Mass. ruling a victory for Farrakhan

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan had no legal obligation to admit women into a leased theater in Dorchester, Mass., for one of his speeches, that state's highest court ruled. Marceline Donaldson and her husband, Robert Bennett, sued Farrakhan, a mosque and others after Donaldson was denied admittance to the speech in 1994 because it was for men only. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that it is not up to the courts to question religious beliefs and practices that separate the sexes.

Quran text reviewed

An English translation of the Quran with commentary has been removed from Los Angeles public school district libraries for review after some history teachers complained that certain comments on the sacred Islamic text are anti-Semitic. Nearly 300 copies of The Meaning of the Holy Quran were donated this month by the Omar Ibn Khattab Foundation. But "some of the interpretations may be offensive," said Jim Konantz, assistant superintendent of the Los Angeles city schools. A panel of Muslims, community leaders and history teachers will study the material, he said. Konantz cited such passages as: "The Jews in their arrogance claimed that all wisdom and all knowledge of Allah was enclosed in their hearts. But there were more things in heaven and earth that were dreamt of in their philosophy. Their claim was not only arrogance but blasphemy."