Gov. Bill Haslam's administration is responding to what it calls "confusion" about the role of a Muslim staffer and a council that has advised two state departments on Islamic affairs. The Republican governor was criticized this summer by several Republican groups over what they perceived as the growing influence of a version of the Islamic code called Shariah in Tennessee government.
A team of Rutherford County, Tennessee building code inspectors has been inside a Murfreesboro mosque today. That move is part of the process for granting the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro a certificate of occupancy, which was ordered yesterday by a U.S. District Court judge in Nashville.
A federal judge has ordered a Tennessee county to move ahead with opening a Muslim congregation's newly built mosque after a two year fight by opponents. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro sued Rutherford County Wednesday and asked District Judge Todd Campbell for an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown Thursday.
