- Republicans organize hearings that they consider opposed to Sharia law.
- Muslim groups say those audiences view Muslims as outsiders.
- Democrats say these types of hearings are a distraction used by Republicans.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American Muslim groups said congressional hearings that Republican lawmakers viewed as aimed at making the United States “sharia-free” are being used as a weapon against Muslim minorities in the United States, stoking fear against them.
Republicans, who hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, titled Wednesday’s hearing before a House Judiciary Subcommittee “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam and Sharia Law Are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.” A similar hearing was also held in February.
“The radicals who push political Islam do not want to coexist with the culture and political order of the United States. They want to replace it,” Republican US Representative Chip Roy said at the hearing.
Critics have said such hearings single out Muslims for ridicule, revive tropes and conspiracy theories against them, and are unnecessary because American laws prevail on American soil.
There is no evidence that any American Muslim group has advocated imposing sharia law in the United States.
The Council of Muslim Organizations of America, which represents more than 50 Muslim groups, condemned what it called “the government’s militarization of American Muslims” and said the hearings focused on “the politics of fear.”
“Anti-Sharia hearings are not about protecting the Constitution. They are about demonizing Islam and portraying American Muslims as perpetual outsiders,” said Maryland director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Zainab Chaudry.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the hearings were a distraction and attacked religious freedom.
Human rights advocates in the United States have noted growing Islamophobia over the years, attributing it to the attacks of September 11, 2001; and more recently to anti-immigration policies, white supremacy and the consequences of Israel’s war in Gaza.
CAIR says it recorded 8,683 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints in the United States in 2025, the highest number since it began publishing data in 1996.
An April study by the think tank Center for the Study of Organized Hate says anti-Muslim bigotry by Republican elected officials has increased since early 2025, citing more than 1,100 online posts by Republican members of Congress and governors.
The Republican governors of Florida and Texas have called CAIR, which has opposed Republican President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and pro-Palestinian protests, a “terrorist” group. CAIR and other civil rights groups have denounced the claims.
