Muslim hijab drawn around face of woman in CAIR photo-op

The controversial Muslim lobby group Council on American-Islamic Relations doctored a photograph on its website to ensure a woman was shown wearing a customary Islamic headcovering.

Using photo-editing software, a depiction of a Muslim hijab was drawn crudely around the bareheaded woman's face, noted the weblog Jihad Watch.

CAIR removed the doctored photo from its front page after Jihad Watch drew attention to it yesterday.

The original image can be seen now among the group's press releases. By comparison, the backs of two heads in the picture's foreground also appear to have been doctored.

Many Muslim women regard the wearing of the hijab as a religious duty which protects their modesty.

Quran 24:31 says, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons. ..."

Jihad Watch's director, author Robert Spencer, commented on the photo manipulation: "This is a small thing, of course. Just a bit of silliness. But coming from an organization that brands the truth about Islam 'Islamophobia' and has never answered uncomfortable questions about its own loyalties and affiliations, it raises larger issues of trust."

In CAIR's photo, a depiction of a Muslim hijab was drawn around the face of woman, second from left. The CAIR leaders were gathered Friday for an interfaith candlelight vigil at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington to mark the fourth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Spencer, author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)," asked, "Why do the mainstream media and many government organizations still give CAIR a free pass as a neutral civil rights group when its commitment to the truth is so manifestly tenuous?"

CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, identified by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a "front group" for Hamas. Several CAIR leaders have been convicted on terror-related charges.

Some analysts have criticized the fatwa, or religious ruling, against "terrorism and extremism" recently endorsed by CAIR as disingenuous

CAIR joined with several Muslim groups in a document that stated: "There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram – or forbidden."

But many of the signatories have terror-related backgrounds, and the fatwa does not acknowledge or condemn the Islamic jihadist culture that has spawned terrorism or condemn by name any Islamic group or leader.

CAIR repeatedly has attacked the prosecutions of Islamic terrorists arrested or convicted since 9-11 and has attacked the government's freezing of Islamic terrorist fronts, calling it a "war against Islam" by the United States.

Related stories:

CAIR condemns Jewish attacker

U.S. Muslims' anti-terror fatwa 'bogus'

CAIR to GOP: Repudiate Tancredo

CAIR distributes Quran banned as anti-Semitic

CAIR: Censure Israeli leader for remarks

CAIR gets apology for Muslim remark

ACLU, CAIR decry anti-terror efforts

CAIR leader convicted on terror charges

CAIR pressures National Review to nix ads

Fox's '24' airs Muslim disclaimer

CAIR presses Fox TV on Muslim terrorists

Jackie Mason calls Islam 'murderous' religion

Muslim group sues critic for $1.35 million

U.S. Muslims silent on Hamas chief's terror

Muslims publish 'Jesus' ad

Muslim group sues congressman for $2 million

Kucinich headlines Muslim fund-raiser