He and other religious leaders have voiced their support for reinterpreting the state's oath statute. JACOBS: Sills runs a Greensboro-based group that promotes interfaith dialogue. We have religions here that perhaps have not been here for a long time, but the people who practice those religions take them just as seriously as Christians do theirs. Reverend MARK SILLS (Methodist Minister): Now it's the Bible-Torah-Koran-Ketabikan(ph) Belt. Methodist minister Mark Sills says the Bible Belt has expanded. JACOBS: But Jarrell says only the Legislature can rewrite laws, not the court.

Well, don't tell a Muslim, you know, that the Holy Bible is the only Holy Scripture. Judge JARRELL: The only holy book that could possibly have been contemplated by the folks that drafted that legislation in 1777 was the Holy Bible. JACOBS: For his part, Judge Tom Jarrell says he can understand Matine's position. But it does not specifically say the Bible it says `Holy Scripture.' And there is more than one Holy Scripture. SYIDAH MATINE: And if specifically said `the Bible,' then OK, it's written. But Syidah Matine says `Holy Scripture' should include the Koran.

The Superior Court senior judge says that would violate a 228-year-old statute requiring courtroom oaths to be sworn with a hand upon the Holy Scriptures, meaning the Christian Bible. Syidah Matine and her Muslim congregation want county courts to keep the Korans on hand for those who prefer to take an oath on the Muslim holy book. Just a few weeks ago, that same woman came back to the courthouse, this time carrying a stack of Korans. She simply affirmed a pledge to tell the truth. JACOBS: So Jarrell, a district court judge in Guilford County, gave the woman the other option under state law. And she stopped me, she says, `Well, Your Honor, I'd like very much to swear on a Koran, if that's possible.' I said, `Well, we don't have any Korans.'

Judge TOM JARRELL (Guilford County): I asked her before she testified, as required by all witnesses in court by law, that she place her left hand on the Bible, raise her right and be sworn to her truthful testimony. Two years ago, a Muslim woman appeared in Judge Tom Jarrell's courtroom seeking a domestic violence protection order. From North Carolina Public Radio, Rusty Jacobs reports. The debate could set up a legal battle on the constitutional provision against establishing a state religion. But a Superior Court judge says state law prohibits the use of any holy text other than the Bible. To Greensboro, North Carolina, now where some Muslims want to be able to take courtroom oaths on the Koran.

Do you have to be sworn in on a bible