Muslim rallies were held in a number of US cities yesterday. These marches were reportedly the first simultaneous rallies of their kind in the US. Muslim leaders in the US and around the world are obviously concerned about such rallies, especially amid a jump in anti-Muslim incidents in the US, including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing hijabs and bullying of Muslim school children. In one recent incident, a man appeared outside a mosque at the Eugene Islamic Center in the US state of Oregon and threatened to kill Muslims. Two weeks later, an assailant stabbed two men to death and wounded a third on a commuter train in Portland, Oregon's largest city. The victims were trying to protect two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab, as the man shouted anti-Islamic slurs. Muslim leaders consider the Portland and Eugene incidents, and other recent anti-Muslim crimes in America, part of an alarming trend that came to the forefront in last year›s presidential election with far-right activists portraying Islam — and all Muslims — as a threat. The organizing group ACT for America says Saturday's events were not about bigotry but about protecting women and children from Shariah law. With 500,000 members and more than 1,000 chapters around the country, ACT for America is an organization founded by Hanah Kahwagi, who goes by the alias of Brigitte Gabriel, and who has preached that practicing Muslims "cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America". It claims its anti-Muslim rallies, intentionally scheduled for Ramadan, are actually anti-Shariah rallies. But the difference is difficult to spot. The reality is that Shariah law will never become law in the US. There are no American Muslims trying to replace the American system of laws with laws based on Shariah. Secondly, Shariah could never become law in the US because of the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution that establishes that the Constitution constitutes the supreme law of the land. In reality some of the only people in the US advocating for laws based on religion are conservative Christians: Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's call to "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards" and another candidate, Rick Santorum, declaring in 2012 while running for president that "our civil laws have to comport with a higher law: God›s law". Some mosques are bulking up their security because of such protests. Besides installing stronger locks, the mosque in Eugene is raising funds to erect a fence around it and possibly hire a security guard for Friday prayers, when the number of worshippers increase. US President Donald Trump condemned the Portland attack on Twitter. In addition, many other groups who embrace American values and reject hate plan counter rallies. Organizations across the country are preparing to stand side by side with their Muslim neighbors and friends. But as ACT plans hateful rallies across the country, a presidential tweet, padlocks and a bit of community support are not enough. To dismiss ACT as nothing more than hateful bigots on the fringes of society would be making a mistake. ACT for America is the nation's largest anti-Muslim hate group. Its agenda promotes a distorted, twisted view of Islam, much like Islamist extremists. It is determined to demonize Muslims. It must be countered by an agenda that continues to hammer the point home that the vast majority of Muslims in the US and abroad are hardworking and law abiding and that the violent among them are the exception.
