Federal Lawsuit Filed in Kennesaw Mosque Controversy

A group of Muslims filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Kennesaw on Tuesday which they say is meant to keep the city council from reversing its Dec. 15 decision to approve the creation of a mosque inside an area strip mall.

Doug Dillard, representing the Muslims, says that the suit is entirely a protective measure and will be dropped if the city council abides by its latest ruling in support of the mosque, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Kennesaw City Council originally voted down the mosque proposal, but reversed their decision two weeks later. According to WSB-TV, Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews said that city council members had their minds changed by legal arguments from the city’s attorney. Matthews added that the reversal was not spurred by any outside pressure or a complaint filed against the city with the U.S. Justice Department alleging violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, WSB-TV said.

Additionally, WSB-TV reports that council members who changed their minds said that the city’s new, more inclusive vision statement was a large part of their decision.

Kennesaw residents interviewed by WSB-TV following the Dec. 15 reversal believed that the outcry against the earlier decision caused the city council to backtrack to avoid appearing anti-Muslim.

A representative of the Suffa Dawat Center, which will operate in a shopping center on Jiles Road, says that it will take several months to ready the mosque for worship, and adds that only around 60 Muslims will attend Friday services. A much smaller number of Muslims will report to the mosque for daily prayers, the representative added.

Similar violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act were alleged during mosque expansion controversies in Alpharetta and Lilburn; in those instances, the cities allowed the mosques to expand, the AJC reports.