Muslim Americans push back as Republican politicians stoke anti-Sharia rhetoric ahead of election

Republican politicians escalated anti-Sharia rhetoric at their party's midterm convention in Dallas, where Senator Ted Cruz drew loud cheers declaring "Sharia law has no place in America" and urging attendees to stop it. Texas Governor Greg Abbott followed by promising to eliminate Sharia law statewide entirely. Muslim American leaders and scholars are pushing back, describing Sharia as guidance for prayer, fasting, charity and personal virtue rather than a legal threat, comparing it to the Ten Commandments and Jewish law derived from the Torah, according to ABC News.

Sabeel Ahmed, who directs the outreach project GainPeace and speaks at mosques across Texas, told The Associated Press that politicians and influencers stoke anti-Sharia sentiment because it boosts their popularity, and said Muslims should respond through education rather than anger. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, an Islamic scholar formerly of Emory University School of Law, said demonizing Sharia reflects "a total dehumanization of the other."

Texas Representatives Keith Self and Chip Roy co-founded the Sharia-Free America Caucus, now with more than 60 Republican members, which has introduced several unsuccessful anti-Sharia bills; Roy has said Sharia threatens the Constitution and "Western values." The Council on American-Islamic Relations has labeled the caucus an anti-Muslim hate group, with research director Corey Saylor comparing its rhetoric to historic anti-Catholic bigotry against Irish Americans. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton demanded records from the Dallas-based Islamic Tribunal, questioning whether it improperly functioned as a court; the tribunal maintains it only provides voluntary religious mediation.

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News →