Tennessee mosque's fate again up in the air

Sunni Man

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Aug 14, 2008
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(CNN) -- The long-running battle between a Tennessee Muslim community and its critics over a new mosque took a dramatic turn with a county judge's ruling that could bring construction to a halt.

"Everyone is really shocked, many people are crying about this," Imam Osama Bahloul, leader of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, said early Wednesday.
"We did exactly what other churches in the county did," he said. "We followed the same process that other churches did. Why did this happen? Some people feel like it is discrimination."

The judge, Chancellor Robert Corlew, ruled Tuesday that plans for the new mosque, previously approved by a local planning commission, are now "void and of no effect."

During the trial, attorneys for the mosque's opposition argued that the county failed to alert the public about meetings before the mosque was approved, CNN affiliate WTVF reported.

"We're very pleased," said attorney Joe Brandon, who has led the legal effort to stop the expansion.
The ruling was a victory for all the county's residents, he told WTVF.
Rutherford County attorneys said that the meetings were announced in the local free newspaper and on its website and that the notices clearly complied with Tennessee law.

The judge, however, said the announcements in a local paper were "in relatively small type near the bottom of a page which contained a number of advertisements and legal notices, most of which were provided by the city of Murfreesboro."

The Islamic Center has 30 days to appeal the ruling and plans to apply again for a permit, spokesman Saleh Sbenaty said.
"Hopefully, this time, the county will make it right," he said. "We followed the process according to the law. There is no question about it. We are singled out just because of our faith."

However, Brandon said the mosque will have to brace for stiff opposition.

"If this Islamic political organization does decide to go back through this process again, we will be standing right around the corner, ready to do battle again," he said.

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has existed for more than a decade, but the fight erupted in May 2010, when planning commissioners approved the center's plans to build a 52,960-square-foot building for a new mosque on Veals Road.

The backlash was stinging and included intimidation, lawsuits and an August 2010 fire that destroyed construction equipment and damaged vehicles at the construction site for the mosque. Police said it was arson.

A sign announcing the mosque was spray-painted with the words "Not Welcome."
For months, mosque leaders searched for contractors willing and able to do the job. Because of the opposition and threats the project has provoked, the construction job became more complicated. The work now requires more layers of security, including cameras.

Some contractors weren't willing to take the job. Mosque leaders said contractors told them it had become too much of a hot-button issue and presented too much of a risk to their business and equipment. Several contractors began the bidding process but never finished.

Mosque officials said one contractor told them that he needed the work but that the leaders of his own church were against the new Islamic center.

Opponents of the mosque have also argued that Islam is not a real religion deserving of First Amendment protections and claimed that the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has links to terrorism, WTVF reported.

Tennessee mosque's fate again up in the air - CNN.com
 
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Granny wavin' the Confederate flag an' sayin', "You tell `em Judge...
:eusa_clap:
Murfreesboro judge won't let new mosque open
July 2, 2012 — A Rutherford County judge refused Monday to suspend an order that blocks a local mosque from getting a certificate of occupancy.
Chancellor Robert Corlew turned down county attorneys who wanted him to put his injunction on hold and allow the mosque to be used while they appeal the order to a higher court. Corlew issued the injunction in mid-June after ruling that county officials did not provide sufficient public notice for a May 2010 meeting where the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's construction plans were approved. The county has argued that it treated that meeting like any other and has appealed Corlew's ruling to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. "We have mentioned throughout our belief that to treat this applicant differently implicates issues under the constitution and religious freedom restoration acts," attorney Josh McCreary said.

Corlew declined to do so, saying that a stay would gut his earlier decision that the meeting notice was insufficient and therefore the construction approval was void. "It's my duty to direct the county to recognize the voided nature of the matters addressed at that meeting," Corlew said. The county thus far has declined to step in and stop construction, which has been ongoing throughout the dispute and is nearly complete.

Mosque opponents who brought the lawsuit want Corlew to force county officials to stop construction. On Monday, attorney Joe Brandon Jr. again argued in favor of that petition. "What's the purpose of the law if you can go on like nothing ever happened?" he asked. Corlew said he would issue a written opinion on the request later. In the meantime, even if mosque members are able to complete construction, they will not be able to use the new mosque without a certificate of occupancy. Corlew has repeatedly suggested that the county could remedy the situation by holding another meeting on the construction plans, this time giving the public more notice.

After the hearing on Monday, county attorney Jim Cope said the county can't do that because representatives from the mosque have not reapplied for construction approval. "We can't make them reapply," Cope said, noting that mosque leaders have said publicly they do not plan to reapply because they believe they did everything correctly the first time around. The mosque and its members are not part of the lawsuit, but mosque leader Essam Fathy has said they will consider legal action if necessary to protect their rights.

Murfreesboro judge won't let new mosque open » Knoxville News Sentinel
 
We have 2 threads by you Sunni-man telling us that you want Islam to run this Country. That you want the vote to decide it. That you want it all legal and such. here we have a LEGAL decision that goes against your church and you have a fit. We have a political process where the people of the community don't want a new building built and you are opposed to it.

So is it fair to say you support due process and the majority vote ONLY when they go YOUR way?
 
We have 2 threads by you Sunni-man telling us that you want Islam to run this Country. That you want the vote to decide it. That you want it all legal and such. here we have a LEGAL decision that goes against your church and you have a fit. We have a political process where the people of the community don't want a new building built and you are opposed to it.

So is it fair to say you support due process and the majority vote ONLY when they go YOUR way?
This goes against the Constitution and the Civil Rights of these muslims.

Have you ever hear of a Church, Synagouge, Buddhist Temple, or other religious house of worship legally blocked from being constructed?
 
We have 2 threads by you Sunni-man telling us that you want Islam to run this Country. That you want the vote to decide it. That you want it all legal and such. here we have a LEGAL decision that goes against your church and you have a fit. We have a political process where the people of the community don't want a new building built and you are opposed to it.

So is it fair to say you support due process and the majority vote ONLY when they go YOUR way?
This goes against the Constitution and the Civil Rights of these muslims.

Have you ever hear of a Church, Synagouge, Buddhist Temple, or other religious house of worship legally blocked from being constructed?

You don't care what the Constitution says, your two threads prove that. As t is AGAINST the Constitution for a Religion to be State recognized. You claim in those threads that the Justice system and the will of the people are all that matters, UNTIL they do not agree with you.
 
Going by the Constitution; which we live by right now.

These muslims are being singled out and oppressed by the local government.

And that's what matters. :cool:
 
Going by the Constitution; which we live by right now.

These muslims are being singled out and oppressed by the local government.

And that's what matters. :cool:

No they are not. There is a LEGAL process required for a building permit to build their building. That process was not followed according to the Courts.

That process allows the local community to oppose or accept the proposed construction. The people , using their legal and Constitutional rights are opposed to the construction.

The Islamic community has the legal and Constitutional right to reapply and go through the PROPER and legal process to try and get approval.

By the way DUMB ASS, the local Government hide the announcement to allow the construction to begin. They supported the Islamic Community.
 
Opponents of the mosque have also argued that Islam is not a real religion deserving of First Amendment protections and claimed that the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has links to terrorism, WTVF reported.

The judge dismissed those allegations, the affiliate reported.

It’s not surprising, of course, but sad nonetheless that Americans, of all people, would exhibit such ignorance and hate.

Clearly we’re in need of our Constitutional principles as much today as anytime in our history.
 
Going by the Constitution; which we live by right now.

These muslims are being singled out and oppressed by the local government.

And that's what matters. :cool:
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lol. Like Islam has never singled out and oppressed anyone including local governments!

While I admit that it might have been nice to have someone around that even us Rednecks can look down on, I expect the decision was a wise one on many levels.
 
Although the magistrate’s ruling addresses a technical matter concerning appropriate public notification requirements, that the construction of a house of worship should be subject to public debate is unusual.

What exactly needs to be ‘debated’? That there are building codes violations? Violations of zoning ordinances? Use of improper building materials?

Or is it merely yet another sad example of hateful members of a community who in their ignorance and stupidity incorrectly connect Islam with ‘terrorism.’
 
Although the magistrate’s ruling addresses a technical matter concerning appropriate public notification requirements, that the construction of a house of worship should be subject to public debate is unusual.

What exactly needs to be ‘debated’? That there are building codes violations? Violations of zoning ordinances? Use of improper building materials?

Or is it merely yet another sad example of hateful members of a community who in their ignorance and stupidity incorrectly connect Islam with ‘terrorism.’

So if Muslims in Dearborn throw bottles rocks and other material at Christians who legally obtained a parade permit you might think they were hateful and sad? or is that different? How about if a Christian church was to be built there and the Muslims opposed it, would that be the same or different?

The LAW is the law. The local Government violated the law and so the building permit is null and void. Or should we make exceptions for certain groups?

They can reapply and IF the outcry from the public prevents the issue that is the will of the LOCAL community and the LAW.
 
It's a matter of community standards same as with porn shops. strip clubs, gay bars, etc.
 
This wasn't just a mosque, which probably wouldn't have caused any problem. This was about building one of the mega mosques going up around the country. A mega mosque is literally a walled city. There's one just outside of Temecula. Huge. Surrounded by defensible walls. These mega mosques are built in areas that today have a sparse muslim population but in anticipation of increasing numbers.
 
The Murfreesboro Mosque is hardly a mega mosque or a walled city.

It's just a regular Islamic house of worship with a parking lot out front.

Where do you people come up with such crazy nonsense??


Murfreesboro, TN. mosque

18646563_BG2.jpg
 
The first minarets in Murfreesboro, Tenn., are about to be placed atop a new mosque. But when construction is complete on the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, located about 30 miles southeast of Nashville, no one will get to move in.

An ongoing court battle has stalled the project, one of several Islamic centers around the country that, like the so-called ground zero mosque, have encountered resistance from local communities.

On Thursday, federal authorities charged a Texas man with threatening to bomb the mosque and violating the civil rights of mosque members.

A Fight To The Finish For Tennessee Mosque : NPR
 

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