True but I don't know of any Muzzies that live in Sequoya Hills an upper class neighborhood in Knoxville. If so they likely work for UT which is walking distance away. I do think if the man were a Muslim his chances of being governor in this state would have been ZERO. Now he possibly could have gotten a City Council seat or even a state senator or REP seat from Memphis with such credentials but not Knoxville. He would have not been mayor.
The then mayor and now our governor does have a tendency to appoint his opposition to seats in his administration. The current DEM mayor of Knoxville worked under Haslam when he was mayor. That is not the same thing as changing ones religion.