Muslims continue to be the target of hate, fear, and racism causing them to become victims of acts of blatant discrimination and inequality. Muslims have encountered spying, being singled out, and have been deprived their freedom of speech.

CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab praised McCarthy for his "heartfelt" sincerity and taking the initiative to attend, and the audience applauded when the chief said police need to work with the city's communities to prevent crime and terrorism.

CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab praised McCarthy for his “heartfelt” sincerity and taking the initiative to attend, and the audience applauded when the chief said police need to work with the city’s communities to prevent crime and terrorism.

CAIR-Chicago filed a discrimination complaint in federal court this week against the Illinois State Police (ISP) on behalf of Kifah Mustapha, a leading Muslim religious leader (Imam) based in Chicago. The ISP revoked his chaplaincy position citing a dubious Internet report attacking him. The report was written by Steven Emerson, an anti-Muslim blogger notorious for fighting against American Muslim civic participation. See media coverage of the lawsuitHERE.

In December, community and religious groups hailed Mustapha's appointment as a nod to the growing diversity among the agency's nearly 2,000 officers. Since 2002, Mustapha has been an imam and director at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, one of the Chicago area's oldest and largest mosques. He also served as a designated chaplain with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, helping to counsel Hurricane Katrina victims.

The Illinois State Police has revoked the appointment of the agency's first Muslim chaplain, citing only information revealed during a background check. A national Muslim advocacy group Wednesday blamed the move on Islamophobia.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR’s executive director in Chicago, called it discrimination against Muslims, especially since Mustapha hasn’t been formally accused of wrongdoing. “The ISP is kowtowing to the run-of-the-mill fear-mongering that Islamophobes have devoted their careers in order to avoid a public relations controversy,” he said.

"It's incorrect to even imply that such a correlation exists," said Ahmed Rehab, a Chicago director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations. "Terrorism is an equal opportunity offender as far as ethnic communities go."

"The overlying mantra is that we belong here, this is our country, too," said Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations "That's something you do not through assertive statement, but assertive action."

A prominent Muslim scholar who was once denied a U.S. visa is scheduled to give one of his first major speeches since the 2004 ban this weekend in suburban Chicago. Tariq Ramadan is scheduled to speak Saturday in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., at an event sponsored by the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

"It is outrageous and very sad that a representative of the people would partake in an attack against a global faith," said Ahmed Rehab, a spokesman for the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "He could have said, 'a savage ideology' or 'a savage interpretation' or any type of nuance that a politician like himself knows how to do."