August 2, 2005
Source: The Tennessean
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050802/NEWS0202/508020337/1009/NEWS
On August 2, 2005 The Tennessean reported, "Leaders of the Islamic community met yesterday with Mayor Bill Purcell's top brass, with one Islamic leader asking them 'to open your hearts to us.'
The meeting was one of a series of overtures to Nashville Muslims in recent weeks... The meetings have been the most significant and intense effort by the city to reach out to the Islamic community, Jones and Islamic leaders said.
The meetings were spurred by a recent case in which a Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, was found covered with flies and mashed into what appeared to be feces on the steps of an east Nashville apartment."