CCAIR PPITTSBURGH NNEWSCOUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS -

IIN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATEN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE

Executive Council

PresidentSafdar Khwaja

Vice President(Vacant)

Executive SecretaryAzmat Qayyum

TreasurerIshfaq Ahmad

MemberEzz el Din Moukamal

MemberNoor Un Nahar

Staff

Communications CoordinatorZohra Lasania

To join our mailing list orfile a civil rights complaint,

reach us at:cair.pittsburgh@gmail.com

Phone: 412 606 3601

Mail your donations to :

CAIR PA Pittsburgh Chapter801 Negley AvenuePittsburgh, PA 15206

HADITH The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

"If you are put in a position of authority ... fear God and act with justice."

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NOV 2017

Assalam Alaikum,

On behalf of the entire CAIR Board and Staff, I want tothank the Pittsburgh Muslim Community for an exceptionallygood Annual Banquet held on September 23, 2017. Our youngpresenters were very well received, the Executive Director ofCAIR-PA Jacob Bender gave us some good points to consider,in addition to being funny, and our Chief Guest Gold Star par-ent Khizr Khan had sage advice for our Community to become active and visibleat all levels in society. The Banquet matched our best attendance from yearspast. The banquet committee and volunteers were excellent and highly appreci-ated.

The social upheaval unleashed by the 2016 National elections, that threatens toreverse over a century of progress and civilizational development in America, isnow facing a growing resistance. All minority groups, effected by reinvigoratedprejudices and bigotry, are organizing and getting their voices heard in the publicsquare. It is incumbent upon us to support these struggles, as our own struggle isnow joined by many others; some new and some centuries old. Our CAIR chap-ter needs and looks forward to a greater participation from our resourcefulCommunity members; who can contribute either their Time, Talent, or Treasure(the three Ts). We have faced unprecedented requests for legal services thisyear, for which we are still striving to meet our fundraising target for 2017; and Iagain ask for your help in meeting our fundraising shortfall of $30K.

By the grace of Allah, CAIR continues to advocate for the civil rights ofMuslims, fight Islamophobia, promote dialogue and understanding betweenMuslims and other faiths, and improve the relations of our minority communitywith mainstream America. The support and contributions from our localCommunity is precious and held in high esteem by all of us at the CAIRPittsburgh Board.

WassalamSafdar Khwaja

PresidentCAIR Pittsburgh Chapter

From the President

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Assalam Alaikum,

The first verse of the first chapter of Qur’an begins with the wordAlhamdulillah .... meaning all praise and thanks be to Allah. And werepeat this verse throughout the day in our prayers. Reflecting on thisverse in our everyday life and more so today on this ThanksgivingDay, we know that we have much to be thankful for. First of all, as Br. Safdar mentioned we are thankful for the support

from our comunity and the success of our recent banquet. But today Iwant to take this opportunity to convey our special thanks to all thepublic and vocal support we received from our allies in the city. Theday we gathered for the No Ban No Wall rally after the elections,proved that Muslims are not alone in the fight for justice, that our cityfolks will stand with us in this fight. Voices have the power to bringabout changes. We are thankful to JVP, Bend The Arc, ThomasMerton Center, PIIN, PCHR, ACLU to name a few. And of course wecannot forget to thank our mayor who has openly declared Pittsburghas a welcoming city, and has acknowledges that Pittsburgh was builtby immigrants. In addition we have recived constant calls of supportfrom neighbors and peace-loving people who are repulsed by Trump’sdivisive rehetoric and genuinely expressed thier wish to help us. It isAllah’s Grace alone that immediately after the new administrationtook over our allies came forward with proposals to hold panel dis-cussions, bystander inervention training, not to forget the attorneys intown who came forward to help us with cases on pro-bono basisinspite of their busy schedules. We are thankful to all of them. Our special thanks also goes to Attorney Sara Burhan and

Professor Haider Hamoudi for conducting Know Your Rights work-shop on Immigration topics at Indiana PA and at ICP, Pittsburgh,which was the need of the hour in the face of Travel Ban ExecutiveOrders released by Trump, one after another targeted and directedspecifically at Muslims. Attorney Sara Burhan has also volunteered tohelp us with cases. Since then, we have had civil rights violation cases coming in at a

higher frequency, and recorded hate incidents, in the city, which hadnot existed before. To add to that we have had bullying incidents inschools, and brothers in the community facing FBI visits. Our chapter is equipped with one sole staff member, dedicated to

CAIR work, and we are fortunate to have dedicated board members,but none of us are attorneys. So under those circumstances when civilrights cases come in, we’ve had to rely upon referring our cases to

outside attorneys, (for which most oftentimeswe pay), or we refer the case to thePhiladelphia chapter staff attorney. Our chapter requires funds for this endeav-

or, in order to serve our community withlegal support, and our recent fundraisingbanquet was done with that in mind.Unfortunately we did not meet our goals.

In the past year and a half, our chapter had been really busy. Pre-lection, we were invited by colleges in the city for talks onIslamophobia, then we did rounds of Know Your Rights workshops indifferent masajids in the city, and our volunteers came forward to helpin the Get Out the Vote phone calls. Post election, we organized paneltalks, organized a Bystander Intervention training, Ramdan Iftar shar-ing with neighbors and friends of all faiths, particiapted in rallies andgave radio and TV interviews. Our board and staff had been busy. In the coming months, we have plan to screen Jacob Bender’s

award-winning movie, “Out of Cordoba.” We also have in thepipeline, a panel discussion focusing on community services fromIslam and Jewish religious traditions; and media and civic engage-ment trainings for our community members. The dates will beannounced soon. Please stay tuned for updates.

As Br. Jacob Bender in his speech said, “This abundance of activ-ity is only possible, however, because of the donations of people likeyourselves all across the country. So please become involved and helpCAIR-Pittsburg grow. You will not only be fulfilling the obligation toprotect the UMMAH, the Muslim community, but helping to insurethat your children will grow up as proud Muslims in an America com-mitted to the notion that all human beings are equal in the eyes oftheir Creator, endowed with the rights of liberty and religious free-dom, and secure in the belief that the United States of America istheir country too.” We at CAIR Pittsburgh, board and staff, wish you a very happy

Thanskgiving, and are thankful to all our volunteers. Our work wouldnot be complete without them. We are positive that InshaAllah, thisgreat community will come forward to help us reach our goal ofaffording legal help for our community, so please do not hesitate tovolantarily contribute for this good cause. InshaAllah.

Jazakallahu Khairan. Zohra Lasania.

Round-up

Please visit Few of a Kind Store and support the Muslim Women’s Shelter in Pittsburgh

Classes held at the store:

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Banquet 2017 - Photo Gallery

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ABOUT CAIRCAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization with over 35 chapters nationwide and in Canada. Itsmission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and

build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding

El objetivo del CAIR es lograr que se respeten los derechos de las personas y que se alcance un entendimiento mutuo, al mismotiempo que se fomenta el diálogo constructivo, la justicia y la comprensión social.

1.Tell the FBI agents: "I don't want to speak with you without my lawyer. Please give me your busi-ness card (or if on the phone, "your full name, job title, and phone number") and my lawyer will con-tact you."

2. Take the agents' business cards (or if on the phone, take their full name, job title, and phone num-ber), and just end the conversation by saying, "Thank you. My lawyer will contact you. Good bye."(do not let them enter your home or business unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.)

3. Call CAIR-Pittsburgh at 412 606 3601. We will then connect you with a lawyer free of charge so thelawyer can contact the FBI agent on your behalf to make sure your rights are protected and so youdon't have to answer inappropriate questions.

Do not make any promises. According to the law, law enforcement agents have the right to lie to youbut it is a crime for you as a civilian to lie to law enforcement. The agents might lie to you and tellyou, "You do not need a lawyer," or "are you trying to hide something?" or "having a lawyer willmake things worse." These are all scare tactics. Do not let the agent pressure you into speakingwith him/her without a lawyer. Simply repeat, if needed, "I do not want to speak with you without mylawyer. My lawyer will contact you. Goodbye."

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please call us at 412 606 3601. Your Civil Rights isour primary concern. Remember, all of CAIR-Pittsburgh's civil rights services are confidential.

3 simple steps to take if you are contacted by FBI

Know Your Rights With increase in FBI visits to homes, we have had cases where brothers and sisters in the community talk tothe FBI and answer their questions, invite them into the house, even offer them tea, and only after that callCAIR office. Please know that in such a scenario, the damage has already been done. Please know that youhave rights, and you must exercise your rights to protect yourself in these trying times.

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