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What is sharia? Muslims and Texas Republicans have very different answers
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“I can go to the mosque every day for three months without hearing the word sharia,” said Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Muslims make up roughly 2% of the Texas population, with estimates ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 in the state of about 32 million, according to Pew Research Center.
State Rep. Salman Bhojani , the first Muslim elected to the Texas Legislature, said sharia is an “ethical and moral framework that governs your personal conduct. “It’s for Muslims, so thinking that this is something that Muslims are bringing for everyone is just so far from the understanding of sharia,” she said.
“Sharia literally means the ‘water hole’ or the ‘path,’” said Khaled Abou el Fadl, a professor of law specializing in Shari’ah, Islamic law and Islam at the University of California Los Angeles. Bush to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom — has spent his “entire life studying sharia,” he said in an interview, and even so, has “barely scratched the surface.
The congressional caucus includes 68 Republicans from 25 states, Keith Self said in June. When sharia is not treated with nuance, the result is disastrous, Abou el Fadl said.
“You cannot make any generalization about Muslims in this world,” he said. “Sharia is Islamic law,” said Brent Money, R-Greenville.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- “Sharia literally means the ‘water hole’ or the ‘path,’” said Khaled Abou el Fadl, a professor of law specializing in Shari’ah, Islamic law and Islam at the University of California Los Angeles.
- “It’s for Muslims, so thinking that this is something that Muslims are bringing for everyone is just so far from the understanding of sharia,” she said.
- State Rep. Salman Bhojani , the first Muslim elected to the Texas Legislature, said sharia is an “ethical and moral framework that governs your personal conduct.
- The congressional caucus includes 68 Republicans from 25 states, Keith Self said in June .
- “Sharia is Islamic law,” said Brent Money, R-Greenville.
- Bush to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom — has spent his “entire life studying sharia,” he said in an interview, and even so, has “barely scratched the surface.
- When sharia is not treated with nuance, the result is disastrous, Abou el Fadl said.
- “You cannot make any generalization about Muslims in this world,” he said.
Sources
- Religionnewslink