Calif. Muslim Denied Service at Bank over Hijab

 Muslim Denied Service at Bank over Hijab

 (WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/2/2009) – A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on the U.S. Department of Justice to determine whether a California bank violated a Muslim woman’s civil rights when it denied her service because she was wearing a religiously-mandated head scarf, or hijab.

According to the woman, she was denied service Saturday at a Navy Federal Credit Union in San Diego, Calif., despite telling bank officials that she wears her head scarf for religious reasons.

In a statement, the bank said:

    “’In the interest of Security and Safety for our members and employees – hats, hoods and sunglasses must be removed when entering the branch office.’ Special consideration for cultural and religious garments is under the discretion of the branch management. Navy Federal is making inquiries into the recent incident.”

“Under this bizarre and discriminatory policy, no Muslim woman wearing a head scarf, no Sikh man wearing a turban, no Jewish man wearing a yarmulke, no Catholic nun wearing a habit, no cancer survivor wearing a scarf, no Amish woman wearing a bonnet, and no blind person wearing sunglasses may enter a Navy Federal Credit Union branch nationwide,” said CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida. “We call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate this disturbing case and Navy Federal’s apparently unconstitutional policy and to ensure that the religious rights of all customers are maintained.”

Hopida said CAIR offers a booklet called “An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices” to help corporate managers gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

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Scarf ban, arrest prompt training

 

ATLANTA – City court workers in an Atlanta suburb will undergo sensitivity training and post courtroom dress code signs after police arrested a Muslim woman for refusing to remove her religious headscarf before attending a hearing.

A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court after the Dec. 16 incident. She was released in less than a day.

Muslim rights activists have asked the Department of Justice to investigate the incident that triggered a protest in Douglasville, a city of 20,000 people on Atlanta’s west suburban outskirts.

Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said Wednesday the training doesn’t address the problem.

“We can deal with whether people knew about policies or whether they handled things correctly, but the bottom line is, can a Muslim woman walk into this courtroom wearing religious attire?” he asked.

In a news release this week, the city police department acknowledged that while courtroom rules restrict headgear, Municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins has made accommodations for religious reasons.

Lisa Valentine was arrested for wearing a Muslim headscarf to a court hearing.

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ArabAmericanNews

Terror stalks Surrey twins

Terror stalks Surrey twins

Terror stalks Surrey twin Sajid Hameed, originally from Karachi, Pakistan, moved to the United States to build a new life for his family. He worked as a lab technician in San Jose, California.
But the racial hostilities towards Muslims in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 destroyed that dream.
“I was laid off after 9/11. I believe this was done deliberately because of my religious background,” said Sajid.
Disillusioned, he switched over to the taxi business.
Sajid says he was soon after assaulted by a passenger, an incident he describes as a hate attack.

“He was upset with the Muslims and swore at me before hitting me with a soda can,” he said. “The police failed to find him.”
“Driving cab in the U.S. was not easy either. Following several incidents of hostilities I decided to quit and move to Canada.”
Sajid moved to Surrey, British Columbia – a thriving, multicultural metropolis and the second largest city in the province – to rebuild his dream of a happy and prosperous life for his family. And they were content – until his twin daughters were accosted on their way home from school, subjected to obscenities, called terrorists, and blamed for the recent attacks on Mumbai.
Sajid has filed a report with police, and his daughters remain traumatized.
Tarik Kiani, a member of the Pakistan Canada Association and a community activist, disclosed that his organization has also received complaints of post-Mumbai harassment toward local Pakistanis.
“We have formed a committee to confirm these incidents and will act accordingly after establishing the truth,” he told the South Asian Post.
Muslim sisters Ayesha and Nida say they were walking home from their school in Surrey last week when several Indo-Canadian youngsters in a silver car began to follow them, hurling racial slurs through the vehicle’s open windows.
Between other obscenities, the youths called the 14-year-old girls terrorists and blamed them for the recent terror attacks on Mumbai that left at least 172 people dead, including two Canadians, in India’s financial capital.
The India government has blamed the attack on Pakistan-based Islamic extremists. With the war of words escalating between the two neighbouring countries, the aftershocks of the Mumbai attack are now being felt in Metro Vancouver, where Canadians of both Indian and Pakistani origin have long lived in relative harmony.
Since the two sisters wear the hijab, a scarf that some Muslim women wear to cover their heads, they were an easy target for what their Pakistani father, Sajid Hameed, believes was a hateful, ignorant reaction to the madness in Mumbai.
Inside the car were four to five youngsters, including some girls, according to Ayesha.

They called us terrorists and shouted you are the ones who attacked Mumbai. They also made some scary noises,” she told the South Asian Post.
Ayesha believes all of the youngsters were Indo Canadians.
“We couldn’t see their full faces, as they had opened their car windows half way,” she recalled.
While Ayesha provided details of the incident, frightened Nida sat quietly in the presence of her parents.
“As soon as our mother reached us to pick us up in her car, those people fled from the scene,” says Ayesha, of the alarming incident last Wednesday.
The Tamanawis Secondary School Grade 9 students, who live with their father and their stepmother Uzma, are known as Taylor (Ayesha) and Tera (Nida) amongst their high school friends.

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Arab-American youth

Inside the world of Arab-American youth

The number of hate crimes committed against Arab-Americans has decreased since their peak immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a new study by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

At a young age, one of the book’s characters, Yasmin, was invoking notions of Martin Luther King Jr’s struggle for equality while she was being discriminated against at her high school for wearing hijab.

While the findings are seen as a step in the right direction, author Moustafa Bayoumi says other forms of discrimination continue to affect the lives of Arabs living in the US.

In his new book, “How Does It Feel To Be A Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America,” Bayoumi reveals how “state oppression” has impacted the lives of second generation Arab-American youth. The book chronicles the lives of seven 20-something Arab-Americans living in Brooklyn, New York who have encountered diverse problems in a post-9/11 America, ranging from employment discrimination to government detention.

“I felt like there were stories to be told, but nobody was telling those stories,” Bayoumi told Daily News Egypt at an interview in a Brooklyn coffee shop.

“I really wanted to write a book about ordinary people, not about people who were already community leaders. What was ordinary life like, for one thing? There is so much ideology in the air that ordinary Arab-American life is mystified,” he said.

Bayoumi is of Egyptian heritage, but was born in Switzerland and raised in Canada. He has been living in New York City for over 15 years and works as an English professor at Brooklyn College. Bayoumi has written about Arab issues in North America for numerous years in outlets such as The Nation and The London Review of Books.

The author claims that he is more optimistic now than when he started working on the book about three years ago. Through relationships developed with his interviewees, Bayoumi has come to see strength in the human spirit despite adversity. His characters understand that their stories do not stand alone in American history and that other minority groups have suffered similar discrimination in the past.

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Scarf resulted in hiring refusal

A Muslim teenager in Tulsa has filed a federal complaint alleging that a Woodland Hills store refused to hire her because she wears a head scarf.

An Abercrombie district manager allegedly told the girl in late June that her religiously mandated head scarf did not fit the store’s image.

The girl took her case to the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma, which helped her file a complaint with the Oklahoma City office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“Employers have a clear legal duty to accommodate the religious practices of their workers,” said Razi Hashmi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma. “To deny someone employment because of apparent religious bias goes against long-standing American traditions of tolerance and inclusion.”

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee unless doing so would

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Web site, “absent undue hardship, religious discrimination may be found where an employer fails to accommodate the employee’s religious dress or grooming practices,” including a head covering.

“This shouldn’t create undue hardship,” Hashmi said. “This level of disrespect is unfair.”

Hashmi would not identify the girl but said she is younger than 18.

He said the store’s corporate policy forbids discrimination based on religion.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma has written a letter asking the company to apologize to the girl, to clarify its policy on religious discrimination, and to institute workplace sensitivity and diversity training.

A manager at the Tulsa store referred all questions to the corporate office. At press time, the corporate office had not returned telephone calls.

Sheryl Siddiqui, a spokeswoman for the Islamic Society of Tulsa, said she had heard of the case but knew little about it and could not comment.

James Habas, a supervisory investigator for the EEOC in Oklahoma City who handled the case, was out of town and could not be reached.

Ibrahim Hooper, the national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Washington, D.C., office, said workplace discrimination historically has been one of the agency’s most common types of incidents.

The EEOC received 2,541 complaints of religious discrimination in fiscal year 2006.

CAIR is the United States’ largest Muslim civil liberties group. It has 35 offices and chapters in the U.S. and Canada.

Tulsa World

Breaking down stereotypes

Islamic society president has become the face of American Muslim women

Ingrid Mattson lost her faith as a teenager. Years later she found it again in the pages of the Quran and the teachings of Islam.

Since then, Mattson has been somewhat of a poster girl for Muslim women. Two years ago she made headlines when she became the first woman and first convert elected to head the Islamic Society of North America.

Mattson wears a head scarf, or hijab, and dresses modestly in long sleeves and ankle-length skirts or dresses. She also has strong views on the role of women in Islam, which she backs up with examples from the life of the prophet Muhammad and the Quran.

“The thing to understand is that Islam treats women as spiritual equals to men,” Mattson said. “Muslim women have the same obligation to pay charity, to perform community service, all of those things. What looks different is that women wear more modest dress, not to oppress or demean them but to allow them to be in the public space without being harassed or distracted.”

She acknowledged, however, that problems exist. And she is not shy about discussing them.

“It doesn’t mean there aren’t people who use Islam to justify oppression against women or other actions,” she said. “I think one of the reasons that is more of an issue is that Muslim society still tends to be more religious. So they have religious justifications for everything, both good and bad.”

ISNA was started by Muslim students and now represents an estimated 100,000 individuals and groups. It is the largest Muslim organization in North America.

Though her first term as president ends this summer, Mattson agreed to be nominated for a second term. The position is a volunteer one, which she juggles with her paying job as professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. She is also director of an Islamic chaplaincy program, part of her goal to raise the quality of community and youth leaders.

Raised as one of seven children in a Catholic family in southern Ontario, Canada, Mattson met her husband in Pakistan and is the mother of two children, 16 and 19. When asked if they are proud of her work and activism, Mattson replied: “I hope so. I’m certainly very proud of them.”

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Wearing Hijab at School

Another Day in Muslim Women’s Life

Wearing the hijab has been a controversial topic for many years. However, after 9/11, it has come under international spotlight. Since then, a lot of people around the world have been afflicted with Islamophobia. Women wearing the hijab became the center of attention wherever they went, and they have become the target of many insults, prejudice, and racist remarks. This has also been the case among many Muslim females attending public schools.

Many public schools and other educational institutions banned Muslims from wearing the hijab. They try to justify their decision by saying that it is unacceptable, as it does not promote the integration of students. Another reason cited is that hijab is a sign of discrimination against women. Other major criticisms of the head cover are that it denotes women’s subordination and signals political extremism.

Previous Incidents

There have been numerous incidents in various parts of the world in which young women and girls were expelled from schools because of wearing hijab. In one incident that occurred in February 2002 in Singapore, four 7-year-olds were thrown out of school for wearing hijab. These young, innocent girls were then forced to travel abroad to continue their education.

There are other similar incidents that have taken place in the UK, Spain, Turkey, France, and various other countries. In France, two sisters Lila and Alma, aged 18 and 16 respectively, turned up at school one day wearing hijab. The school suspected that their parents must have “encouraged” the girls to wear the hijab, but after some investigation, they were “shocked” to discover that their father was a non-practicing Jew. The father explained that his daughters had come under no pressure from radical Muslims. “They have simply ‘got God’ – like so many teenagers always do, and their religion of reference happens to be Islam.” Unfortunately, they were also expelled from school. Now, they are continuing their studies from home.

Light Amid Darkness

However, despite the negativity there is a glimpse of hope. There are several young Muslim women who are successfully wearing hijab in public schools. These young Muslim women feel modest when they are covered up. Hijab brings about self-respect and makes them feel more confident about themselves.

Sumayya Syed, a 16-year-old from Canada, maintains that when a woman is covered, men cannot judge her by her appearance, yet are forced to evaluate her by her character and morals. “I tell them that hijab isn’t a responsibility, it’s a right given to me by Almighty Allah who knows us best. It’s a benefit to me, so why not? It’s something every woman should strive to reach and should want.”

Syed emphasized that a major plus is that people actually evaluate her on who she is and not on her beauty or clothing. “It protects me from the fashion industry. Wearing hijab liberates you from the media that brainwashes you into buying this and that,” she added. “Hijab allows me to be who I am. I don’t have to worry about being popular by buying things that are considered ‘cool’.”

Another student, Hana Tariq, a 15-year-old, said that hijab lets you know who your real friends are. “People who are friends with you because of the way you look aren’t real friends, but people who judge you according to your personality, because you can alter your looks, but you can’t really change your personality.” Tariq added that hijab helped her develop a real identity.

A sixth grader in the eastern Oklahoma town of Muskogee was asked to leave school because she refused to remove her hijab. The US government joined her lawsuit against the school and she emerged victorious.

Challenges

Young women from different countries face challenges daily because of wearing hijab. Nowadays, unfortunately, people who do not adhere to their society norms are disrespected. Those who are different are often treated with disdain and are ostracized.

There is almost no difference among reactions toward hijab: Girls are treated with hostility, not only by fellow students, but also by teachers. They are often a minority and become outcasts, which makes them feel insecure. They become alienated from the rest of their classmates, and they are constantly ridiculed.

Most people are under the impression that all women who wear hijab do not know English and are immigrants. One student said that her classmates think she is uneducated, and to prove the opposite, she makes extra effort to answer questions asked in class. This takes many of her classmates by surprise ,as she contradicted their thoughts about young Muslim women wearing hijab.

Students are also treated differently by being looked at in a strange manner; often making those wearing the hijab feel uncomfortable. Their school property is at times vandalized and even stolen.

After 9/11, the ill feelings that have been portrayed by others toward Muslims have heightened. Hijab is one of the symbols of Islam, and therefore when Muslim women are seen wearing it, they are hated, not for personal reasons but for political reasons. However, this has a direct impact on them and on how they are made to feel.

As a student in Johannesburg, South Africa, I was fortunate that for eight years of my schooling days, I attended Islamic schools and there was no pressure imposed on me for wearing hijab. However, in the late 1990s when I attended public schools, I was confronted by many challenges because of wearing hijab. The principal of my school was a Muslim, yet I encountered many problems with him when I requested permission to wear the headscarf. I was fortunate that he eventually agreed. The journey was not without obstacles though, as I used to be subject to racial prejudice by some teachers and fellow students.

Islam Online

Thousands Gather To Celebrate Islam

In Hartford, Thousands Gather To Celebrate Islam

MATT BURGARD |Courant Staff Writer

July 6, 2008

Abduss-Salaam said she converted to Islam 18 years ago when she met her husband, a Muslim. She said the religion has shaped her life as she and her husband have raised two children and held full-time jobs in a society that sometimes views Muslims with distrust.

“It’s not about terrorism or hatred. It’s about love,” she said. “Being a Muslim is just like being a Christian or a Jewish person. We are all called to treat each other with respect.”

The convention, which has taken place in Hartford for the last four years, is expected to draw more than 15,000 people by the time it winds down later today, said Muhammad Rahman, the convention’s co-chairman.

He said most of those who have shown up this weekend are Muslims from the East Coast stretching from New England to the Carolinas, though many have traveled from Canada and Texas and other far-off points.

“It’s become a very popular family event and that’s what we intended,” Rahman said. “We want to educate our young people about the true meaning of Islam, as well as help overcome a lot of misperceptions on the part of non-Muslims.”

In a cavernous hall next to the center’s main lobby, hundreds of followers knelt on the ground at various points in the day to pray. Among them were teenagers Sydul Choudhury and Daiyan Chowdhury, both of New York, who toyed with a digital camera before the prayers began.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Choudhury, whose family attends the convention every year. “It can be hard when people find out you’re a Muslim. You have to explain that it’s a peaceful religion.”

Muhammad Tahir, a photographer from New York hired to take pictures at the convention, said the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have brought hardships and understanding for Muslim Americans.

“At first, it was hard because everyone suddenly looked at you differently,” he said. “But since then, I think, more people have taken the time to learn about Islam, and now more people are educated.”

Throughout the convention center, signs of Muslim culture mixing with the commercialism of American society were everywhere. In the lobby, a large cartoon camel pronounced the traditional Muslim greeting, “Assalamu Alaikum,” which means, “Peace be upon you.” In another large hall, rows of vendors offered traditional food and clothing of Islamic cultures beside booths selling compact discs and other modern luxuries.

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Mother reacts to Obama headscarf ban

Hebba Aref, a young Muslim woman, was banned from sitting behind Sen. Barack Obama during a campaign rally on Monday in Detroit.

Audience members behind the podium cheer prior to the appearance of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Vice President Al Gore at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Monday, June 16, 2008.

by Katie Fretland

Neveen Aref didn’t think her children would be treated differently in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. She and her husband moved to the United States from Egypt seeking the freedom America promised. But on Monday, her daughter said she was discriminated against at the very place which she hoped would signify unity — a Barack Obama rally.

A campaign volunteer told a friend of Hebba Aref that she could not sit behind the podium where Obama spoke if she wore her hijab, a Muslim headscarf. The space behind the podium is generally filled with pre-screened people, because that space is seen during videos and photographs with the candidate.

“What happened to [Hebba] is unfair,” Neveen Aref said. “We are in 2008. Particularly coming from Obama, I think this ridiculous.”

“Hebba is a lawyer who graduated from one of the best top 10 schools in America,” she said. “I raised her up well with her brothers. We left home because of the dream… to raise our kids in this community.”

“I think this is unfair,” Aref said. “Unfair to her, unfair to everybody who is a minority.”

Aref said her daughter was upset when she returned from the rally. The family lost sleep over what happened, she said.

Her daughter’s friend, Ali Koussan, also told his family what happened at the rally. Koussan’s mother, Lucille Koussan, of Dearborn, Mich., was in the stands at the rally when her son sent her a text message about what happened. At first she thought it was a joke.

“I was definitely disappointed, as were my other sons,” she said. “I personally believe that Sen. Obama wasn’t aware of this particular situation. But I think they would like a personal confirmation that this was a deviated instance.”

For now, the families are keeping an open mind and waiting for the Obama campaign to make the next move. They received an apology from a campaign aide, but they hope for a personal apology to Hebba and a second woman who is reported to have also been banned from that seating area for wearing a headscarf.

The Swamp

Also you can read,

Obama entangled in row over Muslim headscarf

Muslim Women Wearing Head Scarves Refused Seats Behind Obama

Muslim Group Seeks Medical, Religious Rights

Muslim Group Seeks Medical, Religious Rights for Virginia Detainee

WASHINGTON, March 25 –

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on state and federal authorities to investigate whether a Muslim woman facing deportation in Virginia is being denied proper medical treatment and the right to wear religiously-mandated attire.According to the Muslim detainee’s family, she has been denied the right to wear an Islamic headscarf (hijab) and is not receiving adequate medical care for renal, liver and mental health problems that require immediate treatment. She is being held at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Va., pending deportation to Ethiopia.

“All those held in American prisons or detention facilities deserve proper medical care and the freedom to practice their faith,” said CAIR Legal Counsel Nadhira Al-Khalili.

She noted that the Virginia Department of Corrections Division Operating Procedure (856), attachment 3A, states that an inmate is allowed a “religious hat or head covering” if its maximum length is to the shoulder and does not cover the face. Department policies also require that inmates be given proper health care while in custody.

In a letter to Gene M. Johnson, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Al-Khalili asked that the Muslim detainee be allowed to wear her religious headscarf and be provided with proper medical care. She also requested that the detainee not face retaliation and that the staff of Hampton Roads Regional Jail be offered diversity training.

CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com; CAIR Strategic Communications Director Ahmed Rehab, 202-870-0166, E-Mail: arehab@cair.com

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations

SunHerald