Texas Lawmaker Sends Muslim Leaders A ‘Poll’ About Sharia Law

A Republican lawmaker in Texas recently sent out a letter to Muslim faith leaders and student associations that contained a poll about their religious beliefs, including Sharia law, local news outlets reported Thursday.

State Rep. Kyle Biedermann asked recipients of the letter, dated Jan. 11, whether they support three things: Sharia law, persecution of people who leave Islam and designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relation’s Houston chapter told The Houston Chronicle.

At first, a representative for Biedermann deflected The Texas Tribune‘s questions about the letter, pointing to a “homeland security summit” Biedermann is slated to host at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 26 that he said will “thoroughly understand the critical threat of radical Islamic terrorism in Texas.”

The office later sent the Tribune a statement that confirmed any responses to the letter would be used for the summit.

“The poll that went out was paid for with private funds and was sent out to gather responses in advance of my upcoming Homeland Security Summit,” the statement read.

The summit is scheduled to occur just days before Texas Muslim Capitol Day, a biennial event for members of Muslim communities, on Jan. 31. Carroll told the Tribune that the organization would still be moving forward with the event despite how “silly” he found the letter.

“If they really wanted to understand American Muslims, they’d talk directly to us instead of sending these silly polls to test people in some propaganda that you put out there or that you’re getting,” Carroll told the Tribune.

Caroll told the Chronicle that he is advising recipients not to return the poll lest the information be used against them

“I hate to sound trite but some of these things people are throwing out are just really silly,” he told the paper. “I think the whole thing is just a set-up.”