Anti-sharia legislation sought to criminalize all mosque attendance as terrorism

Evidence

The crux of the claim is that the mosque will become a site that breeds terrorism and that the mosque leaders are already tied to terrorist groups and illegal activities that are national security threats. The purpose of the opening statement and expert testimony was to clearly draw a connection between the mosque, the Muslims, and terrorism. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 372 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Fear of Shari‘a law proliferated again in 2011, resulting in a series of bills being introduced in states across the country. Capitalizing on the intense Islamophobia spurred by debate over a possible Muslim community center near Ground Zero, the congressional hearings on “Islamic radicalization” called by Representative Peter King, and the extended war on terror, a number of states introduced legislation that sought to ban Shari‘a law. The proposed bills were not standalone or isolated, but part of a broader movement driven by a partnership between conservative think tanks and politicians, which looked to convert the private Islamophobia saturating the country into structural policies adopted on the state level. The movement to ban Shari‘a law, debated within and carried forward by state legislatures, illustrates how structural Islamophobia also unfolds beyond the federal level and within state governments. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 306 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: U.S. lawmakers framed devout Muslim practice as treasonous grounds for military exclusion — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 285; When believers cannot be visually identified, lawmakers criminalize the religion wholesale.; Anti-sharia bills sought to criminalize mosque attendance by defining Islam as ideology (+10 more)

Related

• Anti-sharia bills sought to criminalize mosque attendance by defining Islam as ideology (similarity 0.91)
• Anti-sharia litigation frames mosques as terrorist-breeding sites to justify exclusion. (similarity 0.89)
• Anti-sharia testimony framed lawful Muslim practice as a seditious, lawless threat (similarity 0.83)
• Anti-Shari’a bills converted private Islamophobia into state structural policy (similarity 0.82)
• Anti-Sharia legislation correlates with a 67 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes. (similarity 0.82)
• When believers cannot be visually identified, lawmakers criminalize the religion wholesale. (similarity 0.82)
• Anti-Sharia legislation spread across 43 states via one network’s fabricated data (similarity 0.80)
• Official rhetoric framing Islam as ideology licensed anti-Muslim suspicion (similarity 0.80)
• Anti-mosque opposition recasts Islam as a political movement to deny First Amendment protection (similarity 0.80)
• The association of Islam with terror was structured into national security laws (similarity 0.79)
• Constitutional violations are deemed acceptable when targeting Islam or Muslims. (similarity 0.79)
• Islam-terror association embedded in national security laws changed Muslims’ experiences (similarity 0.79)
• Anti-sharia proponents define good Muslims as those who practice no Islam at all (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Anti-sharia bills sought to criminalize mosque attendance by defining Islam as ideology #expands (0.95)
• Anti-sharia litigation frames mosques as terrorist-breeding sites to justify exclusion. #responds-to (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 372
• Anti-Shari’a bills converted private Islamophobia into state structural policy #expands (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 306
• Anti-sharia legislation weaponizes real social problems into paranoid fantasy #expands (0.80) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 48
• Routine Muslim religious practice is legally treated as evidence of terrorist predisposition #qualifies (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 463
• Anti-mosque opposition recasts Islam as a political movement to deny First Amendment protection #expands (0.80) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 28
• Terrorist designations function as tools to criminalize Muslim civic participation. #expands (0.80) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 665
• The association of Islam with terror was structured into national security laws #expands (0.75) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 19
• State law enforcement of the presumption that Muslims tie to terrorism constitutes structural Islamophobia #expands (0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 337
• Muslim identity is criminalized by national security policies #expands (0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 874
• Anti-Sharia legislation correlates with a 67 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes. #expands (0.70) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 638