(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday directed law enforcement officers to investigate an Islamic Tribunal operating in north Texas that claims to make judicial rulings.
He directed the district attorneys and sheriffs of Collin and Dallas counties, the Office of Attorney General and Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate the tribunal and potentially other entities reportedly enforcing Islamic Sharia law in Texas.
“It has come to my attention that certain entities in Texas – including in Collin and Dallas counties – may be masquerading as legal ‘courts’ staffed with ‘judges’ issuing orders that purportedly carry the authority to bind individuals to Islamic codes, thereby preempting state and federal laws,” Abbott, a former Texas Supreme Court justice and attorney general, said.
He’s directed an investigation into a Dallas-based Islamic Tribunal, which it says was founded to “set a precedence that will be emulated and duplicated throughout the country” to arbitrate legal disputes among Muslims living in the U.S. The tribunal states it exercises jurisdiction over all aspects of life and “no secularism or detachment from the tenets of faith and all Islamic injunctions in regards to the legal field.”
Because American courts are “costly and consist of ineffective lawyers,” it argues Islamic Imams (religious leaders) are better equipped to handle legal disputes, as well as marriage and divorce following Islamic Sharia law.
“Shari’ah is defined in its legal context as law,” the tribunal states. “This comprises of Quran, the Sunnah and Islamic Jurisprudence. As a matter of fact American law is found to be in accordance with a great many of its principles. … Muslims are bound in iman and Islam to have masajid, mahkamas, al-Mahkama al-Shar’iyya or courts to solve the problems.”
When it comes to criminal law, the tribunal’s constitution explains, “Stoning adulterers, cutting of the hands, polyandry and the like (all can be traced in the relevant literature and can be explained in their Islamic legal mentality and rational context in fairness and justice), are mainly a part of Islamic Criminal Law.”
The tribunal claims its imams are authorized to resolve legal disputes “under the approval of the Texas judicial system.” Its “judges” have degrees in Islamic law “approved by a renowned Islamic institution.”
One imams’ degree is from Omdurman Islamic University in Sudan; he says he currently serves as a volunteer chaplain for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Another imam’s degree is from the Shariaa American Open University and Justice Academy in Cairo, Egypt; another’s is from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; another’s is from Istanbul University in Turkey.
The tribunal explains that judges and an “advisor lawyer” make decisions that are “final according to Islamic jurisprudence.” However, a “general disclaimer” on its website states the tribunal is “not a law firm. None of our members are lawyers and they also do not provide legal advice.”
In response, Abbott cites bills he signed into law dating to 2017 to protect women and children in family law disputes, to prohibit foreign laws from being imposed in Texas and several state statutes and sections of the Texas Constitution that prohibit the tribunal’s purported actions.
Under Texas penal code, it is a crime for anyone to “purport to exercise any function of a public servant or of a public office, including that of a judge and court,” Abbott said. No one may be compelled to adhere to Islamic religious “‘courts’ pretending to issue binding, final judgments,” in Texas, he said.
The tribunal “strays far beyond traditional church autonomy and instead masquerades as a rival court in violation of the Texas Penal Code.
“The U.S. Constitution’s religious protections provide no authority for religious courts to skirt state and federal laws simply by donning robes and pronouncing positions inconsistent with western civilization,” Abbott said.
“Legal disputes in Texas must be decided based on American law rooted in the fundamental principles of American due process, not according to Sharia law dispensed in modern day star chambers.”
Abbott issued the directive one day after he declared the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on Islamic Relations foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations. In response, CAIR threatened to sue. In response to that threat, Abbott replied, “That’s great. The lawsuits will open the doors to all of their financial transactions and funding. To all of their dealings and misdeeds. The Attorney General will have a heyday.”
The tribunal has yet to respond but CAIR Wednesdayday blamed Israel for Abbott’s actions, also stating, “Israel’s PR machine helps manufacture anti-Muslim hysteria,” “anti-Sharia panic,” and “blatant Islamaphobia” used as “political tools to dehumanize Muslims and justify state violence.”
CAIR also claims Abbott is an “AIPAC agent,” an “anti-Muslim bigot” and “Israel First politician.” It also claims it doesn’t take money from, and doesn’t serve, any foreign interests.
