Sidney, NY

In 2010, the Sidney Town Board took legal action to stop the Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi from using part of its 50-acre property as a cemetery. The Sufi community purchased the land in 2002 and began using it for burials in 2009. The Town Board claimed the burials were illegal and sought to disinter the bodies. The Sufi group argued they had followed town regulations. The dispute gained national attention and led to significant local opposition. Ultimately, the town dropped its plans to pursue a lawsuit but planned to regulate private burials. Persistent community opposition to the Town Board characterized the controversy and led to significant changes in the 2011 town election.

Florian Pohl

The Sufi community used a portion of its 50-acre property as a cemetery. The first burial occurred in November 2009, followed by a second in the summer of 2010.

The town dropped its plans to pursue a lawsuit in October 2010 but planned to regulate private burials, except religious ones

In the summer of 2010, the Sidney Town Board initiated legal action to stop the Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi—a Sufi Islamic spiritual center—from using a portion of its 50-acre property as a cemetery. The order had purchased the land, a former sheep farm, in 2002 and designated 650 square feet for cemetery use. The first burial occurred in November 2009, followed by a second in the summer of 2010.

On September 14, 2010, journalist Patricia Breakey reported in The Daily Star that the Sidney Town Board had passed an injunction at its August 12 meeting to prohibit burials on private property, effectively targeting the Sufi community's cemetery (Breakey, 2010, Sep 14). Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy explained that the Town Board had directed its lawyer to explore a lawsuit against the Sufi Order for conducting two Muslim burials without notifying local authorities or obtaining proper permits. McCarthy stated the town's intention to have the bodies disinterred and to stop future burials. He stressed that these steps were necessary to prevent any group from bypassing regulations, regardless of religion, stating, "Unauthorized cemeteries have the potential of placing a financial burden on the local government as well as dictating the use of the land for perpetuity” (ibid.).

In response to the town board's actions, the Sufi center members emphasized strict adherence to town regulations. They presented a 2005 document from the town zoning board confirming that the cemetery was permitted use according to the Town of Sidney Zoning Ordinance. They noted that licensed funeral directors conducted the burials with proper permits (Seely, 2010, Oct 2).

The legal dispute between the Sufi center and the Sidney Town Board escalated to a national level of attention in September. The story was covered by the Huffington Post (Reinbach, 2010, Sep 27) and featured on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.” The national spotlight underscored the salience of the issue, which emerged during a period of heightened tension over Muslim building projects in the runup to the 2010 midterm elections, including the protests over an Islamic Center near Ground Zero in Manhattan.

In October, opposition to the Town Board's actions grew, with nearly 40 area clergy from various faiths urging the board to drop the issue. They supported the Sufi community’s right to practice their faith and criticized the singling out of one religion (Clergy's letter supports Sufi order, 2010, Oct 9). "Though we are members and leaders of different faith traditions, we stand beside our Sufi brothers and sisters to support their right to practice their faith and live as peaceful, law-abiding, contributing members of our society," the letter said (Clergy's letter supports Sufi order (ibid.).

On October 13, a day before a Town Board meeting, the Sufi community's lawyer announced that the local government would drop plans to force the cemetery's closure. However, the board still intended to enact a law preventing burials on private property but excluding religious and not-for-profit groups. Despite this, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) demanded a public apology from town officials for attempting to close the cemetery (CAIR seeks apology, 2010, Oct 14).

At the next day’s Town Board meeting, more than 100 attendees chanted for McCarthy's resignation after he refused to apologize for his actions and the negative attention brought to the town (Crowd calls for McCarthy's resignation, 2010, Oct 15). Local opposition to McCarthy and the Town Board persisted in the following months. Concerned Citizens for Responsible Sidney Government petitioned for McCarthy's resignation and filed formal complaints about his management with the New York Attorney General and Comptroller, backed by signed petitions (Rainbach, 2010, Nov 8). In the November 2011 Sidney town elections, a slate of candidates endorsed by McCarthy was defeated by Democratic and bipartisan candidates, with the cemetery controversy being a key issue for voters (Boshnack, 2011, Nov 10).

References

• Boshnack, M. (2011, November 10). Unhappy Sidney voters turn out in high numbers. The Daily Star. Available from NewsBank. 
• Breakey, P. (2010, September 14). Sidney Town Board objects to cemetery. The Daily Star. Available from NewsBank.
• CAIR seeks apology from NY town over Muslim cemetery flap. (2010, October 14). PR Newswire. Available from NewsBank.
• Clergy's letter supports Sufi order. (2010, October 9). The Daily Star. Available from NewsBank. 
  Crowd calls for McCarthy's resignation in Sidney. (2010, October 15). The Daily Star. Available from NewsBank.
• Reinbach, A. (2010, September 27). Tiny Upstate New York Town Wants Local Muslims to Dig Up Their Cemetery. Huffington Post. Web.
• Reinbach, A. (2010, November 8). Sidney, NY knuckling down for a brawl. Huffington Post. Web.
• Seely, H. (2010, October 2). Tiny cemetery in ground zero in Islam debate. The Post-Standard, p. A1. Available from NewsBank.