From Wisconsin’s Gazette Extra, with thanks to Two Stellas.
MADISON, Wis. – An appeals court ordered state labor officials Thursday to reconsider forcing a Muslim woman to repay unemployment benefits after she turned down work so she could make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The 4th District Court of Appeals reversed a finding by the state Labor and Industry Review Commission, which ruled Salwa Rashad didn’t have to undertake the hajj immediately and could have accepted work. Every able-bodied Muslim is required to make the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it.
The court ordered the commission to reconsider its ruling in light of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of religion…