By Ann Zimmerman



Oklahoma voters handily passed a ballot measure forbidding state courts from relying on Islamic law, known as sharia, when making rulings.

The first ballot initiative of its kind in the U.S., the measure was viewed by its supporters as a “pre-emptive strike,” and passed 70% to 30%.

Not that anyone has proposed that the state adopt sharia, including the roughly 30,000 Muslims who make up a minuscule part of Oklahoma’s 3.7 million population.

“The Oklahoma ballot initiative struck us as silly and absurd — a proposed solution chasing a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, national legal advocacy and education organization based in San Francisco.