Law Enforcement Community Offered Guide to Muslims: New Booklet Designed to Foster Cooperation With Security Agencies 5/1/2003
From: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, cair@cair-net.org; Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, hhassan@cair-net.org; both of the Council on American-Islamic Relations WASHINGTON, May 1 -- As concerns grow over the profiling of Muslims and as Law Day-- is marked nationwide, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today announced the publication of a booklet designed to familiarize the law enforcement community with Islamic beliefs and practices. SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/hdn/LawEnforceGuide/ The Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) publication, "A Law Enforcement Official's Guide to the Muslim Community," outlines basic information about Islamic beliefs that are relevant to law enforcement. It also cover issues such as the rights of Muslim law enforcement officers, religiously-sensitive techniques for body searches, proper etiquette for entering Muslim homes, and advice on outreach to the Islamic community. Copies of the booklet may be obtained by contacting: publications@cair-net.org ($3(plus)S/H) "A number of recent interactions between law enforcement agencies and the Muslim community have resulted in misperceptions and miscommunications based on a lack of basic information about Islamic beliefs. We hope this booklet will serve as tool to be used in facilitating cooperation on security issues in an atmosphere of mutual respect," said CAIR Research Director Dr. Mohamed Nimer, the booklet's author. Nimer added that Muslim communities around the United States have organized meetings with local, state and national law enforcement agencies. CAIR helped coordinate these meetings in a number of cities. The law enforcement officer's guide is the fifth in a series of CAIR publications designed to support the religious rights of American Muslims. Other booklets in this series include "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," "A Health Care Provider's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," "An Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," and "A Correctional Institution's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices." Thousands of these booklets are now being used by corporations, schools, hospitals, and other institutions nationwide. CAIR is America's largest Islamic civil liberties group. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 16 regional offices nationwide and in Canada. Since its founding in 1994, CAIR has defended the civil and religious rights of all Americans. -- May 1 is Law Day, a national day focusing on America's heritage of liberty under law. Law Day was designated by joint resolution of Congress in 1961. SEE: http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/ NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a journalist's window to the American Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called ISLAM-INFONET, receive news releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on issues of importance to our society. To SUBSCRIBE to this list, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/islam-infonet/ To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org |