"Given all that is going on with the misinterpretation about Islam and the interests and concerns of the Muslim American community, it's almost obligatory on behalf of a governor of this state and all governors to have such a body," said Kareem Irfan, a Chicago lawyer who led an earlier iteration of the council under Gov. Pat Quinn. "So we're not subject to the whims of each governor, it would be good to make this a lasting institutional body."