Tenn. mosque mired in controversy opens doors

• Guests included a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Nashville
• Congregation will include 250 Muslim families, 1,000 people
• Opening culminates 2 years of strife in community since construction began in 2010

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — More than two years of a rocky path behind it, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro celebrated its opening Sunday.

Each guest was greeted and offered a tour of the facility before being ushered to the main assembly hall for a program with several speakers.

"It was a long and bumpy road, a journey like no other. It was rough," said Essam Fathy, the mosque's chairman of its Sunday opening.

The mosque remains the focal point of an open-meetings lawsuit that a group of residents filed against Rutherford County contending the county failed to provide adequate public notice for a meeting when the mosque's site plan received approval.

A federal judge's ruling enabled the mosque, a congregation of 250 families and 1,000 people, to receive its occupancy permit after the U.S. attorney argued that federal law required the county to issue the certificate.

"If we really believe in that God of love, how can we not love our neighbors? If one does not have the freedom to practice their religion, then before long none of us will," said the Rev. Joseph Breen of the Diocese of Nashville.

Imam Ossama Bahloul closed out the ceremony with a few words of gratitude to those who supported his congregation and its right to worship.

"The building of the ICM has showed us the importance of believing," he said. "Yes, we received hundreds of hate (emails), but we received thousands of supportive ones. It reminds us that the majority of people are good."