Political battles in the form of land use disputes are cropping up across the country (including of course most famously in New York City) as opposition to the construction of new mosques grow louder and, at times, uglier. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, one planned building has had to be put on hold. Imam Ossama Bahlovl of the city's Islamic Center is clearly frustrated as he answers questions put to him by the Daily News Journal, (my emphasis).
Q: Some people say people of the Muslim faith are trying to take over America from within, not maybe just here, and then spread their religion and slowly put Shariah Law into place. How do you respond to something like that?
Bahloul: Anyone can say anything they want. But he or she has to be able to justify what he or she is saying. … Do we have any political agenda? We don’t. And I want to ask, what did we say here that makes them come up with such a conclusion? I’m not representing the Muslims everywhere, but I’m thinking about the Muslim community here in particular. … They have to justify what they said. We don’t have any political agenda. We mention so many times and we make so many statements. We want to practice our religion, and I personally do not find any conflict between our religion and the Constitution of USA. I feel like the Constitution is so fantastic, protecting my right and other people’s right. I’m happy with the Constitution and I’m so comfortable with the law, and I feel like I can practice and everyone else can practice his religion really well. We have to stop hurting people’s reputation without having anything in hand to justify this.
Muslim Americans enjoy all the same constitutional protections, and religious freedom guarantees under the law, as members of any other faith. If the liberty of any religion is diminished, the liberty of us all is threatened.
