>source: http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/category/minnesota/
>
>Minnesota Muslims, on the job & in the schools, the sharia way
>_______________________________
>
>June 16, 2008
>
>Somali Muslims in Minnesota, with vague hopes of returning to Somalia
>some day, donÂ’t consider assimilating. But if their hopes are vague,
>then their efforts to avoid being Americanized and remain Islamic can
>only mean more sharia for Minnesota. But of course, itÂ’s not about
>religion/culture, never is, itÂ’s about economics.
>
>Updated to include Katherine KerstenÂ’s (who has been criticized for
>doing what the ACLU should be doing) continuing analysis of the
>Islamic charter school in Minnesota. Her blog here.
>
>WSJ: At what point does a publicly funded charter school with strong
>Islamic ties cross the line and inappropriately promote religion?
>
>ThatÂ’s a question now facing us in Minnesota. For the past five years,
>the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., has
>operated in close connection with the Muslim American Society of
>Minnesota. The school accepts public funds, and thus the broader
>constitutional requirements placed on all public schools. Nonetheless,
>in many ways it behaves like a religious school.
>
>The school is named for the Muslim general who conquered Spain in the
>eighth century. It shares a building with a mosque and the
>headquarters of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. The
>cafeteria serves Halal food. Arabic is a required subject. There is a
>break for midday prayers.
>
>On Fridays, many students join with Muslim teachers and attend
>religious services in the schoolÂ’s gym. There are voluntary Islamic
>Studies classes held “after” school, but before the buses leave to
>take the schoolÂ’s 400 students home. Most of the students are the
>children of low-income Muslim immigrants. Read it all from the WSJ.
>_______________________________
>
>On the job, their way - By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune
>June 15, 2008
>
>Fatuma Hassan has just enough rice in her near-empty cupboards to make
>it through the month. The anger she felt when she lost her job in May
>has given way to a dull, nagging hunger.
>
>Yet this soft-spoken 22-year-old became an unlikely hero within the
>Somali community when she and five of her Muslim co-workers were
>dismissed last month from the Mission Foods tortilla factory in New
>Brighton for refusing to wear a new company uniform — a shirt and
>pants — they consider a violation of their Islamic beliefs.
>
>“For me, wearing pants is the same as being naked,” Hassan said,
>noting the prophet Mohammed taught that men and women should not dress
>alike. “My culture, my religious beliefs, are more important than a
>uniform.”
>
>[that's like saying every muslim who wears a hijab is the same as a
>terrorist]
>
>Over the past century, Minnesota has seen waves of immigrants from
>Germany, Sweden, Norway and Laos, among other nations, and each group
>managed to move up the ladder of prosperity despite some initial
>doubts about their ability to integrate.
>
>Yet nearly two decades after a violent civil war brought thousands of
>Somali refugees to the Twin Cities, their integration in the U.S.
>workplace is becoming more contentious.
>
>Their insistence on maintaining Muslim traditions, including prayer
>times and modest clothing, have led to firings at several
>manufacturers across the state and a sharp increase in religious
>discrimination complaints.
>
>[don't let us live under sharia law, we'll sue you]
>
>The well-publicized clashes also have sparked legal and ethical
>debates on whether efficiency-hungry workplaces are doing enough or
>defiant workers are accommodating too little.
>
>“For the average Minnesotan, this is entirely new,” said Bruce Corrie,
>an economist at Concordia University in St. Paul who specializes in
>immigration research. “The Somali community is highly assertive and
>politically engaged. … It’s part of who they are as a people.”
>
>But the root cause of the persistent tension is more about economics
>than culture or religion, say some immigration experts.
>_______________________________
>
>CAIR on the warpath yet again
>May 30, 2008
>CAIR continues its attempts to overthrow the U.S. government through a
>tireless legal jihad.
>
>This week, two new attempts at bolstering sharia law were brought
>forth. Read both.
>
>The first on behalf of Muslim Somali women at a tortilla factory in
>Minnesota. Yes, the same Minnesota with a Muslim congressman, Muslim
>cabbies who refuse to transport those with alcohol or dogs, schools
>and airports turned into madrassas, and school leaders who refuse to
>fly the American flag. (Read those stories here)
>
>Claiming they were fired for not wearing standard uniforms, the Muslim
>women claim religious discrimination for not be allowed to wear
>Islamic garb in the factory. The women said they felt naked wearing
>the tight fighting pants. Why did they take the job then? LetÂ’s see
>how long Mission Foods can fend off CAIR.
>
>Gruma Corp., the Irving, Texas-based parent company of Mission Foods,
>released a written statement Tuesday denying that any employees were
>terminated or disciplined at the New Brighton plant. However, the
>company made clear the six women have been relieved of their
>responsibilities for the time being, and may ultimately lose their
>jobs if they donÂ’t wear uniforms. Read it all.
>
>The second attempt by CAIR to tie up Congress and waste tax payer
>money comes on the heels of a case that proves that Muslims are far
>from being discriminated against. In fact, Muslims are given
>preferential treatment by the U.S. legal system. Two Muslim women who
>entered the U.S. illegally under false pretenses, then infiltrated the
>CIA, FBI and Marine Corps to assist Islamic terrorists were hardly
>punished at all and remain in country. At the same time, U.S. citizens
>in the military attempted to assist law enforcement against Islamic
>terrorists (albeit illegally) were given significantly more harsh
>punishment, and one sits in jail.
>
>CAIR is seeking to capitalize on the later breach calling for
>Congressional investigations and possible civil rights violations -
>despite its own terrorist links for which no hearings have been
>called:
>
>The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
>the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, the
>ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and the Islamic Shura Council
>of Southern California sent a joint letter to the Congressional
>Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform
>expressing concerns over the possible civil rights violations posed by
>the alleged monitoring of U.S. citizens on the basis of religious
>affiliation.
>
>So while illegal Muslim immigrants infiltrate our highest security to
>assist terrorists and are fined $750 - CAIR says and does nothing.
>Their silence on such matters is deafening.
>_______________________________
>
>Mosque in Hiding at Minneapolis community college
>May 28, 2008
>Another public school in Minnesota turned into an Islamic house of
>worship - you would think the state is being led by a Muslim. Wait a
>second, it is (although he has a formidable challenger now).
>
>Katherine Kersten broke this story (more details in original story,
>read it) several months ago but it was new to us and is also being
>published at Touchstonemag.com so we thought it an opportune time to
>share it with readers. The mosque/prayer room was complete with an
>arrow pointing toward mecca, a gender barrier dividing the room, and
>islamic propaganda. Refusing to submit to islam, citizens identified
>and challenged creeping sharia at the school. Even in the face of
>supreme dhimmiÂ’s and apologists for Islam.
>
>—John C. “Chuck” Chalberg on Mosque in Hiding - Making Room for Prayer
>Rugs on a Secular Campus
>
>It was somehow fitting that my suburban community college was
>embroiled in a religious controversy at the height of our annual
>“winter festival” season. Thanksgiving, of course, survives as
>Thanksgiving on our campus, even though too many among us have no
>deity to thank or neglect to thank the one we barely remember.
>Christmas, to be fair, survives as well, but it has not survived in
>the official parlance of a state school.
>
>As a result, from sometime in early December until students finish
>their final exams (in time to celebrate, dare it be said, Christmas),
>our campus is home to an essentially secular winter festival, if one
>celebrated with pagan rites.
>
>A Place to Pray
>
>Actually, the story begins in the late winter, when a small group of
>students approached the college administration with a request: Could
>they have a place to pray? Their petition was not entirely new and not
>necessarily out of line. The school has long had an active
>InterVarsity Fellowship which meets and prays weekly in a campus
>classroom. But this particular request was different: Would the
>administration set aside a permanent space for prayer?
>
>The students in question were largely Somali Muslims. Their request
>was understandable, given their need to pray five times daily. A
>simple denial of their petition would have been equally
>understandable, given innumerable Supreme Court decisions and
>innumerable campus policies that have gone to great lengths to
>separate church from state.
>
>But instead of saying “no,” the administration compromised. The school
>would not designate any space for a specific religion, but it would
>permit a generic “meditation room.”
>
>Such a “room” was created by closing off a portion of a hallway. The
>decision itself reflected an administrative desire to close off any
>debate on the subject as well. The administration acted, and that was
>that. It did not offer even so much as an announcement to the effect
>that the school now housed a “meditation room,” much less encourage a
>discussion of its merits and demerits.
>
>Just how generic was this room supposed to be? Officials are mum as to
>their instructions to the students. But the transformation from quite
>generic to quite specific, or from meditation room to mini-mosque, was
>fairly rapid. First a sign went up admonishing anyone who entered this
>makeshift “room” to remove his shoes, as is the “tradition” when
>“meditating.”
>
>Then came reports of wet and slippery floors in a nearby restroom. It
>seems that Muslim students were washing their feet in sinks and
>toilets as part of their pre-prayer ritual.
>
>Soon stories began to circulate around campus that non-Muslim students
>were being discouraged from entering the space, which at some point
>also acquired a divider, the better to separate males from females. No
>doubt this is also traditional in “meditation rooms.” (more…)
>_______________________________
>
>Are taxpayers footing bill for Islamic school in Minnesota?
>March 10, 2008
>from the Star Tribune, March 9th, 2008 - 11:51 AM - Think Again -
>Katherine Kersten
>
>Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) - named for the Muslim general who
>conquered medieval Spain - is a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove
>Heights. Its approximately 300 students are mostly the children of low-
>income Muslim immigrant families, many of them Somalis.
>
>The school is in huge demand, with a waiting list of 1,500. Last fall,
>it opened a second campus in Blaine.
>
>TIZA uses the language of culture rather than religion to describe its
>program in public documents. According to its mission statement, the
>school “recognizes and appreciates the traditions, histories,
>civilizations and accomplishments of the eastern world (Africa, Asia
>and Middle East).”
>
>But the line between religion and culture is often blurry. There are
>strong indications that religion plays a central role at TIZA, which
>is a public school financed by Minnesota taxpayers. Under the U.S. and
>state constitutions, a public school can accommodate studentsÂ’
>religious beliefs but cannot encourage or endorse religion.
>
>TIZA raises troubling issues about taxpayer funding of schools that
>cross that line.
>
>Asad Zaman, TIZAÂ’s principal, declined to allow me to visit the school
>or grant me an interview. He did not respond to e-mails seeking
>written replies.
>
>TIZAÂ’s strong religious connections date from its founding in 2003.
>Its co-founders, Zaman and Hesham Hussein, were both imams, or Muslim
>religious leaders, as well as leaders of the Muslim American Society
>of Minnesota (MAS-MN).
>
>Since then, they have played dual roles: Zaman as TIZAÂ’s principal and
>the current vice-president of MAS-MN, and Hussein as TIZAÂ’s school
>board chair and president of MAS-MN until his death in a car accident
>in Saudi Arabia in January.
>
>TIZA shares MAS-MNÂ’s headquarters building, along with a mosque.
>
>MAS-MN came to MinnesotansÂ’ attention in 2006, when it issued a
>“fatwa,” warning Muslim taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul
>International Airport that transporting passengers with alcohol in
>their baggage is a violation of Islamic law.
>
>Journalists whom Zaman has permitted to visit TIZA have described the
>schoolÂ’s Islamic atmosphere and practices.
>
>“A visitor might well mistake Tarek ibn Ziyad for an Islamic school,”
>reported Minnesota Monthly in 2007. “Head scarves are voluntary, but
>virtually all the girls wear them.” The school has a central carpeted
>prayer space, and “vaguely religious-sounding language” is used.
>
>According to the Pioneer Press, TIZAÂ’s student body prays daily and
>the schoolÂ’s cafeteria serves halal food (permissible under Islamic
>law). During Ramadan, all students fast from dawn to dusk, according
>to a parent quoted in the article.
>
>In fact, TIZA was originally envisioned as a private Islamic school.
>In 2001, MAS-MN negotiated to buy the current TIZA/MAS-MN building for
>Al-Amal School, a private religious institution in Fridley, according
>to Bruce Rimstad of the Inver Grove Heights School District. But many
>immigrant families canÂ’t afford Al-Amal. In 2002, Islamic Relief -
>headquartered in California - agreed to sponsor a publicly funded
>charter school, TIZA, at the same location.
>
>TIZA claims to be non-sectarian, as Minnesota law requires charters to
>be. But “after-school Islamic learning” takes place on weekdays in the
>same building under MAS-MNÂ’s auspices, according to the program for
>MAS-MNÂ’s 2007 convention. At that convention, a TIZA representative at
>the school’s booth told me that students go directly to “Islamic
>studies” classes at 3:30, when TIZA’s day ends. There, they learn
>“Qur’anic recitation, the Sunnah of the Prophet” and other religious
>subjects, he said.
>
>TIZAÂ’s 2006 Contract Performance Review Report states that students
>engage in unspecified “electives” after school or do homework.
>
>Publicly, TIZA emphasizes that it uses standard curricular materials
>like those found in other public schools. But when addressing Muslim
>audiences, school officials make the link to Islam clear. At MAS-MNÂ’s
>2007 convention, for example, the program featured an advertisement
>for the “Muslim American Society of Minnesota,” superimposed on a
>picture of a mosque. Under the motto “Establishing Islam in
>Minnesota,” it asked: “Did you know that MAS-MN … houses a full-time
>elementary school”? On the adjacent page was an application for TIZA.
>
>In addition to the issues raised by TIZAÂ’s religious elements, there
>are reasons to be concerned about the organizations with which it is
>connected.
>
>Group linked to Hamas
>
>Islamic Relief-USA, the schoolÂ’s sponsor, is compared to the Red Cross
>in several TIZA documents. In 2006, however, the Israeli government
>announced that Islamic Relief Worldwide, the organizationÂ’s parent
>group, “provides support and assistance” to Hamas, designated by the
>U.S. government as a terrorist group.
>
>Meanwhile, MAS-MN offers on its web site “beneficial and enlightening
>information” about Islam, which includes statements like “Regularly
>make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a
>martyr.”
>
>At its 2007 convention, MAS-MN featured the notorious Shayk Khalid
>Yasin, who is well-known in Britain and Australia for teaching that
>husbands can beat disobedient wives, that gays should be executed and
>that the United States spreads the AIDS virus in Africa through
>vaccines for tropical diseases.
>
>Yasin’s topic? “Building a Successful Muslim Community in Minnesota.”
>
>TIZA has improved the reading and math performance of its mostly low-
>income students. ThatÂ’s commendable, but should Minnesota taxpayers be
>funding an Islamic public school?