Anti-Shariah Movement Loses Steam In State Legislatures
By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
(RNS) At this point in 2011, 22 state legislatures had either passed or were considering bills to prohibit judges from considering either Islamic law, known as Shariah, or foreign law in their decisions.
What a difference a year can make.
The wave of anti-Shariah legislation has broken in recent weeks, as bills in several states have either died or been withdrawn, raising questions about whether the anti-Shariah movement has lost its momentum.
New Jersey Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi and Minnesota state Sen. David Thompson, both Republicans, withdrew anti-foreign law bills after Muslim and interfaith leaders criticized the measures as anti-Muslim.
"It was never meant to be an anti-Shariah law bill, it was meant to be an anti-foreign law bill," Schepisi said in an interview, speaking about the bill she withdrew March 12. "But after sitting down with members of the Muslim community, and taking into consideration everything they'd been through in the last few weeks, I didn't want to create any more tension."
New Jersey Muslims have rallied in recent weeks against a surveillance program of Muslim businesses and community centers in Newark and elsewhere conducted by the New York Police Department.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/25/anti-shariah-movement-loses-steam_n_1374083.html