ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997               TAG: 9703130067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-9  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST

HIGH COURT SAYS MOHAMMED FRIEZE STAYSMUSLIM GROUPS SAY THE CARVING BORDERS ON IDOL WORSHIP AND TAKES AWAY FROM THE GLORY OF ALLAH.

Rejecting complaints from Muslim groups offended by a frieze depicting the prophet Mohammed, the Supreme Court has declared that the marble sculpture in its chamber ``is not a form of idol worship'' and will not be altered.

In a letter released Wednesday, Chief Justice William Rehnquist also told the Muslims it would be ``unlawful to remove or in any way injure an architectural feature in the Supreme Court building."

A coalition of 16 Muslim groups wrote the court last month asking that Mohammed's face be sandblasted off the north wall of the chamber in deference to Islamic beliefs. The depiction of a prophet is considered a form of sacrilege because it might encourage believers to pray to someone other than Allah.

``We're not ready to give up on the principle of this,'' said Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and spokesman for the coalition.

The friezes show allegorical figures and a procession of 18 great lawgivers. Mohammed is included among other historical figures including Confucius, Moses, Napoleon and Charlemagne.

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