October 11th, 20230Harassment of American Muslims while flying has been a persistent problem since the expansion of the national security apparatus post 9/11. Racial and religious profiling by federal agents at airports to citizens being placed on watchlists without any means of due process are ongoing civil rights challenges for our community. Despite Mr....
January 15th, 20232HAMTRAMCK – After months of debate, the City Council didn't change the rules on practice of animal sacrifice, for religious purposes, in the city.
The decision ultimately came down to a more than 30-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says cities cannot infringe on religious freedom under the First Amendment.
The act of...
November 23rd, 20220TROY — The city of Troy and the city’s first Jamiah masjid, or congregational mosque, have come to a settlement after years of legal disputes.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which represents Troy’s Adam Community Center mosque, said this week that a resolution has been reached...
November 11th, 20220Hamtramck native Abraham Aiyash will become the first Arab American to be a majority leader in a state legislature next term after he was selected by his colleagues to be Michigan’s new majority floor leader of the State House. Aiyash will be the highest-ranking Muslim American in Michigan legislative history.
"Incredibly honored...
November 3rd, 20220ECORSE — An Arab American man is suing U.S. Steel for wrongful discrimination termination following employment discrimination by his supervisor.
The lawsuit, filed by the Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) in federal court on behalf of Yemeni American Jalal Muflihi, says Muflihi complained for...
October 28th, 20222- Muzammil Ahmed serves on the boards of Emgage MI, CAIR MI and is the former chair of the Michigan Muslim Community Council. The opinions expressed are his own.
When the Muslim community and the progressive forces came together after 9/11, it was a marriage of convenience. Arabs and Muslims needed to be loved and the Progressives...
October 14th, 20225By now, just about in everyone in Dearborn is aware of the book banning saga in the Dearborn Public Schools. A number of concerned citizens and parents have voiced their objections to the presence of certain books in school libraries, namely books that explore LGBTQ+ themes and lifestyles. Undoubtedly, parents should have a say in the...
September 18th, 20220A new, extensive national poll shines light on American Muslims' attitudes and perspectives on major issues, in the context of the broader faith landscape in the country.
The American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Status Report was released late last month by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), which...
September 16th, 20220TROY — After years of legal battles, the first mosque in the city of Troy is now set to open.
An inauguration for the Adam Community Center's mosque is scheduled for this Saturday at 5 p.m. at 3635 Rochester Road.
The large, ethnically and religiously diverse Metro Detroit city of more than 80,000 residents has churches, temples...
September 3rd, 20220DEARBORN — A Dearborn-based author has penned her first children’s book inspired by a family member’s cafeteria experiences as one of few Arab Americans at their school.
The Great Labne Trade, by author Eman Saleh, is a captivating children’s book meant to be "enjoyed by families across generations."
Through beautiful...
August 25th, 20220ALBUQUERQUE, NM — In the case of four murdered Muslim men in Albuquerque, Muhammad Syed, an Afghan refugee, has now been charged with the murder of three of the victims.
New Mexico prosecutors used cell phone evidence to link Syed, 51, to the Aug. 5 murder of truck business owner Naeem Hussain. Police previously charged Syed with...
August 24th, 20220WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) announced the appointment of Abed Ayoub to serve as ADC national executive director.
The ADC is a long-running organization, involved in advocacy in broad-ranging incidents of discrimination against the Arab American and Muslim communities of the...
August 22nd, 20220DEARBORN — Karim Khassouan lived a short, quiet life and his spirit will carry on in the lives he saved through the organs he donated.
Khassouan was born with Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), a condition in which blood vessels become tangled, according to his mother, Nameer Alkurdi. It is normally treatable but, in Karim’s...
August 20th, 20220The problems of racial and religious animus are unfortunately ongoing challenges for Michiganders with ancestry from the Middle East or who adhere to the Islamic faith. These challenges exist despite the density of Arab and Chaldean Americans and American Muslims who reside in Southeastern Michigan.
Although issues such as hate crimes...
August 9th, 20220NEW MEXICO — After the shooting deaths of four Muslim men in Albuquerque in what authorities suspected to be related cases over nine months, police said they had a suspect in custody and announced charges on Wednesday in two of the shootings.
Muhammad Syed, 51, was taken into custody a day earlier after a traffic stop more than 100...
August 8th, 20220On Monday, authorities identified the fourth victim in a series of killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the deaths sent ripples of fear through Islamic communities nationwide.
Three of the slayings happened in the past week. Now law enforcement officials are seeking help finding a vehicle believed to be connected to...
August 5th, 20220STERLING HEIGHTS - In the primary election on Aug. 2, Aisha Farooqi won the Democratic nomination for the newly-drawn District 57 of the Michigan House of Representatives, prevailing over Marcia Squier.
According to the unofficial vote totals from Oakland County, Farooqi received 2,051 votes to Squire's 1,215. Unofficial results...
July 15th, 20220— Rex Nazarko is a staffer with the Emgage Michigan team
This past June, our team at Emgage and our allies came together in a celebratory event on Capitol Hill to honor and inspire Muslim American civic engagement. As our event was about to begin, we encountered heightened security measures on the Hill, which brought about...
July 8th, 20220A new report by a Muslim civil rights and political organization shows significant disapproval among Muslim voters of President Biden’s performance, but a projection that voters will prefer Democrats in the coming midterm election.
The report was released this week by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — which calls...
June 2nd, 20221CHICOPEE, MASS — A Muslim woman in Massachusetts has filed a legal complaint against a McDonald’s restaurant whose employees purposefully stuffed bacon into a fish sandwich she and her son bought.
"McDonald's made my children and me feel unwanted and worthless by intentionally stuffing a fish sandwich full of bacon for no other...
May 5th, 20220WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, May 2, President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted a reception to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the White House.
The reception welcomed Muslim community members from across the country, including from Michigan, like U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Wayne County Commissioner Sam...
April 23rd, 20220
By Dan Parks
Muslim Americans gave $1.8 billion last year to meet their religious obligation to help the poor, according to a new study by the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
The study counted only giving related to the religious principle known as zakat, which...
March 30th, 20220DEARBORN — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has agreed to create a Detroit-based U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) community relations position that will be dedicated to building trust and working with Michigan’s Arab and Muslim American communities, and other impacted communities.
The liaison position comes after...
February 9th, 20220By Joseph Richard Preville
On August 4, 1963, The New York Times Magazine published President Kennedy’s majestic essay, “A Nation of Immigrants.” Rejecting geographically narrow and restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin for the U.S., Kennedy urged reform and the adoption of a new immigration policy that would...
January 19th, 20220NEW YORK — Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, a Bengali American, has been nominated by President Biden to serve as federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Choudhury would become the first Muslim woman and the first Bangladeshi American to serve as a federal judge and the...
January 11th, 20220— This article was contributed by Joseph Richard Preville to The Arab American News. It has been edited for style.
Al Qaeda’s terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was horrific, but what came next was far worse. The U.S. responded by unleashing a 20-year campaign of surveillance and harassment against its own Muslim...
December 7th, 20210MAINE — The City Council of South Portland, Maine unanimously voted on Monday to elect the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Deqa Dhalac, 53, is believed to be the country’s first Somali American mayor. Dhalac won a City Council seat back in 2018, being the only non-White candidate for a Council seat in the Whitest state in the U.S....
December 4th, 20210The Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) held its inaugural Muslim Leadership Appreciation Dinner on Nov. 20.
The MMCC has been an instrumental community volunteer and civic service association in Michigan for decades and has encouraged various Michigan Muslim communities to get further involved in community service.
The...
