In a statement<\/a> posted to multiple social media platforms earlier this month, Cassel\u2019s description of the legislation was diametrically opposed to Winer\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a Jewish woman, I know exactly what\u2019s at stake when hatred and extremism are allowed to creep into our society,\u201d Cassel wrote. \u201cThis bill is not a reaction \u2014 it is prevention. This legislation ensures that sharia law and any foreign legal codes that contradict our Constitution will be dead on arrival in this state. They won\u2019t get a foothold, a platform, or a second of legitimacy in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharia law<\/p>\n Sharia law isn\u2019t a thing that is \u201claw\u201d the way many non-Muslims in the U.S. may believe, said Junaid Akther, president of the Baitul Mukarram mosque west of Lake Worth Beach. It\u2019s more a set of principles that guide people in their lives, he said.<\/p>\n The Baitul Mukarram mosque has a congregation of 400 to 500 people, most of whom are Bangladeshi Americans. Akther has lived in Palm Beach County\u00a0 \u2014 in what he calls \u201cthe best country in the world\u201d \u2014 since 1984.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no such thing per se that is sharia law,\u201d Atker said. Applying the principles of sharia would encourage Muslims to follow the laws of Florida or wherever they live, he said. \u201cThis is a term used to structure the thought process. Sharia law is to obey the law of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n The Council on Foreign Relations, the prominent nonpartisan policy and research organization, explains that sharia<\/a>, which means the \u201ccorrect path\u201d in Arabic, is based on the Quran and teachings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed.<\/p>\n Most Muslim-majority countries have laws that reference sharia, CFR reports, with restrictions on lives of women and minority groups that draw intense attention and criticism in Western countries.<\/p>\n Islamic law, which CFR said is based on interpretations of sharia, can in some cases \u201csignificantly restrict women\u2019s rights\u201d and call for death for same-sex behavior. \u201cFor certain crimes, such as theft, blasphemy, and adultery, traditional interpretations of Islamic law prescribe punishments that are considered draconian compared with those in most modern legal systems\u2026 includ(ing) stoning, lashing, and amputation.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharia law is not used in civil or criminal law in the United States, and legal scholars have said it couldn\u2019t be because it would violate the Constitution, Winer said.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody\u2019s proposing\u201d sharia law in Florida or the U.S, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just an absurd thing, which is nothing but an Islamophobic, anti-Muslim thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Legislation<\/p>\n About 15 years ago, many states considered, and some passed, laws to ban \u201cany foreign law, legal code or legal system\u201d that doesn\u2019t grant the same rights and privileges as state and U.S. constitutions.<\/p>\n Since 2010, 233 anti-sharia bills have been introduced in legislatures, and 20 have been enacted into law in 13 states, according to a 2024 article in Human Rights Magazine published by the Civil Rights and Social Justice Section of the American Bar Association.<\/p>\n Not all the laws specifically mentioned sharia. Describing a continuation of \u201cthe anti-sharia movement,\u201d an article in the Harvard Law School\u2019s Journal of Islamic Law<\/a> cited a 2017 Florida law that \u201cprevents courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign laws if they conflict with Florida\u2019s \u2018strong public policy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Cassel\u2019s legislation, introduced for the 2026 session, calls it the \u201cNo Sharia Act\u201d and declares \u201ccertain rulings, decisions, or contractual provisions are void & unenforceable\u201d if they \u201callow application of sharia or certain foreign laws, legal codes, or systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Political landscape<\/p>\n There is a political subtext. The specter of sharia law has been used at times to appeal to anti-Muslim worries of some voters. About 1% of adults in Florida and the U.S. identify as Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center\u2019s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study<\/a>. Pew found 3% of Florida adults and 2% nationally are Jewish.<\/p>\n The Florida House of Representatives district Cassel represents \u2014 all or parts of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach and Hollywood \u2014 includes neighborhoods that are home to many Jewish voters.<\/p>\n Cassel was twice elected to the Florida House as a Democrat, but switched her party affiliation<\/a> and became a Republican weeks after the 2024 election. The registered voters in her 101st House District are 36.8% Democratic, 33.7% no party affiliation\/independent, 26.9% Republican and 2.6% minor parties.<\/p>\n But voting in the district is becoming more Republican, according to an analysis<\/a> of presidential results by Democratic data analyst Matthew Isbell. In 2012 and 2016, the territory in the district was \u201csolidly blue.\u201d In 2020, former President Joe Biden won it with 56.7% of the vote. In 2024, President Donald Trump won it with 50.6% of the vote.<\/p>\n Isbell\u2019s analysis noted the darkest red (meaning heavily for Trump) precinct in a map of the 2024 results was \u201chome to a sizable Orthodox Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassel wasn\u2019t immediately embraced by everyone in the Republican Party. Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, questioned the sincerity<\/a> of her party switch. \u201cThey brought into the party a liberal Democrat from down in South Florida. She switches parties to be Republican even though she\u2019s very, very liberal and opposed us on everything for six years,\u201d DeSantis said in April.<\/p>\n
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State Rep. Debra Tendrich of Palm Beach County is the only Democrat to cosponsor a measure introduced for the 2026 legislative session to preclude sharia law in the state. (Florida Channel\/courtesy)