The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing on Tuesday to probe whether sharia law would lead to constitutional violations.
“Tenants of sharia are incompatible with the United States and our constitution,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal before the hearing. “Sharia is central to [Islam], and it is incompatible with the constitution, our way of life, and Western civilization.”
Led by Roy, lawmakers heard testimonies from Stephen Gelé of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, Robert Spencer of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Krista Schild of the Rise Align Ignite Reclaim Foundation, and George Mason University Professor Ilya Somin.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., introduced a bill in September to ban sharia law from the U.S. Court System.
Fine was emboldened to introduce the bill because of reporting that claimed defendants charged with crimes like domestic violence have used the Quran in their defense. Some Islamism watchdogs point to part of the Quran that states a man can “beat” a “disobedient woman,” as a legitimate defense to avoid criminal punishment.
“In hundreds of reported cases throughout the U.S., litigants have attempted to apply sharia, often succeeding,” Gelé said during his testimony. “The law applied by such tribunals discriminates based on gender and religion, and in the case of custody disputes, does not apply the best interests of the child standard. Those arbitration tribunals also lack traditional American legal formalities, lessening due process.”
The hearing also focused on compounds that GOP lawmakers claim to embrace sharia law, such as the East Plano Islamic Center outside of Houston.
During her testimony, Schild claimed that EPIC’s imam, Yasir Qadhi, who oversees the compound, pushes Muslim extremist ideology.
“Qadhi has publicly described Jews and Christians as “the most evil of all evils.” And “has hosted events advocating for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, an al-Qaeda operative convicted of attempting to murder U.S. troops.” FIX THE QUOTE MARKS HERE
Schild’s claimed that Qadhi is a “member” of a Hamas-tied “notorious Muslim Brotherhood front group.”
‘These Imams defend stoning adulterers, chopping off hands, killing homosexuals, wife-beating, child marriage, and call Jews filth,” Schild added. “These enclaves run internal Sharia tribunals governing disputes, family, and compliance – outside American law.”
Some of the witnesses, however, claimed the GOP’s attempt to push back on Sharia law is “unconstitutional” and discriminatory.
“Mass expulsion and deportation is not the answer,” Somin said. “This law is unconstitutional.”
She added that deporting those suspected of embracing Sharia law in the United States would give a win to “radical Islamic terrorists” who forced their expulsion from their home countries in the first place.
Democrat lawmakers in attendance at the hearing echoed Somin’s remarks, claiming that the GOP’s push to outlaw sharia is a distraction and compared Islamic compounds to those of the Amish communities.
“We live in a country so great we don’t need these anti-sharia and anti-Muslim legislation,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during his opening remarks.
Raskin added that Congress is shifting focus to this to avoid talking about “inflation” and the “administration cover-up of the Epstein files.”
The Constitution, according to Raskin, prevents the government from endorsing a certain religion, which he implied that by going against sharia, lawmakers are endorsing other religions, like Christianity or Judaism.
Raskin claimed that members of Congress who advocate for the removal of other members, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., over accusations of embracing sharia law, violate the Constitution.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., accused anti-sharia lawmakers of “furthering Islamophobia” and “anti-Muslim remarks to score political points.”
She then added that the efforts to ban sharia are a “blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
Nevertheless, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., stated that the Supreme Court has previously banned polygamy, which is tied to Mormonism, and therefore banning anti-constitutional customs in sharia would not be illegal.
