Lawmakers distinguished individual Muslims from Islam itself as the incompatibility target

Evidence

But what is required of Muslims upon whom demands for assimilation are made when the problem is Islam? That is to say, how can one become an assimilated Muslim when the very thing that makes one a Muslim is rendered the problem to be excised from the person? … At one end, assimilation translates to the public adherence to American norms of a private religious belief; that is to say, a public secularism with religion to be practiced in the private sphere. At the other end, assimilation requires Muslims to shed Islam altogether. For those like the significant number of lawmakers who have made Islam the problem, nothing short of leaving Islam is acceptable. The space for a public role for non-Christian religions is vanishingly small, if there is one at all. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 296 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In sum, the problem is that it is impossible for Muslims as Muslims to assimilate into a culture and a political community that has defined itself in opposition to Islam. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 311 (#complicates, via linked claim)

I take at face value a person’s or community’s identification as Muslim while acknowledging that non-Muslims, such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Arab Christians, are mistaken for Muslims based on stereotypes portrayed in the media and public discourse. While there is a robust literature on what constitutes religion, my analysis accepts Islam as a religion for purposes of examining the limitations of normative and legal protections of religious freedom in the United States. My analysis is based on ascriptive definitions of what constitutes Islam and Muslim identity. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 123 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Some lawmakers equated devout Muslim practice with waging war on the United States; Muslims cannot assimilate into a polity defined against Islam itself — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 311; U.S. lawmakers framed devout Muslim practice as treasonous grounds for military exclusion — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 285 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Demands to assimilate Muslims logically require excising Islam itself #complicates (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 296
• Muslims cannot assimilate into a polity defined against Islam itself #complicates (0.82) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 311
• Ascriptive identity, not theological criteria, determines who gets targeted by anti-Muslim discrimination. #complicates (0.80) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 123
• U.S. lawmakers framed devout Muslim practice as treasonous grounds for military exclusion #exemplifies (0.78) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 285
• Religious objections to Muslim politicians in Congress rhetorically reframed as immigration and values threats #exemplifies (0.76) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 813
• Anti-sharia legislation aimed to recategorize Islam from religion to political ideology #expands (0.74) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 284
• Religious claims overstated the unity of religion and politics in Islam #qualifies (0.72) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 294
• Anti-Muslim discrimination can target ideology and affiliation rather than phenotype #qualifies (0.71)