MURFREESBORO, tenn. — Muslims in the Tennessee city of Murfreesboro said Friday they hope the opening of their mosque after more than two years of controversy will be a new beginning for relations with the community, particularly their opponents.
Islamic Center of Murfreesboro members include immigrants from Iraq, Egypt, Syria and other countries, as well as American converts. Many of them said that before the opposition to their building, they had always found Murfreesboro to be a welcoming community.
If it were not, the congregation would never have grown to the point where it needed to build a new mosque, they said.
“We are here 30 years, and I never had a problem with the people here,” said Safaa Fathy, a member of the mosque’s board of directors. “It only started two years ago.”
That’s when the Islamic center received permission to construct a new mosque to replace their overcrowded space in an office park. Since then, they have dealt with public protests, vandalism, arson of a construction vehicle and a bomb threat. Opponents of the project held a rally and sued the county to stop construction.
Matt Miller had just converted to Islam and begun worshipping at the mosque when the controversy erupted. He said all of his friends, whom he describes as “regular American bar-hopping citizens,” are happy for the congregation.
He does sometimes worry that opposition to the mosque could turn violent but said a friend told him to think about it this way: “If the way you go is praying in the masjid (mosque) during Ramadan, what better way is there?”
