Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

At TN Mosque Hearing, Plaintiffs Claim Islam Isn't A Religion

Rachel Slajda | September 30, 2010, 1:30PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Opponents of a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., spent the last two days arguing in court that Islam is not a religion and that the leaders of the mosque -- which has been in the town, in a different location, for decades -- preach jihad and a Sharia law takeover.

Three opponents of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's planned expansion have sued the county, claiming officials broke open meeting law when they approved the mosque's building plan. The officials deny violating any laws. But the case quickly became, not about open meeting laws, but about Islam itself.

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Frank Gaffney

Gaffney On CNN: Mosques Want 'To Destroy Western Civilization From Within' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | September 29, 2010, 9:44AM

Anderson Cooper interviewing Frank Gaffney on CNN.

After testifying at a hearing about a proposed mosque in Tennessee, Sharia law "expert" Frank Gaffney went on Anderson Cooper last night to explain why, exactly, the mosque could be another victory for radical American Muslims who want to destroy the United States from within.

Imams' agenda to impose Sharia law "ultimately winds up becoming a cancer inside a society," Gaffney claimed. "No-go zones are typically associated with it where the authorities dare not go. Sharia law is practiced in those no-go zones. They are expanded in due course. And ultimately, you have the groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, with whom many of these mosques and for that matter, Muslim-American organizations of any note, are associated, pursuing a mission that we know, from evidence introduced into another federal trial, is to destroy western civilization from within. That's really worrying."

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Frank Gaffney

TN Mosque Opponents Bring In National Sharia 'Expert' Frank Gaffney

Rachel Slajda | September 28, 2010, 1:56PM

Frank Gaffney, CEO and founder of the Center for Security Policy.

The opponents of a proposed mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., have brought in prominent Sharia law fearmonger Frank Gaffney to help them stop the project in court.

Gaffney, who has been warning about the supposed threat to the Constitution from Sharia for years, was the only witness in the first day of hearings in a lawsuit filed by a handful of opponents to the mosque. They're trying to convince a judge to file an injunction against the mosque's construction, on the grounds the public officials violated open meeting law when approving the project.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Tenn. Mosque Opponents File Lawsuit To Block Construction

Rachel Slajda | September 20, 2010, 11:11AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Opponents of a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., have sued several of the town's officials in an attempt to stop construction.

The opponents, led by Kevin Fisher, filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that county officials violated open meeting laws and, therefore, that the approval of the mosque project is void.

According to Fisher et al, the officials didn't give proper notice for the planning commission meeting where the mosque was approved, and also held a secret "pre-meeting" that was closed to the public.

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Islamophobia

Muslims Are Just The Latest American Scapegoat

Rachel Slajda | September 8, 2010, 10:40AM

An opponent of the Cordoba House, left, argues with a supporter in front of the proposed location in lower Manhattan.

You know the stories, by now: The violent attack on a cab driver, the arson in Tennessee, the sometimes unbelievable vitriol associated with a Manhattan Islamic community center. The plans by a radical pastor to burn the holy book of another religion, plans that have been condemned even by his compatriots on the fringe of American thought.

But why? And why now?

"It's been percolating," John Esposito, the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown, told TPM. As Esposito tells it, America has had a problem with anti-Muslim prejudice since before Sept. 11, 2001. But it was contained, in a way, and even after 9/11 "things were pretty stabilized." The uptick began in 2004, and now it's rising to the surface.

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Islam

Muslim Groups Push Back Against Increasing Hate Speech

Rachel Slajda | September 6, 2010, 9:29AM

The press conference announcing My Faith My Voice.

As anti-Muslim sentiment appears to be on the rise throughout the country, with high-profile protests against mosque construction and a handful of violent episodes against Muslims, Muslim groups are pushing back.

Last Monday, a group of young Muslim professionals from the D.C. area launched My Faith My Voice, a web site that encourages fellow Muslims to upload their own PSAs explaining that although they are Muslim, they're not terrorists.

"When we see our loyalty as Americans questioned, that's something we take very seriously," the group's lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, told TPM. "The point of the campaign is one of bridge building, reassurance, an invitation to listen to who we actually are ... that Americans of other faiths will lend an ear and listen."

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Feds Declare TN Mosque Site Fire An Arson

Rachel Slajda | September 3, 2010, 5:50PM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

Federal authorities have officially declared the fire at the site of a community center and mosque near Murfreesboro, Tenn., an arson.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said today that an accelerant was definitely used in the torching of construction equipment at the site last Saturday morning. The agency is offering a $20,000 reward leading to an arrest.

Authorities told the Tennessean that they cannot rule the arson a hate crime until they have a suspect.

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Civil Rights Division

DOJ Investigating Anti-Muslim Incidents

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 1:43PM

Ahmed Sharif

The Department of Justice is investigating two recent, high-profile anti-Muslim incidents, TPMmuckraker confirms.

A DOJ spokeswoman says the department has opened investigations into the attack on a Muslim cab driver in New York City and an apparent arson at the site of a future mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

FBI Seeks To Reassure Tenn. Muslims After Mosque Site Fire

Rachel Slajda | September 2, 2010, 10:05AM

Future Site of Murfreesboro, TN Islamic Center

The FBI met with Tennessee's Muslim leaders Monday to discuss the recent arson at a mosque site in Murfreesboro and reassure the leaders that federal officials are on the case.

As the Washington Post reports, the meeting took place at the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville. The U.S. attorney is the one who will determine whether the fire rises to the level of a hate crime or civil rights violation, and the FBI is the agency which conducts hate crimes investigations.

It's a signal that the feds are looking at the arson as a hate crime, even though they've officially said there's "no indication" that the fire qualifies.

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Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Police Report In Tennessee Mosque Site Fire: Engine Was Running

Rachel Slajda | September 1, 2010, 11:57AM

The police report filed by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, the local agency investigating a fire that destroyed construction equipment at the site of a mosque in Tennessee, shows that the engine was running on the dump truck that was torched.

The police report, obtained today by TPMmuckraker, is brief. But it does reveal two bits of information: One, that the engine was running on the destroyed machinery. Two, police observed someone in a car watching the fire from the road, who then drove away.

You can read the report here.

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