Oklahoma asked to bar sharia

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VOTERS in Oklahoma will today be asked whether there should be a constitutional amendment outlawing Islamic law, or sharia.

Supporters of the initiative acknowledge that they do not know of a single case of sharia being used in Oklahoma, which has only 15,000 Muslims.

''Oklahoma does not have that problem yet,'' said Rex Duncan, the Republican state representative and author of the ballot measure, who says supporters in more than a dozen states are ready to place similar initiatives before voters in 2012. ''But why wait until it's in the courts?''

Advertisement: Story continues below Some conservative activists contend that the US is at risk of falling under Islamic law. They point to Europe, with its larger Muslim population and various accommodations with sharia.

In Britain, Muslims can enter special sharia courts to decide divorce and custody cases if both parties agree. Criminal and other civil cases are still heard in secular courts.

In the US, those who warn of the dangers of sharia can point to only a handful of cases that merely allude to the centuries-old, complex tangle of Muslim religious law. In none of the cases cited has any US court held that sharia is the law of the land.

Islamic groups say the Oklahoma initiative, which was placed on the ballot by the legislature, is nothing more than an effort to stigmatise their religion in order to whip up votes.

''There's no threat of sharia law coming to Oklahoma and America, period,'' said Saad Mohammed of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City. ''It's just a scare tactic.''

Los Angeles Times