Ban on sharia law

A ban on sharia law is legislation that would ban the application or implementation of Islamic law (sharia) in courts in any jurisdiction.

Sharia law and prejudice against Muslim people in Western Europe

There is a view that "Muslim immigrants pose a threat to Judeo-Christian” civilisation stemming from supposedly incompatible cultural values such as Sharia law.^[1] Europe is perceived as "being transformed into the Islamic colony of Eurabia which is anti- American, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, replete with sharia law, shrouded females, etc. In Britain, it is thanks to the efforts of the Daily Mail columnist and author of Londonistan (2006), Melanie Phillips, the late Italian journalist, Oriana Fallaci (2003), and the novelist, Martin Amis (2006), in particular, that such views have been widely propagated and passed into the mainstream. Despite the shakiness of the evidence, the Eurabian construct has also gained serious scholarly support, not least that of the eminent British right-wing historian, Niall Ferguson".^[1]

It is claimed that Muslim people who support Sharia law are radicals or Islamofascists.^[1]

The English Defence League has part of its mission statement to ban all sharia courts after it was reported that several such regional courts were operating within Britain.^[2]

United States

In November 2010, voters in Oklahoma considered a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to ban sharia from state courts.^[3] The measure was overwhelmingly approved by voters^[4], then updated to include all foreign or religious laws.^[5] The ban was blocked in November 2010 by a federal judge who ruled the law to be unconstitutional and blocked the state from putting it into effect.^{[6][not in citation given][7]} That ruling and injunction were upheld by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on January 10, 2012.^[8]

The sixth article of the U.S. Constitution, and the establishment clause of the Constitution's 1st Amendment already forbid the government from establishing a preference for one religion. Official government endorsement of sharia law is thus already prohibited^{[citation needed]}.

More than two dozen U.S. states have considered measures intended to restrict judges from consulting sharia law. According to David Yerushalmi, one of the leading advocates of such legislation in the U.S., the purpose of the anti-sharia movement is not the legislation which bans consideration of sharia law in the courts, but to attract the attention to sharia in general.^[9]

Some Republican members of the United States Congress endorsed a new memorandum, based on a Center for Security Policy (CSP) report, Shariah: The Threat to America, at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol.^[10]

During the lead-up to Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign 2012, he described sharia law as a "mortal threat" and called for its ban throughout America.^[11]

A court order in January 2012 ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban sharia law, after a CAIR official challenged it.^[12]

Middle East and North Africa

Although Turkey is a muslim-majority country, since the Kemal Ataturk's years in office, sharia law has been banned.^{[13][page needed]}

Some forms of sharia law were banned before the 2011 uprising in Tunisia.^[14]

See also

• Sharia
• Sharia in the United States

References