Imam asks council to pass ordinance urging employers to accommodate Friday Jumu'ah prayers

During public comment at the March 10 Evansville Common Council meeting, Imam Farajii Omar Garth of Masjid Asuna asked the council to pass an ordinance directing employers and corporate entities in Evansville to allow Muslim employees a 90-to-120-minute accommodation to attend Friday congregational (Jumu'ah) prayers.

“We're not asking for an entire day off on Friday. We're simply asking to be allowed to leave our respective places of employment or schools for approximately 1 and a half to 2 hours to attend our religious services,” Imam Garth said. He said many Muslim constituents—students, factory workers, doctors and others—face obstacles in obtaining such accommodations and invoked federal protections for religious accommodation, citing the federal prohibition on employment discrimination and the obligation to accommodate sincerely held religious practices.

Imam Garth said Masjid Asuna, which opened downtown about eight months earlier and is located at 728 Court Street, has invited city officials to visit and learn about the congregation’s work. The council did not schedule action on the request during the meeting; the item was delivered as public comment and no formal council response or referral was recorded on the transcript.

A separate public commenter, Kenneth Colbert, used his time to request copies of contracts between the city and certain nonprofit organizations under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act (IC 5-14-3). He said he had submitted written copies of the request to the council and to the state access counselor.