Religious Law Briefing
"Religious Laws in the U.S. Legal System"
Wednesday, November 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Anderson House Office Building, Mackinac Room124 North Capitol Avenue Lansing, MI
The briefing's purpose is to discuss how Judaic, Christian Canon, and Islamic laws can and cannot be applied and accommodated within the framework of the U.S. Constitution while addressing false notions such as that Islamic law can circumvent the Constitution.
Panelists will include Frank Ravitch (Professor of Law and Religion - Michigan State University), Dr. Mohammed Khalil (Professor of Islamic Studies - Michigan State University), Robert Fischer (Professor of Law and Religion - University of St. Thomas), and Rabbi Robert Levy of Temple Beth Emeth.
Co-sponsoring along with CAIR-MI are MI State Representative Bob Constan (D-Dearborn Heights), MI State Representative George T. Darany (D-Dearborn), MI State Representative Harvey Santana (D-Detroit), MI State Representative Vicki Barnett, and MI State Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit).
Michigan Muslim Capitol Day A Great Success!
Co-sponsored by State Sen. John Pappageorge, State Sen. Bert Johnson, State Rep. Chuck Moss, State Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
On March 23rd, 2011 close to a hundred participants took part in the Michigan Muslims for a Better Michigan Capitol Day. Muslims from across the state gathered in Lansing to engage over 35 elected state senators and reps. to discuss the Michigan Muslim role in moving the state forward and also to discuss community concerns.
The Michigan Muslims in attendance represented over a dozen organizations and mosques. The day started with an opening address from Governor Snyder in which he affirmed the importance of diversity and acknowledged the economic contributions the Michigan Muslim community have made in our state.
After the opening address the participants received their schedule for the day and were directed to the elected officials representing their residential locality or mosque district.
Participants then in small groups ventured out through the Anderson House building, the Farnum building, and the State Capitol to engage in small group meetings with their elected officials.
After the first round of meetings, everyone reconvened at the Anderson House building for a lunch with a number of elected officials from both sides of the aisle to be addressed by sponsoring officials and community leaders.
Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed a local professor and recently elected member of the Bloomfield school board proudly gave the opening invocation for the State House, shattering stereotypes about Muslim women in front of the states leadership.
The invocation was followed up by another round of meetings and then the group departed leaving all state reps. and senators with Michigan made baklava from Dearborn.
With close to a hundred participants throughout the day, we engaged our elected officials and their staff, speaking with them about who are American Muslims, in what ways we contribute to our society, and what are our concerns.
This initiative is just one small step to continue ongoing dialogue and communication with our elected officials for the betterment of our community and Michigan as a whole. We appreciate the help and support of all who attended and took part, those who made the drive to Lansing and the many elected officials who took time out of their busy schedules to meet with us.
Click here for Governor's opening address.