Muslim American groups criticise Republican hearings on sharia and political Islam

WASHINGTON: Muslim American organisations have criticised recent congressional hearings led by Republican lawmakers, saying the proceedings are being used to target Muslim minorities in the United States by fuelling fear about Islam and sharia.

Republicans, who currently control both chambers of Congress, held a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday under the title

Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam and Sharia Law are Incompatible with the US Constitution.

A similar hearing had also been held in February.

At the hearing, Republican US Representative Chip Roy said, "The radicals pushing political Islam do not want to coexist with America's culture and ⁠political order. They want to replace it."

Muslim advocacy groups and other critics said such hearings unfairly single out Muslims, recycle old tropes and conspiracy theories, and are unnecessary because US law already governs the country. The reports said there is no evidence that any mainstream Muslim organisation in the United States has called for sharia to be imposed in the country.

The US Council of Muslim Organisations, which represents more than 50 Muslim groups, condemned what it described as the

weaponisation of government against American Muslims

and said the hearings reflected

the politics of fear.

Zainab Chaudry, Maryland director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said, "Anti-Sharia hearings are not about protecting the Constitution. They are about demonising Islam and portraying Muslim Americans as perpetual outsiders."

Democrats and rights advocates raise concerns

Democratic US Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the hearings were a distraction and amounted to an attack on religious freedom.

According to rights advocates in the United States, Islamophobia has risen over the years. They have linked that trend first to the September 11, 2001 attacks, and more recently to anti-immigration policies, white supremacy, and the fallout from Israel’s war in Gaza.

CAIR said it recorded 8,683 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints in the United States in 2025, describing it as the highest figure since the organisation began publishing such data in 1996.

An April study by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate think tank said anti-Muslim bigotry by Republican elected officials had increased sharply since early 2025. The study cited more than 1,100 online posts by Republican members of Congress and governors.

Political backdrop

The report also said Republican governors in Florida and Texas have described CAIR as a

terrorist

group. CAIR, which has opposed Republican President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and pro-Palestinian protests, has rejected those allegations, as have other civil rights organisations.

The criticism from Muslim American groups comes amid a broader debate in the United States over religious liberty, political rhetoric and the treatment of minority communities in public life.