Judge Clears Way For Mosque In Tennessee To Open, But...

In Tennessee, a mosque that has been at the center of a legal fight for two years will not be able to open its doors in time to observe the start of the holy month of Ramadan, sundown Thursday.

Inspectors were at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro Thursday and additional inspections are needed before worship can take place there. On Wednesday, a federal judge cleared the way for the center to open as soon as possible, overturning a state court's ruling that the county hadn't given enough notice for a public hearing on the mosque's construction.

Bob Smietana, religion reporter for the Tennessean, says he thinks the mosque won't open for another two weeks. And he describes the Nashville area as "ground zero" for anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S, but he notes that protests about new religions taking root in the area are not new.