The battle over Muslim shari’ah law in American has taken some unexpected turns.
As might be expected, the American Civil Liberties Union — which predictably takes up any and all anti-Christian causes — is suing the state of Oklahoma in support of the enforcement of Islamic law in the Sooner State. The ACLU’s partner in the suit is CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has been tied to terrorist groups.
However, completely unexpected is the American Islamic Leadership Conference’s support of a Michigan bill that would prevent state judges from utilizing foreign laws. This, to the surprise of some, would include Sharia law. This group, comprised of Muslim adherents, is opposed do any state court decisions that would conflict with American law. In an official release, the group writes:
As American Muslims, we believe that the law should treat people of all faiths equally, while protecting Muslims and non-Muslims alike from extremist attempts to use the legal instrument of shari‘ah (also known as Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh) to incubate, within the West, a highly politicized and dangerous understanding of Islam that is generally known as “Islamism,” or “radical Islam.”
In the statement, the group also claims that it sees no problem with the law and that it will not, as some would likely charge, hamper the rights of Muslims. Additionally, the AILC opposes the “fear mongering” it claims more radical groups are undertaking here in America, writing:
As American Muslims we are conscious of the fact that Muslim Brotherhood legacy groups and other Islamists and their surrogates in the U.S. are trying their best to portray any opposition to manifestations of shari‘ah law as “racism” and “discrimination against Muslims.”
In Oklahoma, courts are debating whether voters had the right to ban shari’ah law. A 2010 ballot initiative put a stop to considerations of Islamic laws in making state court decisions. The measure, which passed by a 70 percent margin.
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