"If you add up hate mail, hateful phone calls and e-mails, racial slurs being yelled at people and verbal or physical altercations, it's dozens of incidents," said Amina Sharif. "Hate is a self-addressed envelope and so the person who bears this hate is the victim of his own hatred before I am. And I can only pray for that person to find peace and to rid himself of that hatred," said Ahmed Rehab.

"the fight's not over, and they will try to appeal the decision," Amina Sharif, the nonprofit's communications coordinator, said. "We are concerned that anti-Muslim sentiments expressed during the meeting may have wrongly influenced the decision," she said. "That is something that concerns us, and that we may challenge."

"We fear that the board may have acted on improper factors in rejecting the Irshad Learning Center's permit, and we will continue to pursue this matter in hopes of achieving a just resolution," said Kevin Vodak, attorney with the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which will be representing Irshad as it considers appealing the county's ruling.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham, who attended the hearing with Amal Abusumayyah, said afterward, "We are hopeful that this sent a message to the public that sort of behavior will not be tolerated by a fair and just society."

CAIR-Chicago announced today that it is pleased with the plea agreement reached yesterday between state prosecutors and Valerie Kenney, a suburban woman who faced hate crime charges after attacking a Muslim woman at a Tinley Park grocery store 2 days after the Fort Hood shooting.

An official with the Chicago-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which became involved in the case, said the backlash against Muslim-Americans had spiked somewhat in the days immediately following the Fort Hood shooting but has subsided. "We try to rally community support for (victims and their families) and to make sure the state's attorney is pursuing the case with the utmost importance," said spokeswoman Christina Abraham.

CAIR-Chicago announced today that it has filed a complaint in federal court against USF Holland and YRC Worldwide Inc. on behalf of an African-American Muslim former employee. The complaint alleges that the man, Reginal Exson, suffered discrimination and severe verbal abuse based on his race, religion and disability.

After a 4-year wait, a divorce, and two passed citizenship tests, a man was sworn in as a citizen of the United States.

The man, charged with criminal trespassing during the protest, was represented by CAIR-Chicago's Christina Abraham.

CAIR-Chicago has recently resolved the cases of four Muslim men whose bids for citizenship faced long delays and complications.

A Muslim CTA employee contacted CAIR-Chicago for representation after being repeatedly passed up for promotion.

CAIR-Chicago recently settled a discrimination suit in favor of a Muslim woman fired for not attending an annual company event.

A Citibank security guard reportedly objected to a Muslim woman receiving service because it would encourage more of “them” to come into the bank. Throughout the process, which the Muslim customer described as “humiliating,” the guard allegedly made anti-Muslim remarks.

Two more CAIR-Chicago clients were recently sworn in as United States citizens after enduring years of difficulties and delays. With the assistance of the Civil Rights department, they received a response from the government and obtained their citizenship.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham and Staff Attorney Kevin Vodak presented on the state of civil rights in post 9-11 America at an event entitled "The War on Terror and the Rights of Muslims," sponsored by the American Constitutional Society (ACS).

"Pulling a woman's head scarf is clearly a hate crime and should therefore be investigated as such," said Christina Abraham, the Chicago civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"It is not the fact that the Univ. of Chicago invited a pro-Israel speaker that offended so many. Rather, it is Olmert’s criminality that offends. It is the disparity with which the university treated its affected students that offends. It is the way in which they assured us that all views would be given a platform, and yet blatantly repressed the point of view of one group of people, that offends. And for this they must, at the very least, apologize," says Christina Abraham.

"It is not the fact that the Univ. of Chicago invited a pro-Israel speaker that offended so many. Rather, it is Olmert’s criminality that offends. It is the disparity with which the university treated its affected students that offends. It is the way in which they assured us that all views would be given a platform, and yet blatantly repressed the point of view of one group of people, that offends. And for this they must, at the very least, apologize," says Christina Abraham.