WASHINGTON, 4 January 2005 — Residents near Memphis, Tennessee have objected to plans for a Muslim cemetery, suggesting that the cemetery could bring “terrorism and disease” to the area.
When local Muslims announced plans to turn an old farm near Memphis into a cemetery, angry neighbors protested saying the burial ground could become “a staging ground for terrorists or spread disease from unembalmed bodies.”
Faced with a flurry of objections they believe are based on their religion, representatives of the Muslim Society of Memphis withdrew their proposal to build a cemetery in the county.
Dr. Muhamed Zaman, a professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee and president of the Muslim Society of Memphis, told Arab News by phone yesterday that the majority of local residents in the immediate area of the 27-acre Fayette County tract do not seem to be opposed.
The Fayette County Planning Commission approved the proposal, and Dr. Zaman said the proposed site is in an area with 17 existing cemeteries, including one located directly across the road.
But he said representatives of the Muslim Society have withdrawn — for now — a proposal to build a cemetery in the county.
The decision came after the commission declined a written request by the group’s attorney to delay discussion on the proposal, which has generated national attention because of the opposition of some Fayette residents.
Dr. Zaman said he felt peoples’ attitudes have been colored by “the media coverage of the Islam and Muslims since Sept. 11.” He said the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has also “affected peoples’ perspectives.
“I think the causalities in Iraq further triggered insult to the injury to peoples’ perceptions, but the media has definitely played on people’s fears.”
Dr. Zaman said the application for the cemetery was temporarily withdrawn because the Muslim Society did not want it to be rejected, which would make it impossible to pursue. “We are looking into other legal means into the establishing the cemetery on that very land.”
The debate for the 27 acres to be used as a Muslim cemetery has been going on for three years, said Dr. Zaman, adding that Muslims are currently buried “in out of town in Christian cemeteries.
Dr. Zaman also said the practice of burying unembalmed bodies is safe. “The decomposition of the human body does not add anything different than what it is.”
He also said he and his colleagues have not received any threats or had any problems following the emotional rezoning meeting. “I ‘m not fearful, I fear God. There were threats at the rezoning meetings, but emotions were running high.”
Dr. Zaman said that as a result of the local protest, he has been contacted by the Department of Justice. “They said they want to investigate the situation and want to be sure that the ‘Religious Land Use Act’ has not been violated by the opponents here.”
