Four legislative bills championed by the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, including a proposal to mark January 17 as Muhammad Ali Day, now wait Governor J.B. Pritzker’s approval.
The bills were passed by both Senate and House chambers of the Illinois General Assembly with bipartisan support on May 28, and a majority passed unanimously out of their relevant committees.
“We were very lucky to find legislators willing to make history and advocate for us,” said Maaria Mozaffar, Director of Advocacy & Policy for the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, at Thursday’s virtual celebratory news conference.
Joining the Zoom while stuck in inclement weather was Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Jacob Ali-Wertheimer, who started off by saying “I was fortunate enough to be told by an Imam today that rain is a sign of mercy.”
One of the bills, co-sponsored by District 12 State Sen. Laura Ellman and State House District 12 Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, Jr., establishes January 17 — Muhammad Ali’s birthday — as a commemorative holiday in Illinois to honor the boxer’s great character as an American-Muslim public figure and his influence on the community.
“My grandfather was a Black man, a Black Muslim man at a time where he was meant to believe he was not beautiful,” said Ali-Wertheimer. “No matter who we met, whether it was the pizza delivery guy or a movie star, he treated everyone the same — with respect.”
To further mark Ali’s legacy and the contributions of others like him, included in the coalition’s legislative agenda is a bill mandating U.S. history classes K-8th grade incorporate the role American-Muslims and other faith-based communities play in American history and present-day.
The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition created an Education Task Force who spent the last six months implementing a curriculum that aims to churn out Illinois learners that are culturally adept and understand the importance of a global education.
Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, the first NCAA Division 1 athlete to observe hijab — a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women — put her support behind a third bill headed to Gov. Pritzker’s desk.
The bill would allow student-athletes to tailor their uniforms to their personal preferences for cultural or religious reasons.
“A governing body once told me I couldn’t wear my hijab when playing professional sports,” said Massachusetts native, Abdul-Qaadir, at the news conference. “I ultimately decided I needed to stand up for young girls who look like me, and to witness this bill be moved … I could never have imagined. I hope and pray other states take this heed, you don’t know how hard it is to step out on the court and look different.”
“It doesn’t have to be just for Muslim girls,” added Ayah Aldadah, cross country runner for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Amy Zimmerman of Jewish United Fund partnered with the coalition on The Inclusive Athletic Attire Act, saying “an observant Jewish athlete should not be discriminated against for wearing a yarmulke on their head.”
State Sen. Laura Murphy, who represents Illinois’ 28th district (Schaumburg, Des Plaines and Elk Grove) said most of her colleagues in the senate weren’t even aware that many students have had to petition to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) before modifying their athletic uniforms.
Murphy co-sponsored the bill with State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-39), who represents Logan Square, Portage Park, Belmont, Hermosa, and Avondale neighborhoods of Chicago.
The fourth bill — Cross-Cultural Mediation Among Students Act — puts forth a process of mediation when a student is bullied based on any of the categories identified in the Illinois Human Rights Act, including discrimination based on cultural or religious differences.
“This form of mediation is a model for schools to end bullying based on certain factors,” said Bushra Amiwala, Board of Education member for Skokie District 73.5. “This model would have helped me when I had henna on my hands at school after a holiday.”
The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition’s sweeping legislative agenda sets a national model for American-Muslim political advocacy in state legislatures, said the coalition’s president, Dilara Sayeed.
The same day the four bills passed, Illinois lawmakers passed measures to redraw state legislative and judicial district lines. Some of the changes included keeping more of the Chicago-area Orthodox Jewish community in a single district and allocating the North Lawndale neighborhood, a predominantly Black community, to one district.
What it didn’t include is a proposal from the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition for a district made up of mostly Middle Eastern and Arab American residents. According to data provided by the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, Illinois has the largest Muslim American population per capita in the country with 3% of its population identifying as Muslim.
Shortly after the news conference, Sayeed spoke about moving toward a map that’s reflective of the state’s diversity.
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“Our state legislature is moving toward equitable laws and we appreciate this collaboration,” she said. “But our legislature is not yet moving toward equitable representation. And so our work continues.”