Sharia law banned: Oklahoma to become the first U.S. state to veto use of Islamic code



Oklahoma is set to become the first state in America to outlaw Sharia law.

Voters were expected to rule it illegal for judges to rely on the Islamic code when ruling on cases following a state-wide ballot.

Proponents of the ban said it was a ‘preemptive strike’ to stop Oklahoma suffering the same fate as European countries such as Britain, where Sharia is routinely used in Muslim communities.

Preemptive: Voters are expected to rule it illegal in Oklahoma to rely on the Islamic code when adjudicating cases following a state-wide ballot



Even though Oklahoma has a very small proportion of Muslims - just 15,000 out of a population of 3.7million - they want to stamp out the problem before it begins.

Around a dozen other states will be watching closely to see if the proposition is approved amid heightened anti-Muslim sentiment fueled by row over the Ground Zero Mosque.

The Republican-controlled state legislature in Oklahoma has already passed State Question 755, or ‘Save Our State’ with an 82-10 vote in the House of Representative and a 41-2 vote in the Senate.

It is aimed at ‘cases of the first impression’, or legal disputes where there is now law to resolve the issue at hand.

In these instances, judges might look to other jurisdictions for guidance, but the proposed amendment would block judges in Oklahoma courts from drawing on Sharia, or the laws of other nations.

Supporters of the proposal acknowledge that they do not know of a single case of Sharia being used in Oklahoma.

They also admit that the state has not suffered at the hands of Islamic terrorists, although in 1995 Timothy McVeigh, who was not a Muslim, blew up a building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people, including 19 children.

‘It should not matter what France might do, what Great Britain might do, or what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia might do. Court decisions ought to be based on federal law, or state law’

Sharia has many interpretations and in Britain Islamic courts are often used to resolve community disputes involving minor disagreements or matters not considered appropriate for conventional legal measures.

In some countries, however, it has been used to ‘justify cruel punishments such an amputation and stoning as well as unequal treatment of women in inheritance, dress and independence,’ according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

A poll by The Tulsa World newspaper earlier this year indicated broad support for the proposition - 49% of voters backed it compared to 24% who opposed it and 27% who were undecided.

Tension has been heightened by radio adverts paid for by Act for America, an advocacy group, which gave graphic descriptions of cases Sharia law had let men beat and rape their wives without punishing them.

Rex Duncan, the Republican state representative and author of the proposition, said supporters in more than a dozen other states were ready to follow Oklahoma’s lead.

‘I see this in the future somewhere in America,’ he said.

‘It's not an imminent threat in Oklahoma yet, but it's a storm on the horizon in other states.

‘It should not matter what France might do, what Great Britain might do, or what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia might do.

‘Court decisions ought to be based on federal law, or state law.’

Muslims, however, were outraged at the proposal and said it was an overreaction.

Saad Mohammed of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City said: ‘There's no threat of sharia law coming to Oklahoma and America, period. ‘It's just a scare tactic.’

The society’s president Saleem Quraishi added: ‘It’s just fear mongering; it's nothing.

‘What's Sharia law have to do with Oklahoma?’

