The sponsors of a bill in the Tennessee legislature aimed at organisations that practise Shari’ah law are rewriting the measure to remove all references to religion. State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, said Tuesday they are amending a bill they introduced last month that they said would combat terrorism.
The new version removes language that described Shari’ah – the Islamic legal codes that cover everything from the rules of warfare to prayer and diet – as advocating violence and a threat to the United States and Tennessee constitutions. The change makes clear that peaceful religious practices would not be considered a violation, the bill’s sponsors said in a statement.
“It is about protecting our citizens from those who would use religious doctrine as a justification to commit criminal activities or terrorist acts,” Matheny said.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based Muslim civil rights organisation, questioned the need for a state law that empowers Tennessee authorities to combat terrorism. Nonetheless, he said the amendment is an improvement. “I think it’s a victory for common sense and legislative restraint,” Hooper said. “This is a win for Tennessee’s Muslim community.”