Editor's Note: CNN's Soraya Salam is attending this year's Islamic Society of North America Convention in Rosemont, Illinois and sent this report:

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf seemed to be what thousands of audience members had been waiting for when he took the main stage of the 47th annual Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention Saturday night.

Yusuf was met with cheers that a celebrity might expect. To many American Muslims he is a star, an eloquent speaker and knowledgeable scholar who gets them.

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Editor's Note: CNN's Soraya Salam is attending this year's Islamic Society of North America Convention in Rosemont, Illinois and sent this report:

Four prominent female American Muslims were among the many speakers Saturday at the 47th annual Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention, thought to be the largest event for Muslims in the United States.

Among the women speakers were Debbie Almontaser, a longtime educator and founder of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, New York; Robina Niaz, a social worker who founded the organization Turning Point for Women and Families to help domestic abuse victims in New York; and Tayyibah Taylor, editor-and-chief of Azizah Magazine, which aims to be the voice of Muslim women.

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