Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew III heard eight days of testimony spread out over a period of two months in a lawsuit seeking to block construction of a 53,000-square-foot complex. The Muslim congregation of about 1,000 says it has outgrown the 2,250-square-foot building that it has been using for around 30 years.
No Laws Have Been Broken
The Chancellor said the mosque’s opponents failed to prove that local government officials broke any laws when they approved the construction of the new mosque. He also stated that there was no evidence that the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro practiced a militant form of Islam or would try to impose Islamic law upon residents of Rutherford County, according to The Tennessean.
The issue of this mosque has been thoroughly documented by Care2′s Robin Marty, and you can read her detailed reports here.
Arson And Vandalism
The mosque’s approval passed with little notice last year, but got more attention when someone vandalized a sign at the future site by spraying “Not Welcome.” Next another sign was defaced, and last August someone set fire to heavy construction equipment parked on the mosque site.
Yes, Islam Is A Religion
Earlier, in July, hundreds of angry citizens marched onto Murfreesboro’s public square carrying signs that read “Mosque Leaders Support Killing Converts” and “Islam Is Not A Religion.” This last prompted the federal Department of Justice to issue a statement affirming that yes, Islam is a religion.
Sadly, this controversy is not limited to this small Nashville-area city. The proposed Islamic center near the site of Ground Zero in New York has raised similar challenges, as has the suggestion of a new mosque in Temecula, California.
People Living In Fear And Hatred
How disappointing to know that all around the U.S. are people who live in fear and hatred of their neighbors. For the Muslims seeking to build their new places of worship are not newcomers; in all three cases, local Muslims have been attending their mosque for many years, but they have outgrown their current buildings.
At least the law is on their side and let’s hope, as has happened before, that once the law is enforced, resistant citizens will start to change their minds.
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