Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed wants Americans to believe that opposition to Sharia in state courts belongs in the same historical indictment as some of the darkest crimes ever committed on American soil.
That is not a paraphrase invented by his opponents. It is the unmistakable thrust of his own remarks.
Speaking to the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in October 2022, El-Sayed declared: “You can’t understand a Sharia ban without understanding the Trail of Tears.”
He then invoked white supremacy and said the “same exact forces” were behind Native American removal, the destruction of Black Wall Street, the Oklahoma City bombing and Oklahoma’s attempt to bar courts from considering Sharia law, according to the Washington Free Beacon’s report and video.
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This is not subtle. This is not “defending religious freedom.” This is obscene political propaganda that places a medieval legal system, complete with hudud punishments, unequal rights for women and non-Muslims, and apostasy rules, into the same category of victimhood as genuine American tragedies.
El-Sayed insists that bans on Sharia stem from bigotry. Yet Sharia, as practiced in Iran, Afghanistan under the Taliban, and other regimes, systematically subordinates women, criminalizes apostasy and blasphemy, and rejects the foundational equality of the American constitutional order.
El-Sayed has denied that imposing Sharia is his goal and claims allegiance to the separation of church and state. But his 2022 performance at CAIR reveals the instinct: treat any legal firewall against Islamic law as illegitimate and rooted in “white supremacy.” That instinct matters when a candidate is one election away from the United States Senate.
On May 13, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing entitled “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam & Sharia Law are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution: Part II.”
While news of the hearing largely focused on Marco Hunter-Lopez, it took place as part of a larger initiative led by Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who established the “Sharia Free America Caucus” late last year to address what they see as a danger to American civil liberties.
The broader session centered on the perceived threats posed by the increasing influence of Sharia law in the United States, particularly concerning civil liberties, foundational principles, and republican governance. Additionally, the hearing examined the potential conflicts between Sharia-based institutions and federal law as well as the Constitution.
Read more:
House Hearing Explored Compatibility of Sharia Law with U.S. Constitution Amid Rising Concerns
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