CAIR Asks Clinton to Intervene on behalf of Libyan American

From the Sacramento  Bee:

 A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to intervene in the case of a American citizen of Libyan origin barred from returning to the United States and interrogated by the FBI about his religious beliefs, including his belief in “Shariah” (Islamic principles).

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Jamal Tarhuni, a 55-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Portland, Ore., was denied boarding for a flight to the United States in January when he tried to return home from Libya. He was reportedly told that an “unspecified federal agency” wanted to interview him.

Tarhuni said he was questioned by the FBI on January 23 about his religious beliefs and about his work overseeing delivery of relief supplies sent to Libya by a Portland-based Christian non-profit group. His daughter told msnbc.com that FBI agents asked her father whether he practiced “Shariah law.”

The msnbc.com report noted: “The question about Shariah law was especially tricky. To Tarhuni, an observant Muslim, Shariah means a set of rules for praying, marrying, parenting and generally conducting a good life, which would be a subject for discussion at any mosque, but not — as some people interpret it — as a set of rigid and punitive rules that Muslims are obliged to impose on others.” Read more…

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