January 2012
ICM New Building Contruction Continues
Construction continues, and an opening date for the new mosque is set for August. The main issue ICM faces is securing local contractors and sub-contractors willing to do the work. This results in higher costs and delayed progress for ICM.
June 2012
Legal Roller Coaster
June 1st
Chancellor Corlew rules against Rutherford County Planning Department for not giving proper notice of the 2010 meeting that resulted in the site permit for ICM. The ruling finds not enough copies of the Murfreesboro Post, the local newspaper in which the public meeting was advertised, was distributed to the population. In addition, officials acknowledge an oversight by the county in not advertising the meeting on its website or local cable channel.
June 3rd:
A legal motion is filed to stop construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. This is a direct result of Chancellor Corlew’s leaving open such a possibility during his last ruling, despite its violation to federal laws and the Religious Freedom Principles.
June 11th
The Rutherford County Regional Planning Committee voted 6 to 1 to appeal Corlew's ruling from June 1st.
June 13th:
Chancellor Corlew deny the opponents' motion to halt construction on ICM facilities, but he ruls that the county could not issue an occupancy permit to ICM because he had previously voided the approval of the site plan.
Basically Corlew allowed the construction to continue, but prevented ICM from being able to use the building.
June 22nd:
Rutherford county files an appeal asking the court to lift the injunction on issuing an occupancy certificate to ICM. Corlew denies the appeal on July 2nd.
TX man indicted in 2011 bomb threat against ICM
A Texas man is indicted by federal law enforcement in connection to the bomb threats ICM received back in 2011.
July 2012
Federal Government Steps in
In July, the Department of Justice files a lawsuit alleging that Rutherford county has violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by Corlew's decision to prevent ICM from obtaining an occupancy permit and by voiding their site plan approval.
The Justice Department's filing criticized Corlew for treating the mosque unequally by imposing a heightened requirement of notice of a kind to which other religious organizations had not been subject.
Judge Todd Campbell issues a temporary restraining order requiring the county to conduct a final inspection and to issue the ICM a certificate of occupancy if the building complied with codes and regulations.
A few days later, ICM opponents file a lawsuit seeking to overturn Judge Campbell’s decision. They claim they have been victimized and their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection have been violated. U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp gives ICM until the following month on August 15 to complete construction for its occupancy in Rutherford County.
Politicians Negativity Continues
Diane Black, U.S. republican representative for Tennessee, issues a statement criticizing the federal intervention. In her statement, Black says, “Christians’ rights to freedom for religion are violated frequently and the Obama Justice Department doesn’t come rushing to our aid, but they will meddle in a local zoning matter to promote Islam.”
August 2012
First Prayer @ new facilities
On August 10th 2012, after final safety inspections, the new mosque receives a temporary certificate of occupancy in August.
ICM’s new building opens its doors on August 10th 2012 for Friday prayers. Members of the neighboring Grace Baptist Church have placed 13 white crosses in a field across the street from the mosque. Despite safety concerns for ICM’s members, opening day passes as a peaceful and joyful occasion.
When asked about the crosses later, “It was more or less to make a statement to the Muslims about how we felt about our religion, our Christianity,” said Mack Richards, a Middle Tennessee Baptist Church member who built the crosses at the request of Grace Baptist member and friend Bobby Francis. “We wanted them to see the crosses and know how we felt about things.