(RNS) — A new congressional group is targeting what it claims is a growing threat of Shariah, or Islamic religious law, in the U.S., a move that harks back to anti-Islam movements that flourished during the post-9/11 era and the early 2010s.
Leaders of the Sharia Free America Caucus say the growing number of mosques in the country is a cause for alarm, while critics say the group is an attempt to shore up votes for Republicans in places such as Oklahoma and Texas during campaign season.
Led by Republican U.S. Reps. Chip Roy and Keith Self of Texas, the caucus heard testimony about how some believe Shariah violates the U.S. Constitution at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Tuesday (Feb. 10). The caucus, which formed in December and is made of 36 Republican representatives from 18 states, aims to push legislation that counters what it calls “the alarming rise of Shariah Law in the United States.”
“Some of you might think of Shariah as a 2010s buzzword. That is wrong,” Roy, the subcommittee chair, said in his opening statement. “Over the last few years, efforts to impose Shariah on American communities have taken off, and nowhere more than in my home state of Texas.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is not a member of the caucus, said the hearing was meant to stoke suspicion of American Muslims and “a cynical political ploy driven by the Texas Republican primary.”
Haris Tarin, vice president of policy and programming for the Muslim Public Affairs Counc …