Newsletter

My Conversation with President Obama

On Friday evening, August 13th, I had the honor and privilege of breaking Ramadan fast with President Barack Obama. The annual White House iftar included a select group of members of Congress, diplomats, and a diverse array of American Muslims. I was thrilled to be a part of this historic event and moved to hear the President affirm the rights of Muslims as equal to those of their fellow Americans.

...[A]s a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country... This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.

I personally thanked President Obama for another commitment he made a year ago to protect religious freedom by easing hurdles to zakat, or charitable giving. I told him about the letter sent to his attention just days earlier by Muslim Advocates and 43 Muslim, Arab and South Asian groups, providing 10 thoughtful and constructive policy proposals to address the challenges faced by donors and Muslim charities.

I told President Obama that, in the wake of the greatest natural disaster in recent memory - the flooding in Pakistan - the very Americans best situated to help - American Muslims - feel paralyzed, afraid their donations will not get through.

He listened intently and replied, "We need to work on that," and then turned to his staff, repeating those instructions.

The President's response reminded me of one of the reasons we founded Muslim Advocates: to be a strong voice for American Muslims in Washington. These are challenging times for American Muslims, for affirming our identity and exercising our fundamental rights as Americans. The right to give charity is one of those rights, and Muslim Advocates is at the forefront of defending it. Our progress protecting charity has a multiplier effect: as we educate government officials, it benefits not just one organization but all charities trying to do good.

As you consider worthy causes for your zakat this Ramadan, please support Muslim Advocates and the important work we are doing to protect the rights and freedoms of all Americans, regardless of faith.

Wishing you and your family a blessed Ramadan,

Naheed Qureshi
Deputy Director
Muslim Advocates

BREAKING NEWS: Community's Voices Heard, Travel Policy Rescinded

04/02/2010

Muslim Advocates welcomes the Obama administration's announcement rescinding its policy of targeting travelers from 14 primarily Muslim countries for mandatory enhanced screening. Since this misguided policy was implemented in January, Muslim Advocates had been urging Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and other senior administration officials to withdraw it.

Under the 14-country policy, all nationals of and individuals - including U.S. citizens - traveling from or through Iran, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, and Cuba were subject to enhanced security screenings.

"The policy was not crafted to achieve its purpose - air security. It would not have subjected Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber of British-Jamaican ancestry, to enhanced screening," said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates. "We are very pleased that the administration heard our message that effective policies should focus on suspicious behavior and legitimate leads, not national origin, ethnicity or religion."

In a letter to Secretary Napolitano in January, Muslim Advocates and a coalition of Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian community and civil rights groups requested that the policy be rescinded immediately. In a meeting with Secretary Napolitano and senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials a few weeks later, Muslim Advocates reiterated its concerns and request. Muslim Advocates, Executive Director Farhana Khera also wrote an op-ed published by McClatchy newspapers criticizing the travel policy as wrong and ineffective.

Muslim Advocates will monitor the new policy to ensure that it is implemented without bias or disparate impact on American Muslim travelers.

For more information about DHS's security measures for international travelers, please contact Nura Maznavi, Counsel, Program to End Racial & Religious Profiling at Muslim Advocates at 415-692-1484.

American Muslim Charities Urge President to Fulfill Cairo Pledge

In this update:

•Muslim Advocates, American Muslim Charities Urge President to Fulfill Cairo Pledge
•NYC Charities Seminar Produces Large, Enthusiastic Response
•Muslim Advocates Attorney Training Prepares NY-NJ Lawyers to Help Community

Muslim Advocates, American Muslim Charities Urge President to Fulfill Cairo Pledge

Today, Muslim Advocates and 19 other American Muslim charities - a snapshot of the breadth of civic, educational, social service and international aid institutions serving the needs of Muslims and non-Muslims, locally and around the world - sent a letter to President Obama asking him to fulfill a commitment he made to American Muslims in his Cairo address last June: to ease federal restrictions on charitable giving and simplify their ability to exercise their civic responsibility and religious obligation to give zakat.

The letter urges President Obama to "...ease hurdles to charitable giving through critical, immediate regulatory and administrative action," while pointing out that "many American Muslims have faced federal law enforcement scrutiny of their giving or associations with lawful, U.S. charities and, as a result, are understandably fearful of giving."

NYC Charities Seminar Produces Large, Enthusiastic Response

More than 150 imams, board members and executive officers from mosques and nonprofit organizations gathered to have their most pressing questions about financial and legal obligations answered during a free seminar at New York Law School on Saturday, March 6, 2010. The all-day event was hosted by Muslim Advocates in partnership with the Muslim Bar Association of New York, the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, Muslim Consultative Network and the Association of Muslim Lawyers. Read more about the seminar.

Muslim Advocates Attorney Training Prepares NY-NJ Lawyers to Help Community

On March 4, 2010, Muslim Advocates held an in-person training in New York City for local lawyers interested in representing clients approached by law enforcement officials for questioning. The training provided over a dozen attorneys with information about representing clients during FBI interviews and the legal ramifications for individuals who choose to speak with law enforcement officials. Held at the law firm of Patterson Belknap, the training was co-sponsored by the Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY) and the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA), and featured criminal defense attorney Khurrum Wahid, a partner with the law firm Wahid, Vizcaino & Maher LLP.

Muslim Advocates regularly holds trainings for attorneys who are able and willing to represent individuals contacted by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. Our next training will be a webinar on Wednesday, April 14, 2010. To sign up for this training, please click here.

Muslim Advocates Partners with NAACP, "New Muslim Cool"

In this update:

•Muslim Advocates Partners with NAACP on Imam Luqman Shooting
•Registration for NYC Charities Seminar Closes Today
•Attorney-Training Webinar a Big Success
•Muslim Advocates Speaks at "New Muslim Cool" Screenings

Muslim Advocates Partners with NAACP in Requesting Thorough Investigation of Detroit Imam's Shooting Death

In a letter sent earlier this month to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Muslim Advocates and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) expressed their shared concern over the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) use of lethal force in the October 28, 2009, shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in Dearborn, Michigan. The letter requests that the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate the circumstances of the imam's death, including a review of the FBI's decision to use lethal force during the raid and a complete analysis of the imam's autopsy report. The letter also requests that the DOJ investigate all of the incidents preceding and following the raid, including the FBI's use of undisclosed informants and recent inflammatory and misleading comments made by the head of the Detroit FBI office.

Registration for March 6th New York Muslim Charities Seminar Ends Today!

Muslim Advocates, the Muslim Bar Association of New York, the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, and the Association of Muslim American Lawyers--in partnership with the Justice Action Center of New York Law School--invite NY-NJ area mosque and nonprofit leaders to attend a Free Legal & Financial Educational Seminar on Saturday, March 6th from 8am to 6pm at New York Law School. Experts from leading national law and accounting firms and the Internal Revenue Service will offer professional guidance on issues such as nonprofit governance, employment law and how to protect institutions in their interactions with the FBI.

Click here for an agenda.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS FEB. 26th!

Muslim Advocates Trains Attorneys to Represent Community Members

In early February, Muslim Advocates hosted its third webinar training for lawyers on representing clients approached by law enforcement officials for questioning, led by John Floyd, a criminal defense attorney in Houston, Texas, who has been recognized for his pro bono work. The webinar provided more than two dozen attorneys with information that will enable them to advise and represent American Muslims, who are continuing to be approached by the FBI, either in connection with actual criminal investigations, or ongoing surveillance of the community.

Muslim Advocates regularly holds trainings for attorneys who are able and willing to represent individuals contacted by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. Our next training will be in-person, Thursday, March 4th at 6:30 PM in New York City. Please contact Nura Maznavi, nura@muslimadvocates.org or 415.765.1495, for more information.

Muslim Advocates Participates in Panel at "New Muslim Cool" Screenings

On Monday, March 1st in Milwaukee, WI, and on Tuesday, March 2nd in Baltimore, MD, Muslim Advocates counsel Nura Maznavi will join "New Muslim Cool" film director Jennifer Taylor and independent hip-hop artist MC Hamza, in panel discussions about how racial profiling has expanded over the years to include the Muslim, South Asian and Middle Eastern communities. The discussions follow screenings of the film, which is told through the lens of Hamza, a Puerto Rican, independent hip-hop artist who converts from Catholicism to Islam in the aftermath of 9-11.

The Milwaukee screening, on March 1st, is from 7-9 PM at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Union Wisconsin Room, while the Baltimore screening, on March 2nd, is from 7-9 PM at the Brown Center of the Maryland Institute College of Art. Read more about the March 2nd Baltimore screening on its Facebook page.