark Ages Weren't Really Dark

QUEENS, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 11/18/10 -- After blockbuster runs in London and Istanbul, 1001 Inventions, an exhibition highlighting the scientific legacy of Muslim civilization in our modern age, will make its United States premiere at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) on December 4, 2010.

The exhibition reveals the forgotten history of men and women from a variety of faiths and backgrounds whose contributions to the advancement of scholarship and technology during the Middle Ages helped pave the way for the European Renaissance. This period of history from the seventh through 17th centuries is commonly -- though, often erroneously -- referred to as the "Dark Ages." (More)