NEW YORK – At the Republicans’ recent midterm convention in Dallas, some of the strongest applause for Sen. Ted Cruz came after he criticized Muslim Americans and the religious code associated with their faith.
“Sharia law has no place in America,” Cruz declared. “We need to stand together and stop it now.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott followed shortly afterward, promising to “fully ban Sharia law in Texas.”
Muslim American civic leaders and scholars in Texas and across the country are pushing back against the latest wave of anti-Sharia rhetoric, a political theme that has circulated for more than 15 years.
They describe Sharia as it is practiced in the United States as a source of moral guidance, with elements shared by the codes of other faiths, including the Ten Commandments and the body of Jewish law derived from the Torah. They reject Republican critics’ claims that Sharia is a coercive system that threatens the U.S. Constitution and the nation’s courts.
Although Sharia has been interpreted in different ways, its central purpose is to guide Muslims in how to live and worship. It addresses practices including prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, charitable giving and personal conduct.
One of Sharia’s most active defenders is Sabeel Ahmed, an Illinois-based physician and the director of GainPeace, an outreach initiative. He travels throughout the United States and has recently focused on Texas, where he speaks at mosque-sponsored workshops and open houses.
“Sharia is often misunderstood,” Ahmed wrote on Instagram after visiting Plano, Texas, in midsummer. “Many people think Sharia is only about punishments, but in Islam it is Allah’s guidance for living with faith, justice, mercy, and responsibility.”
Ahmed says anti-Sharia hostility persists because politicians and social-media personalities use it to energize voters and attract followers.
“They gain popularity by saying it,” he told The Associated Press. “It’s the job of the Muslims to educate what is the proper meaning of the word Sharia. We cannot be angry or hateful.”
Sharia’s role differs widely across Muslim-majority nations
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, a Sudanese-born Islamic scholar who taught for many years at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, is among those alarmed by the anti-Sharia campaign in the United States. He has long criticized the relatively small number of Muslim-majority governments that impose Sharia through state power, arguing that Muslims are better served by secular societies where religious practice remains voluntary.
An-Na’im said he and other Muslim Americans willingly embrace Sharia as an important part of their identity while also identifying with American values.
He called the portrayal of their beliefs “a shocking ignorance of what Sharia means,” adding: “It’s a total dehumanization of the other, the rejection of their right to be human.”
Opponents of Sharia use equally forceful language. Their position is represented by Texas Republican Reps. Keith Self and Chip Roy, who co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus in Congress.
“Sharia is a direct threat to our Constitution and Western values and seeks to replace our legal system and erode our basic freedoms,” Roy said earlier this year. “Our immigration system must be prepared to confront this challenge and defend our Judeo-Christian values.”
The caucus had more than 60 members at last count, all of them Republicans. Since its formation in December, its members have introduced several anti-Sharia bills, but none has passed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, has labeled the caucus an anti-Muslim hate group.
“The bigoted rhetoric used by this caucus resembles the hatred that anti-Catholic politicians once unleashed against Irish Americans,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR’s research and advocacy director.
“Islam is an American faith, present for over 250 years,” Saylor added. “No one who wrote the Constitution or enforced it since has empowered these legislators to pick which religions get to exist in America.”
Texas has been a battleground for Sharia disputes
There has been substantive anti-Sharia action in Texas. In August, Attorney General Ken Paxton demanded documents from the Dallas-based Islamic Tribunal, which provides religious guidance to Muslims.
Paxton said in a news release that the investigation by his office sought to determine if the tribunal was engaged in illegal activity, such as acting as a court, applying foreign laws that conflict with Texas or federal law, or issuing rulings that imply government authority.
“This is America, and we will not be governed by sharia law,” Paxton said.
The Islamic Tribunal subsequently updated its website with a “ Clarification of Mission and Activities,” stressing that its guidance “complements, and never replaces, the legal, social, and professional services available in American society.”
“The Tribunal does not function as a court of law and does not issue legally binding judgments,” it said. “Our role is limited to mediation and religious arbitration requested by members of the Muslim community in matters related to faith, family guidance, and internal religious affairs.”
Any matters requiring legal enforcement are referred directly to the Texas judicial system, said the tribunal, which likened its work to the services provided by Jewish Beth Din courts and Catholic ecclesiastical tribunals.
Sharia defenders seek to broaden understanding of its essence
Asma Uddin, a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Law, has argued in her writings that many American politicians are depicting ordinary Muslim religious practices — such as prayer, choice of apparel, family counseling and mosque attendance — as evidence of a political danger.
In an interview with the AP, Uddin depicted the current wave of anti-Sharia rhetoric as fearmongering by politicians who view the issue as advantageous for them.
“When politicians use this, it’s giving them exactly what they’re looking for,” she said. “They’re looking for a scapegoat … and this gets people riled up.”
Sabeel Ahmed, who has made three outreach trips to Texas so far this year, plans a trip to Houston in a few weeks for another mosque open-house. He’s also working on a book to be mailed to Christian clergy across the U.S., seeking to broaden their understanding of Sharia and other Islamic practices.
“Islam is not to be feared,” Ahmed said. “People should meet a Muslim, go to the mosque, reach out to us. Let’s emphasize the commonalities we have.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
