Keller City Council members ceremonially reaffirmed their commitment to “constitutional governance and equal application of the law” with a resolution originally drafted to reject sharia law, the moral code that guides those who practice Islam.
The seven-member council unanimously approved a resolution Jan. 6 stating that the U.S. and Texas constitutions are “the sole sources of legal authority governing municipal affairs, housing, property rights and dispute resolution within the city.”
The resolution outlaws “parallel legal systems,” stating that Keller will not recognize or enforce foreign, religious or alternative systems.
That legal foundation was already enshrined by the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits religious laws from superseding state or federal laws.
Mayor Armin Mizani said the resolution upholds the right to freedom of religion while barring the creation of separate or insular communities that “seek to replace our shared legal system with cultural or religious rules.”
He directly referenced The Meadow, a planned Muslim-centric residential development in the city of Josephine more than 70 miles northeast of Fort Worth that has faced months of backlash and legal challenges from local residents and state officials. Mizani said the resolution would help prevent attempts to build “such discriminatory compounds in our state.”
“The principle for consideration that’s before us tonight as a council is simple, but it’s also longstanding, which basically says: One U.S. Constitution, one legal system and equal justice under the law,” Mizani said, reading aloud a prepared statement before the council voted to approve the resolution.
Elected as mayor in 2020, Mizani is currently campaigning for a seat in the Texas House and seeking the GOP nomination for that office on the March 3 primary ballot. Last month, he signed a mayoral proclamation stating that Keller rejects sharia law and that “all municipal actions, policies and enforcement shall remain fully aligned” with the Constitution.
Muslim communities and sharia law have become a focus of attention among Texas Republicans at both the state and local level.
In September, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law to ban “sharia compounds” after months of statewide scrutiny over The Meadow, formerly called EPIC City, an acronym for the East Plano Islamic Center leading the project. Developers are seeking to move forward with the project despite also facing a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Also last year, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to criminally investigate two Islamic groups he designated as foreign terrorist organizations and also called for investigations into sharia courts.
The adopted resolution in Keller is declaratory in nature and does not create any new laws, regulations or enforcement authority. City Council members may adopt resolutions, or formal written documents, for nonlegislative actions such as expressing official opinions, adopting policies and other administrative duties.
The council’s approval of the resolution came after about 10 speakers urged members to vote it down, saying its initial wording infringed on the right to freedom of religion.
Farah Janjua, a Keller resident for 17 years, felt disappointed but “not really surprised” after watching the council approve the resolution, especially with recent political attention focused on Islam across the state and the country. She told council members the action would not contribute to public safety but rather promote a culture of targeting neighbors based on their ethnicity or religion.
“It’s not real, whatever they are thinking about us. It’s all untrue, it’s like a boogeyman,” Janjua told the Fort Worth Report after the meeting. “We’re all law-abiding citizens, we hold the Constitution above any other law here in this country, and that’s about it.”
The resolution was previously drafted to reject sharia law, stating that Keller “shall not recognize sharia law, sharia courts or any foreign legal system as a source of civil authority, adjudication or municipal governance.” Moments before the council meeting, city staff informed Report journalists in attendance that officials had revised the resolution, removing explicit mentions of sharia law.
The term “sharia” refers to the values, code of conduct and religious laws used in Islam to guide various aspects of life, according to the Intercultural Networks Group. Derived from interpretations of the Qur’an, sharia provides guidance for Muslims to follow in both spiritual and worldly matters.
“Nothing in this resolution shall be construed to restrict the voluntary practice of religion, private religious counseling or mutually agreed-upon non-binding mediation, provided such practices do not conflict with state or federal law or attempt to supplant civil courts,” the adopted resolution states.
Removing explicit mentions of sharia law gave some peace of mind to Mujeeb Kazi, president of the North Texas Islamic Council, he told the Report after the meeting. Only mentioning Islamic religious laws in the original resolution discriminated against Muslims, he said.
“If you want to pinpoint one particular religion, then I want him to include other religions too,” Kazi said.
Sharia law poses no threat to non-Muslim people, said Mustafaa Carroll, interim executive director of the national advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations. Commonly called CAIR, the group is one of the two Abbott labeled as terrorist groups last year.
“It’s such a nonissue that you can’t even address it,” Carroll said of sharia law.
He explained sharia as “community rules” to guide how Muslim individuals and communities live and interact with the world, rather than a “codified set of rules” that governs Islam. Sharia law also states that Muslim people must follow the laws of the land they live in, Carroll added.
The adopted resolution may not have a tangible impact on Muslims in Keller or Tarrant County, Carroll said, but he expects it to contribute to growing political tension surrounding Islam.
“There’s nothing that they’re doing that has any legitimate weight, but what it does do is it throws a cloud over the Muslim community,” Carroll said. “It creates angst and fear with the non-Muslims.”
Conservative activists and elected officials across Tarrant have decried what they describe as the “Islamization of Texas.”
Bo French, former chairman of the Tarrant County GOP now campaigning for statewide office, generated controversy repeatedly last summer for incendiary rhetoric about Muslim people, including a social media poll asking whether Jewish or Muslim people pose a “bigger threat to America.”
French also called for Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Euless Democrat and the first Muslim person elected to the Texas Legislature, to be denaturalized and deported.
Tarrant GOP leaders last summer adopted a resolution denouncing CAIR and urging elected officials to declare “an invasion of Islamic centers, associations and societies as a dangerous threat to the citizens of Texas and the United States of America and a dangerous threat to our way of life.” Party leaders said at the time the action was unrelated to CAIR’s criticism of French.
Throughout the night Tuesday, speakers opposing the resolution accused Mizani of using it as a “political stunt” to attract attention to his campaign and gain GOP support as the primary election approaches.
Janjua said she fears the long-term repercussions the resolution and other anti-Muslim sentiment will mean for Keller, its reputation and its Muslim residents. The Keller she knows from living there for nearly two decades is not the Keller she sees reflected in recent news coverage, she said.
“Most people are amazing, and they’re very accepting and inclusive,” Janjua said. “I have a lot of faith in our community that we will get through this together and we will stand up for each other.”
As she told council members that night, she’s never felt unwelcome in Keller until now.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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