While it remains unclear whether the Council on American‑Islamic Relations will testify, a House Judiciary subcommittee is set to hold a hearing Tuesday examining how CAIR and similar organizations are promoting Sharia law and other efforts in the United State that lawmakers say are “incompatible with Western civilization.”
“Sharia law has no place in the United States, and these hearings are about exposing it, defending the rule of law, and protecting the values that make America strong,” Rep. Chip Roy, R‑Texas, told The Daily Signal.
Roy has previously accused CAIR of having a “30‑year history replete with associating with terrorist groups and individuals who want to undermine the security and values of the U.S. and its allies.”
CAIR has also come under renewed scrutiny following allegations that it supported a controversial housing development in Texas that lawmakers have said would enforce Sharia law. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered CAIR’s Texas chapter to turn over a list of foreign donors, along with documentation of trips one of its officials took to eight Middle Eastern countries before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack.
Roy chairs the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, which will host the hearing titled “Sharia‑Free America: Why Political Islam and Sharia Law Are Incompatible With the U.S. Constitution, Part II.” According to a subcommittee announcement, the hearing will examine “the role organizations like CAIR play in promoting and funding” efforts that conflict with American law and constitutional principles.
The hearing follows a February session in which Roy’s subcommittee examined whether Sharia law is incompatible with Western civilization and the U.S. Constitution.
“In our first hearing this February, we exposed how Sharia law and Islam are being pushed,” Roy told The Daily Signal. “This follow‑up hearing will highlight new incidents unfolding throughout our nation and examine the role organizations like CAIR play in promoting and funding these efforts. Islam is incompatible with Western civilization.”
Roy has also introduced legislation to designate CAIR as a specially designated terrorist organization. He previously told The Daily Signal that the group, which describes itself as a civil‑rights organization, “has harbored ties to terrorist organizations including Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other extremist groups while operating under the guise of a nonprofit and reaping the benefits of 501(c)(3) tax status.”
Last fall, Roy and Rep. Keith Self, R‑Texas, founded the Sharia‑Free America Caucus to oppose efforts to advance Sharia law in the United States. The caucus now includes more than 65 members from both chambers of Congress, representing more than 20 states.
In March, following a wave of deadly attacks carried out by radical Islamists who pledged allegiance to Iran and ISIS, members of the caucus delivered speeches on the House floor condemning radical Islamic ideology.
During his remarks, Roy read from a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood memorandum that he said outlined a strategy of “civilization jihad” against Western nations. The State Department designated certain elements of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations in 2025.
“Their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within,” the memorandum states, according to Roy. “The process of settlement is a civilization jihadist.”
“These attacks, clustered in just a few weeks, show that the enemy is inside the gates,” Self said during his remarks.
“We cannot allow that here in the United States,” he added. “According to Islam, many non‑Muslims like me are regarded as infidels, and those who leave Islam are labeled apostates. Under Islamic law, both are punishable by death.”
CAIR has yet to respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment on if they are willing to testify before Congress. However, the organization pointed out press releases from the group where they designated the Sharia-Free America Caucus as an anti-Muslim hate group.
“This is the first time in CAIR’s 32-year history that the organization has designated a congressional caucus as an extremist organization,” the group wrote.
