http://prospect.org/article/sharia-scare-tennessee

Sharia Scare in Tennessee

Abby Rapoport <http://prospect.org/authors/abby-rapoport>

July 19, 2012

A Muslim American lawyer under fire
   <http://prospect.org/donate>

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just outside Nashville, the Muslim community
won a hard-fought victory Wednesday. After a two-year legal battle that
inflamed anti-Islamic sentiment across the state, a federal judge ruled
that a new Islamic community center could get the permits necessary to
open. Elsewhere in the state, however, Muslim residents got a cold reminder
this week of just how much prejudice exists around them.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, a conservative Republican who's pro-life
and anti-tax, is facing a chorus of angry voices from county Republican
parties. It seems he's just not concerned enough about the threat of Sharia
law. According to *The
Tennessean*<http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120717/NEWS0201/307160068/Several-TN-county-GOPs-call-sanctions-Gov-Haslam>,
Republicans in Stewart, Carroll, and Williamson counties passed resolutions
criticizing Governor Haslam for hiring Samar Ali, a Tennessee native and
Muslim American, as international director of the state's Department of
Economic and Community Development. *The Tennessean*
reports<http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120613/NEWS02/107160002>that
six other counties have also adopted resolutions condemning the
governor.

Two groups helped promote the condemnation: the Eighth District Tea Party
Coalition, which operates in western Tennessee, and the Center for Security
Policy, a D.C.-based, anti-Muslim group that actively opposed construction
of Park 51, the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, in New York. In recent days,
the Center has again been in the news for a report casting suspicion that
Huma Abedin<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/john-mccain-michele-bachmann-muslim_n_1683277.html>,
a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has ties to the Muslim
Brotherhood. (Senator John McCain condemned the
allegations<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/mccain-defends-clinton-aide-huma-abedin-against-house-gop-charges-of-muslim-brotherhood-scheme/>,
which were picked up by Michele Bachmann and four other House members, as
"ugly" and "sinister" on the Senate floor yesterday.)

The resolutions accuse Haslam of increasing the threat of Sharia law by
hiring a Muslim American lawyer. Or, as they say, an expert in
"Sharia-compliant finance." Earlier in her career, Samar Ali, the lawyer in
question, helped businesses with Muslim owners structure their contracts so
they would not violate the religion's ban on collecting interest. Ali
boasts an impressive list of qualifications, including helping to open
firms abroad. Her new job at the Department of Economic and Community
Development—promoting trade efforts and helping the state expand its
exports abroad—has nothing to do with Islam. But that hasn't stopped the
groups from making accusations. In June, less than a month after Ali was
appointed, the Center for Security Policy sounded the
alarm:<http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2012/06/07/tennessees-republican-leadership-appoints-shariah-finance-specialist-to-key-economic-post/>"Given
Ms. Ali's close associations with Shariah Finance entities and
specialization in Shariah Finance, it is reasonable to expect that the
financial jihadists will soon be targeting the Volunteer state for
infiltration and influence operations."

After that, the backlash spread. "Governor Bill Haslam has elevated and/or
afford [sic] preferential political status to Sharia adherents in
Tennessee," reads the resolution from Williamson
County<http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/county-gop-chapters-circulate-resolution-condemning-haslam/#more-17554>,
"thereby aiding and abetting the advancement of an ideology and doctrine
which is wholly incompatible with the Constitution of the United States and
the Tennessee Constitution." The resolution from Stewart County doesn't
stop there—it also also criticizes the governor for variety of other
transgressions, including allowing "openly homosexuals [sic.] to make
policy decisions in the Department of Children's Services.")

The idea, it seems, is that a *truly* conservative governor would conduct
background checks to purge from state rolls anyone who's doesn't match a
Norman Rockwell painting of America. According to these resolutions, Muslim
people should not hold government positions at all. In an e-mail to Talking
Points Memo,<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/tennessee_tea_party_bill_haslam.php>Williamson
County Republican Chair Kevin Kookogey said Haslam and his
administration "seem willing to accept the claims and defense of the Muslim
Brotherhood at face value, refusing to even consider that, perhaps, those
bent on destroying Western Civilization might just be infiltrating our
institutions"—an argument strikingly similar to that of Michele Bachmann
and other members of Congress who've warned of Brotherhood "infiltration."
Kookogey compared the situation to Communist infiltration. "Shariah,
however, is an even greater threat," he wrote, "because it has cloaked
itself under the auspices of a religion, thus confusing the uninformed.”

The state Republican Party is distancing itself from the county-level
actions. "We stand behind the governor 100 percent," says Tennessee GOP
spokesman Adam Nickas. "People need to make sure that they do their
homework before rushing to judgment."

Nickas pointed to Ali's roots in the rural town of Waverly, Tennessee,
where she was part of the 4H Club. He noted her degrees, both a bachelor's
and law degree, from Vanderbilt University. That she is in any way linked
to Islamic extremism, Nickas said, is a "gross mischaracterization."
Meanwhile, the governor's office has only publicly responded to the
resolutions by pointing to Haslam's popularity and economic message.

This is hardly the first incident of anti-Muslim sentiment in the state.
Over the last two years, Muslim Tennesseans have seen a dramatic rise in
Islamophobia both in the capital and in smaller communities like
Murfreesboro. "The situation's pretty bad in Tennessee and has been for
several years now," says Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern
Poverty Law Center. Potok calls Tennessee "one of the more Islamaphobic
states" in the country.


*The Battle of Mufreesboro*

In 2011, Republican state Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro sponsored one
of the most extreme anti-Sharia-law bills in the country. Prompted by fears
of radical Islam, such measures were popular around the country, but in
many cases, had little real impact beyond affirming that foreign laws have
no bearing in American courtrooms. (The Center for Security Policy produced
a report arguing for the need for such laws.) In Tennessee, however, a
significantly more virulent version of the law was introduced, which called
out Islam by name, going so far as to say Islamic law contradicted
constitutional principles. The initial proposal gave the attorney general
enormous power in designating "Sharia organizations." If you materially
supported Sharia the organization, you could get a 15-year prison sentence.
The law was eventually rewritten, with direct references to Sharia and
Islam removed, though the version that eventually passed still carried
criminal penalties.

In Ketron's hometown, a different fight had already been brewing as the
Muslim community got ready to construct a new Islamic center. In May 2010,
the county commission granted approval. It seemed non-controversial at
first. Even though a sign announcing the new home of the Islamic Center of
Murfreesboro had been vandalized earlier in the year*,* most in the Muslim
community ascribed the act to juvenile silliness rather than any real
anti-Muslim sentiment. That soon changed. "We were not accustomed to this
hate that started at the time," says Saleh Sbenaty, a professor at Middle
Tennessee State University and a board member. After all, there had been a
mosque in Murfreesboro for almost 30 years—the community had just outgrown
it.

But the anti-Muslim sentiments soon became impossible to miss. At the next
month's county commission meeting, hundreds came to voice their opposition
not only to the center but to Islam as a whole. "They seem to be against
everything that I believe in, and so I don't want them necessarily in my
neighborhood spreading that type of comment," said one man at the
meeting, according
to ABC News<http://abcnews.go.com/WN/murfreesboro-tennessee-mosque-plan-draws-criticism-residents/story?id=10956381#.UAW6yWmXTqM>.
Another told reporters: "We are fighting these people, for crying out loud,
we should not be promoting this." Because the center was not on the agenda,
Sbenaty says, no one from the Muslim community was there to defend it.

Things got uglier fast. Islam may not be a religion but "a nationality, a
way of life or a cult," Republican Lieutenant Governor Ross Ramsey said at
a 2010 campaign
event.<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/ron-ramsey-tenn-lt-gov-is_n_659725.html>
* "*You cross the line when they start trying to bring Sharia law into the
United States," he added.

In late August 2010, arsonists set fire to the construction site in
Murfreesboro, <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-6814690.html> destroying
one piece of equipment and damaging several others. Meanwhile, two
congressional candidates were linking the center to terrorism. "This
Islamic Center is not part of a religious movement; [i]t is a political
movement designed to fracture the moral and political foundation of Middle
Tennessee," read a statement from candidate Lou Ann
Zelenick<http://www.wkrn.com/global/Story.asp?s=12715818> of
nearby Mount Juliet.* *(She lost the primary, but is now running
again<http://votelouann.com/> for
Congress.)

Eventually, several residents sued Rutherford
County.<http://www.wsmv.com/story/18646518/murfreesboro-mosque-stopped-by-judge>Among
the central arguments initially made in court was thatIslam is not a
religion<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/at_tn_mosque_hearing_plaintiffs_claim_islam_isnt_a.php>and
therefore not entitled to the same land-use rights as other religious
organizations. The Department of Justice actually had to file a brief
affirming that, yes, Islam is in fact a major world
religion<http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/October/10-crt-1162.html>.
According
to *The Tennessean*, the plaintiff's attorney argued that Sharia
law<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/tn_mosque_trial_continues_your_honor_this_is_a_cir.php>prompted
domestic and sexual abuse. The attorney called in various experts,
including neoconservative Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security
Policy,who described Sharia law as a
threat<http://www.murfreesboropost.com/murfreesboro-mosque-opponents-appear-in-chancery-court-cms-24572>
to
local governments. Because the lawsuit was against county officials,
Sbenaty says, the Murfreesboro Muslim community had little opportunity to
respond to the false claims about its religious beliefs.

The lawsuit dragged on for two years, wreaking havoc on community
relations. There was a bomb threat to the center in
2011<http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20120622/NEWS06/306220025/Corpus-Christi-man-accused-Murfreesboro-mosque-bomb-threat>.
According to Sbenaty, bullying became a problem for Muslim children in
schools. "Kids [began] asking their mothers who have head scarves not to go
to the malls because they're scared of seeing their mom being harassed,"
says Sbenaty. Among adults, and particularly the elderly, "people were
afraid to come to the mosque and pray."

The claims that Islam was not entitled to the same land-use rights as other
religions were eventually dismissed, but this May, a local judge ruled that
the county had failed to give sufficient public notice of the meeting in
which it approved the mosque. The county had used the same practices and
advertisements it uses for every other meeting, but the judge said that
because so many people had strong opinions about the center's
construction,the county should have provided additional
notice.<http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-grants-Tenn-mosque-s-petition-to-open-3716870.php>While
the construction was close to completion the
judge granted an
injunction<http://www.newschannel5.com/story/18932486/murfreesboro-judge-wont-let-new-mosque-open>,
blocking the center's ability to get an occupancy permit. Without a permit,
the center could not open.

On Wednesday, the day before Ramadan began, the Islamic Center of
Murfreesboro sued for a temporary restraining order so that it could get
necessary inspections completed and use its building. Sbenaty calls it a
last resort. Happily for the Muslim community, a federal judge granted the
restraining order.<http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/19/12832641-tennessee-county-loses-battle-over-newly-built-mosque?lite>


*Causes and Solutions*

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and the resolutions against Governor
Bill Haslam are hardly isolated incidents. Thirty miles from
Murfreesboro, the Muslim community in Brentwood, Tennessee, applied to
rezone some land in 2010, in order to build the Islamic Center of
Williamson County. It was an area with few neighbors, and the Center agreed
to a number of restrictions to limit its impact on neighbors: no
loudspeakers to make a call to prayer, for instance, and few outside
lights. But an intense anti-Islam campaign eventually led mosque organizers
to withdraw their application.
<http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100523/NEWS06/109230001>And according
to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Rutherford County sheriff recently
brought in former FBI agent John
Guandolo<http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2012/02/15/a-new-sheriff-loses-his-compass-muslims-are-not-the-enemy/>to
train law enforcement on Islam and the threat of terrorism.
* *Guandolo has said that First Amendment rights don't apply to Muslims.

Potok says that the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in Tennessee rose up
after the controversy surrounding the "Ground Zero Mosque" (a center that
was neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero). "Murfreesboro is one of the
direct spin-offs of that," he says.

Tim Rudd, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee from
Murfreesboro, says the situation with the Islamic center "has been blown
out of proportion into something it's not." He argues that logistical
issues drove the opposition. "They put a huge facility in a small country
road," he said. "They kept it secret." Rudd, who says he hasn't had much
contact with the Muslim community, pointed to the acceptance of Buddhist
and Hindu temples in Murfreesboro. He would not comment on the resolutions
against Haslam.

Hedy Weinburg, the executive director of Tennessee's ACLU, says that the
resolutions and the Murfreesboro controversy are all part of the same
bigotry. "You don't have to dig too deep," she says, "to see and hear the
very rampant xenophobia and anti-Muslim voices."

So far, there's been little direct response to the anti-Muslim sentiment
from lawmakers—hardly shocking from a legislature that passed an
anti-Sharia-law bill in 2010. Rather than speaking out against the
resolutions criticizing him, the governor has instead tried to downplay
them. Republican leadership has not confronted the fear-mongering that
prompted the resolutions and the situation in Murfreesboro.

Weinburg and Sbenaty are quick to say that the prejudice is limited to a
vocal minority. Sbenatry points to the influence of outside groups like
JihadWatch and the Center for Security Policy, D.C.-based groups that have
helped influence the discussions in Tennessee. "They have interfered in our
community," he says. "Tennessee is known to be the Volunteer State—it's
known to be hospitable." Nashville, in fact, has a reputation for being
particularly diverse and welcoming to different cultures.

Sbenaty, who's lived in Tennessee for more than 30 years, says that the
Muslim community will remain engaged and active in Murfreesboro. "We have
educators, doctors, businessmen. Our kids have been born and raised here,"
he says. "We try to show others that we are part of this community."


-- 
-Laye
==============================
"With fair speech thou might have thy will,
With it thou might thy self spoil."
--The R.M


¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤