US Muslims feel blessed this Ramadan after federal court rules in their favour
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a joyful time for believers, but a congregation in the southern state of Tennessee was feeling especially blessed this year as they worshipped Friday.
Opponents spent two years trying to halt construction of a new mosque for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, but a federal judge ruled this week the congregation has a right to worship there as soon as the building is ready.
"Ramadan this year reaches us at a very special time for us as a community," Imam Ossama Bahloul told the congregation at Friday prayers. "We have received the good news about the federal court not standing on our side, but standing on the side of the Constitution."
During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drink during the daylight hours, breaking their fast at sundown and offering special prayers. Although it is a time of deprivation, Muslims consider Ramadan to be a joyful season. It commemorates the month in which Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad.
Bahloul told the congregation on Friday that Ramadan also is a time of forgiveness, urging them to ask God to forgive their sins and to strive to forgive others.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Local+Tennessee+judge+almost+stopped+construction+mosque+before/6966327/story.html#ixzz21FCF9RpZ
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