Amina Farah Ali's actions — or rather, inactions — have both Muslims and religious and legal scholars scratching their heads.

For the first two days of her trial this week on terrorism-related charges, the Rochester woman refused to stand before the federal judge in her case, citing her Muslim beliefs. Her co-defendant, also a Muslim, did stand.

She finally relented on Wednesday — after two nights in jail for contempt — and agreed to stand.

Ali said her reasoning for not standing is based on her interpretation of the hadith, or sayings of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Mohammed is said to have told followers who stood in his presence that they overhonored him. Ali's interpretation of that was that she would only stand for God.

Among those puzzled over Ali's refusal to stand before the judge is Abdulwahid Qalinle, a professor who teaches Islamic law and human rights at the University of Minnesota. He believes her case is unprecedented. And he's not aware of Muslim defendants, or those of other faiths, refusing to stand before a judge for religious reasons.

Qalinle told me in a phone interview yesterday he doesn't see anything in the Quran or other Islamic texts that would support her refusal to stand in court:

Bob Tuttle, professor of law and religion at George Washington University Law School, said during our interview yesterday he's never heard of a case involving a Muslim defendant, who refused to stand before a judge and jury for religious reasons. He's not aware of cases either where someone of another faith did the same:

Tuttle added that even though her case may be unprecedented, "the law still has structures for dealing with things. So I think that once the (judge's) sanction is ultimately imposed on her, I would expect her lawyers to challenge it."