US Muslim group denounces 'Sharia hoax' congressional hearing

A Muslim American advocacy group sharply rebuked Wednesday a "Sharia hoax" congressional hearing, the second of its sort, that it said is being used to platform "unhinged bigots."

"After their first 'Sharia hoax' hearing failed to gain an audience, the leadership of the Muslim Extermination Caucus is desperate to try again by giving a platform to even more radical, unhinged witnesses," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.

"This hearing is part of a broader political campaign to use American Muslims as a boogeyman to win Republican primaries, distract conservatives who increasingly recognize that the anti-Palestinian lobby has used Islamophobia as a tool to smear and silence American Muslims critical of unconditional U.S. support for Israel's crimes, and normalize the false idea that Muslims are somehow less deserving of constitutional protections than other Americans," it added.

The Sharia-Free America Caucus is a group of about two dozen Republicans who seek to stoke fears over the purported "dangers of Sharia," or Islamic religious law.

Launched by Representatives Keith Self and Chip Roy in Dec. 2025, the group says it seeks to highlight "the importance of this issue to the American people and those they select to represent them."

Wednesday's hearing included anti-Muslim activist Amy Mekelburg, former Border Patrol agent Ammon Blair, a high school student, and religious liberty scholar Amanda Tyler.