{"id":18753,"date":"2026-06-09T05:43:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/congressional-democrats-call-gop-anti-sharia-caucus-hateful\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T05:43:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:13:01","slug":"congressional-democrats-call-gop-anti-sharia-caucus-hateful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/congressional-democrats-call-gop-anti-sharia-caucus-hateful\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Democrats call GOP anti-Sharia caucus &#8216;hateful&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_eQjyeHp3kAP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.1.5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 Democrats in Congress condemned a recently formed congressional group<span> that claims Islamic religious law is a growing threat in the United States, <\/span>calling it a \u201chateful caucus\u201d that discriminates against American Muslims.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter on Monday (June 8), 119 congressional members lodged their opposition to the group to House and Senate leaders, marking the first time Democrats officially responded to the Sharia-Free America Caucus since Republican members launched it last December.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe premise underlying this caucus and the measures associated with it reflects longstanding Islamophobic narratives and anti-Muslim sentiment rather than any demonstrated policy need,\u201d the Democratic lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1uDc56BgDF8KIvd4T_hkX8bA8XpKP-9Ic\/view\">wrote<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The caucus targeting Sharia, or Islamic religious law, <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2025\/08\/06\/islamophobia-sharia\/\">harkens back<\/a> to anti-Muslim movements that flourished during the post-9\/11 era and the early 2010s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Led by Republican U.S. Reps. Chip Roy and Keith Self of Texas, the caucus has steadily grown to at least <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepKeithSelf\/status\/2062927253705560424?s=20\">66 House members<\/a> from 25 states.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Caucus members have introduced several related House bills in recent months, including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/5722\">Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/5512\/text\">No Shari\u2019a Act<\/a>, the latter of which aims to ban Sharia in cases where it would \u201cviolate constitutional rights, and for other purposes\u201d according to its summary. Critics say it would deny Muslims their right to free speech and freedom of religion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4245276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4245276\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/webAP25064749841376-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks with reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Reached by RNS via email, Rep. Riley Moore, R-W. Va., a member of the caucus, said he wasn\u2019t surprised that Democrats are \u201cdefending\u201d Sharia law, which he said is a \u201ccultural and religious insurgency deployed with the goal of destroying the most critical pillar that western civilization rests on: Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Muslims, Sharia is a sacred law that guides their personal lives. It includes rules for charity, prayer, pilgrimage, inheritance and marriage. Arabic for \u201cthe path to water,\u201d Sharia also includes criminal law, though Muslim American scholars have consistently said those laws do not apply in non-Muslim countries and do not supersede U.S. law.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, Democratic Congress members asked House and Senate leaders, who play a role in determining what bills advance, not to schedule floor time for legislation affiliated with the caucus.<\/p>\n<p>The bills \u201caddress no identifiable gap in U.S. law\u201d and raise First Amendment violation concerns, Democrats wrote in the letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongress must not legitimize anti-Muslim proposals that undermine those protections or foster division among the people we represent,\u201d the letter continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, welcomed the Democrats\u2019 condemnation of the caucus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an anti\u2011Muslim hate group and election\u2011year distraction masquerading as a congressional caucus. Its proposals are rooted in Islamophobic conspiracy theories, not any legitimate legislative need,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cCongress is right to reject attempts to single out American Muslims and undermine our Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A House judiciary subcommittee, led by caucus co-founder Roy, held two hearings in February and May about why Sharia is \u201cincompatible with the U.S. Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, an umbrella organization that claims to represent over 50 Muslim groups, condemned the hearings in May, saying House Republicans are \u201cinciting hatred against American Muslims\u201d and \u201cusing Muslims as a political football to win elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Discriminatory content targeting Muslims across social media platforms has escalated \u201cat an alarming pace\u201d this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csohate.org\/2026\/03\/09\/us-israel-iran-war-islamophobia\/\">according to an analysis<\/a> by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, some Democratic lawmakers have individually condemned brazen anti-Muslim comments from caucus members, including Rep. Andy Ogles\u2019 (Tenn.) social media site X <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepOgles\/status\/2031002097135599717?s=20\">comment<\/a> that \u201cMuslims don\u2019t belong in American society\u201d and Rep. Randy Fine\u2019s (Fla.) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepFine\/status\/1999133147938648243\">recommendation<\/a> on X to \u201cdestroy\u201d mainstream Muslims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic show of opposition was led by Rep. James E. Clyburn, S.C., who is chair of the Democratic Faith Working Group; Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Md.; Reps. Andr\u00e9 Carson, Ind., Rosa DeLauro, Conn., Jerry Nadler, N.Y., Hank Johnson, Ga. and Ro Khanna, Calif.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/08\/congressional-democrats-call-gop-anti-shariah-caucus-hateful\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 Democrats in Congress condemned a recently formed congressional group that claims Islamic religious law is a growing threat in the United States, calling it a \u201chateful caucus\u201d that discriminates against American Muslims. In a letter on Monday (June 8), 119 congressional members lodged their opposition to the group to House and Senate leaders, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}