Oklahoma Sued for Banning Islamic Law

WorldNetDaily

The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced today it will file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state ballot measure that bars judges from considering Islamic law in any ruling.

On Tuesday, with about a dozen other states watching, Oklahoma became the first state to put before voters the proposition that Islamic courts, Islamic law – known as Shariah – and Shariah-based court decisions should be banned.

State Question 755, a constitutional amendment, was approved by 70 of Oklahoma voters. But at a news conference today, CAIR-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad called the measure unnecessary and offensive.

“There’s no threat,” Awad said, according to The Oklahoman newspaper. “It’s a legal impossibility.”

Awad was joined at the news conference by Chuck Thornton, deputy director of ACLU-Oklahoma; Imad Enchassi, imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City; and Nathaniel Batchelder, director of the Central Oklahoma Human Rights Association.

The local leaders charged Oklahoma politicians used fear-mongering and misinformation to scare citizens into supporting the measure, the Oklahoma paper reported.

Awad asserted the measure conflicts with the U.S. Constitution while Thornton warned it could discourage international investment in Oklahoma.

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