Re: Imam at largest US mosque calls on U.S. to enforce sharia laws against free speech

Back in November 2010, Oklahoma voters utilized a ballot initiative in
an attempt to ban courts in their state from considering and applying
Islamic law. Though such action might seem absurd, 70% of Oklahoma's
voted in its favor. Not surprisingly, Muslim groups wasted no time in
challenging the state's constitutional amendment in court. After a
federal judge issued an injunction against the amendment, state
officials filed an appeal with the 10th Circuit.

Although the Oklahoma law is getting much publicity, a number of other
states have actually considered similar measures. In a recent example,
a Texas state representative proposed an amendment to his state's
constitution that would prevent courts from applying any "religious or
cultural law." (Click here for the story, and here for the text of the
amendment.) The language of this bill would undoubtedly include Jewish
law.

If passed, the Texas law would prevent courts from enforcing a
provision in a will or trust that refers to Jewish law, a shtar heter
iska (a document that ensures compliance with the Torah laws of
usury), or a ketubah (a document that delineates a husband's
obligations to his wife in accordance with halacha). A number of
courts nationwide have in fact ruled on such issues. See, e.g., Gordon
v. Gordon, 332 Mass. 197 (1955) (analyzing a will that disinherited
children marrying outside of the Jewish faith); Bollag v. Dresdner,
495 N.Y.S.2d 560 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct. 1985) (refusing to award interest
because the parties executed a heter iska); Minkin v. Minkin, 180 N.J.
Super. 260 (1981) (specifically enforcing the terms of a ketuba). For
more examples of American courts citing Jewish law as authority, see
Daniel G. Ashburn, Appealing to a Higher Authority?: Jewish Law in
American Judicial Opinions, 71 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 295 (1994).

Thus, a law prohibiting courts from applying religious law would
impair the legal rights of observant Jews and other religious groups.
Can Texas do that? The outcome of the Oklahoma case will likely answer
this question, and so far, it looks like such laws will be viewed as
unconstitutional.

On Sep 17, 3:22 pm, Travis <baconl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> **
>   creeping posted: "via Jihad Watch. David Wood explains: Hassan al-Qazwini
> is the Imam at the Islamic Center of America, the country's largest mosque.
> He is calling on the U.S. government to respond to criticism of Muhammad
> with more than words. But the only way the U.S"     Respond to this post by
> replying above this line
>       New post on *Creeping Sharia*
> <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/>  Imam at largest US
> mosque calls on U.S. to enforce sharia laws against free
> speech<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/imam-at-largest-us-mos...>by
> creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/>
>
> via Jihad Watch. David Wood explains: Hassan al-Qazwini is the Imam at the
> Islamic Center of America, the country's largest mosque. He is calling on
> the U.S. government to respond to criticism of Muhammad with more than
> words. But the only way the U.S. government can issue more than a mere
> verbal response to criticism [...]
>
> Read more of this
> post<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/imam-at-largest-us-mos...>
>  *creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/>* |
> September 17, 2012 at 11:25 AM | Tags: Creeping
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