Tennessee faith leaders call for stop to anti-Shariah bill

photo Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, speaks outside the Senate chamber in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

Local Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders gathered near the Tennessee Capitol on Tuesday to ask that an anti-Shariah law be withdrawn from consideration by the state legislature.

If passed, they fear, the law would make it illegal to be Muslim in Tennessee, although the bill's supporters say it specifically targets groups that support terrorism.

"All of a sudden, I pray using the Koran or the Sunnas of the Prophet, and it's a crime," said Imam Yusuf Abdullah of Masjid Al-Islam in Nashville. "What kind of bill is that?"

But Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said Muslims have nothing to fear from the bill he introduced in the state Senate because it targets terrorism, not religion.

Read more at The Tennessean.

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