A Mississippi lawmaker wants to keep Sharia law out of the state.
The measure refers to blocking any foreign laws from being enforced or applied in the state and country. But Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, made clear Sharia law is his biggest concern.
More than a dozen states have considered similar bans on the laws followed in some Muslim nations that tend to place women in subservient roles.
Moore said a Muslim defendant could try to use Sharia law as a defense against a U.S. criminal case.
“Do you really believe that is a threat in the state of Mississippi?” 16 WAPT’s Scott Simmons asked.
“I think that is all a threat all over the country and if there is a potential, we need to go ahead and put in the code because should it happen, we would have to go with the ruling of a court,” Moore said.
“We are talking about in a court of law everybody must obey, the laws of the land, and that is what is inside that Sharia law -- that you must obey the laws of the land,” said Muhammad Abdur-Rahman, of the International Museum of Muslim Cultures.”
Abdur-Rahman argued that Sharia law is misunderstood. It is actually a strict moral code, he said.