US sues school over denial of Muslim pilgrimage
WASHINGTON – The federal government sued a suburban Chicago school district Monday for denying a Muslim middle school teacher unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca that is a central part of her religion.
In a civil rights case, the department said the school district in Berkeley, Ill., denied the request of Safoorah Khan on grounds that her requested leave was unrelated to her professional duties and was not set forth in the contract between the school district and the teachers union. In doing so the school district violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to reasonably accommodate her religious practices, the government said.
Khan wanted to perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia which every adult Muslim is supposed to make at least once in a lifetime if they are physically and financially able to. Millions go each year.
Khan started as a middle school teacher for Berkeley School District 87 — about 15 miles west of Chicago — in 2007. In 2008, she asked for almost three weeks of unpaid leave to perform the Hajj. After the district twice denied her request, Khan wrote the board that “based on her religious beliefs, she could not justify delaying performing hajj,” and resigned shortly thereafter, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago.
Berkeley School District compelled Khan to choose between her job and her religious beliefs, the lawsuit said.
The government asked the court to order the school district to adopt policies that reasonably accommodate its employees’ religious practices and beliefs, and to reinstate Khan with back pay and also pay her compensatory damages.
Back in October Obama said that it could be a federal crime if government officials oppose Mosque construction in America. Of course him and his cronies, were not done with their Islamic appeasing policies. I wonder who is helping advance Islam more in America. Muslims or non-Muslims?
This is ridiculous. There is no time constraint for her to perform Hujj. She can do it at any time in her life. Most likely, other people were performing Hujj at that time and she just wanted to make sure she went with them. The government has no business meddling in these types of affairs and the school has no business in accommodating her religious preferences. I suppose the federal government should also enforce payment and time off for Jews to make Aliyah? But, oh no.. of course not. These Muslims and their frivolous laws suits need to stop. Additionally, I encourage people to become personally withdrawn from Muslims in all walks of life. If our government is going to appease them; leave them with the government and the people can just reject them time and time again for personal reasons. Enough is enough !
Boniferous,
You do have a point in that she doesn’t have to do her pilgrimage while she’s teaching her class.
Well, I hate to say it but, in Canada, it is a Teachers Union right to take a sabatical.
That is probably the basis for this suit.
Then she should move to Canada. BTW, isn’t the hajj (sp?) extremely dangerous? We often hear of scores of people being trampled to death because the frenzied crowds panic. Christians usually “practice their religion” within the confines of authority (contracts and other laws). The early apostles taught that one’s heart attitude was much more important than outward signs, festivals, holy days, etc. In Galatians, the Apostle Paul encouraged Christians to “grow the fruit of the Spirit” with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:23) However, maybe it’s time for all people of all religions to begin to push for their own special rights. At least they should point out (to the press) each time THEIR religious sensibilities are offended.
Muhammad, founder of Islam and author of Koran, was mentally sick psychopath, could not read and write. While in seizure, he uttered disjointed phrases, which his followers represented as Allah divine afflatus. This is the history of Islam that muslims and “honest and free” western media would not like you to know. These facts show that islam is not a religion, but a cult. Therefore the law suit is illegitimate and must be rejected.
Read: “History of Middle Ages” Professor Nikolay A. Osokin, Textbook (in Russian), Publishing house: Imperial University Printing Office, Kazan, 1888, 771 pp.; Publisher: ACT, Harvest, Moscow, 2008, 672 pp. (reprint)
Funny the government has no problems firing a teacher if the curriculum conflicts with Christian beliefs!
this is sharia…
The U.S. has submitted so easily.
There is the off chance that the school may have had some really crappy lawyers. Its a disputable case as, frankly, if I want to take a day off for passover, my company must oblige. not sure though that they actually need to pay for it though. True that she could have taken it while classes were over for the year, but once again, crappy lawyers. And maybe there are some details that weren’t included in this article that may have shown that the school didn’t go about it properly. This isn’t the most well written article Ive ever seen and it didn’t exactly give a great summary of the details.
Where is the separation of church and state here? That crybaby Muslim signed a contract with the state to perform certain duties at a specific time. So her religion doesn’t have a right to interfere with duty to the state in this case.
No one else besides a crybaby Muslim would go on a “religious” pilgrimage during the contract that he/she signed. Anyone with a developed human brain would go during vacation.
But being a crybaby Muslim, it’s different. Don’t forget that “Muslims are the best of people that ever evolved.” Just ask the “religion of peace” if you don’t believe me.
Isn’t it true that part of the complaint about menorahs, nativities, the ten commandments, prayer in government funded space, and so on, is that this is the establishment of religion by the federal government? Isn’t it just as much a breach of the establishment clause for the federal government to allow for muslim prayer rooms, dress codes, time off for Hajj, and other activities of muslim doctrine? Aren’t these same people outraged over Christmas, Chanukah, and other celebrations that in most cases require little or no time off? What’s next, In allah we trust on our money or one nation under allah in our pledge to be fair to our muslim “friends”?
Here is something really on the edge.
http://www.popfi.com/2010/12/14/inmate-gets-kosher-meals-for-festivus/
Want to solve this eternal problem in the USA?
Just did a Hiroshima or Nagasaki on Mecca, the end of the story and Miss Khan can pray to ashes five times a day from her classroom!
Click here Video:Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Reenactment
Won’t be long and we’ll be rid of “the annointed one”. The more he and his clowns do, the more disgusted the people are with him.
If this suit becomes pecedent, all businesses in America may have to give muslims their holy days off. Those are Thursdays and Fridays on their side of the Earth. With an integrated society as we have, how is America going to continue to function? This makes me wish that our leaders back in the 70s were as intolerant as the mussies still are to this day.. meaning there would be NO ISLAM allowed in America as there is no religion other THAN Islam allowed in Saudi Arabia.
The gigg is up,, our leaders have tried to keep the FACT that they are allowing our nation to be islamized from us.. now it is up to us to prepare for when the mussies start the next crusades, here in our nation.
Hope you get rid of Obama soon.
God Bless America from the land down under.