As Texas Republicans target Islam, a once-quiet Muslim community fights back

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — Inshira Daher waited hours to speak at a June Texas State Board of Education meeting. When her turn finally came around 7 p.m., the social studies teacher of 15 years was direct. “These children cannot yet distinguish a fact from an opinion,” she told the board. “And yet here we are prioritizing politically charged content over the fundamentals.”

Daher, who is Muslim, was one of nearly 500 people who came to the Austin meeting to weigh in on a proposed social studies curriculum that would introduce Bible readings into classrooms and teach Islam through the lens of fundamentalism and medieval conquest.

Outside the hearing room, the day’s battle lines were already visible: In one overflow room, women in hijabs and many interfaith organizers strategized; in another, attendees clutched Bibles, some wearing hats that read “No Sharia allowed!”

That sentiment found perhaps its most direct expression from Tony Robertson, a local Republican party leader, who pleaded with the board: “Please do not Shariah our Texas” — warning, without evidence, that rejecting the curriculum would ultimately open the door to Islamic law replacing the U.S. Constitution.

The…