FILE - In a Thursday, June 21, 2012 file photo, a worker walks out of the construction site of a mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Opponents of a new Tennessee mosque want a federal judge to give them a say in a religious discrimination case involving the building.

For two years the group fought to shut down construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in state court.

They nearly succeeded earlier this summer when a Rutherford County judge ruled the meeting where the mosque's construction plans were approved was void due to insufficient public notice. The U.S. attorney's office in Nashville stepped in, claiming violations of religious liberty. A federal judge agreed.

Earlier this month, those same residents filed a motion to intervene in the federal case. Many of their claims are similar to claims that were dismissed in state court, including that local Muslims are linked to terrorists.

The court hears the motion Friday.