Was School District Right for Not Allowing Muslim Teacher to Take Pilgrimage to Mecca?
The Justice Department is suing a Chicago-area school district for not allowing a Muslim teacher to take time off to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca. Safoorah Khan’s requests for three weeks of unpaid leave in 2008 were rejected twice by the Berkeley, Ill., school district, according to the Justice Department lawsuit filed on Monday in Chicago. Khan’s desire to make the hajj was “not related to her professional duties,” according to the complaint. The Justice Department says the school district is in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Khan, who started teaching at the middle school in 2007, resigned shortly after being shot down, telling school officials that “based on her religious beliefs, she could not justify delaying performing hajj,” the lawsuit states. Millions of Muslims each year travel to Mecca to perform the hajj, which every adult worshipper is required to make at least once in their life. 5am E Michael Moore Gives Bail Money to WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange! F
