I recently commented on on a post by Izzy Mo about how often Minnesota Muslims are in the news. From the way the news covers it and the right wing blogosphere hypes it, sharia is creeping hard and fast here in the upper midwest. Of course, I laff in the face of these allegations. Life here is virtually indistinguishable from the small midwestern town I grew up in, except that there are a few more women walking around in khimar here, and there are plenty of places to buy halal meat.

That being said, there are issues, and we shouldn’t shrink from addressing them. In fact, on my way to work this morning, I was plotting a blog entry in response to this deplorable incident. Sure, muzzies in general aren’t fond of dogs. But Islam allows us to keep them when they’re working animals, and a dog specially trained to help a man in case of siezures definately fits the bill.

Alhamdulilah, I didn’t have to go on a tirade against the local community’s innaction. CAIR-MN beat me to the punch.

However, “the moral and legal need to accommodate individuals using service dogs far outweighs the discomfort an individual Muslim might feel about coming into contact with a dog, which is one of God’s creatures,” said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley.

There’s some serious need for education on certain issues in our community. Guide dogs is one. Not making a huge watery mess in the bathroom after wudu is another. I’ve been making wudu in public restrooms for 6 years now, and I’ve never left a puddle. Maybe this is something Imam Zaid can adress when he comes this weekend?