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How many states have successfully passed anti-sharia law bills since 2010?
Executive summary
Since 2010, state legislatures have introduced hundreds of bills aimed at restricting foreign or “Sharia” law, but the number of states that have successfully enacted such laws is contested across sources: some reports count about 7–8 states, others say 13–20 states have enacted measures or policies, and still others document 20 laws enacted across 13 states or 20 state legislatures enacting anti-Muslim bills — the variation reflects differing definitions, legal status of measures, and updates to litigation and state actions [1] [2] [3] [4]. The most consistent fact is that many bills were introduced (200–233) and several enacted measures have been legally challenged or struck down, illustrating a contested patchwork rather than a clear nationwide adoption [1] [2] [5].
1. Counting the enactments: Why sources disagree and what each number means
Reports disagree because they use different criteria for what counts as a successful passage: some counts include any statutory measure, resolutions, or executive actions that reference foreign law prohibitions, while others count only laws explicitly naming Sharia or surviving judicial review. One synthesis reports 233 bills introduced and 20 enacted into law across 13 states, which frames enactments as discrete statutory changes enacted by legislatures [1]. Another account counts 201 bills introduced in 43 states and identifies eight states as having enacted anti-Sharia laws, a narrower tally that likely excludes some measures framed as anti-foreign-law or nonbinding actions [3]. A third dataset notes 20 state legislatures enacted anti-Muslim bills into state policy without listing all states, reflecting organizational tracking that may include broader anti-Muslim measures, not strictly Sharia bans [2]. These definitional choices produce divergent totals; the data are consistent that numerous bills were proposed, but fewer became durable, uncontested statutes [1] [3] [2].
2. The legislative wave: Scope of introductions and model legislation drivers
Multiple reviews document a concentrated legislative push beginning in 2010 that produced roughly 200–233 introduced bills across most states, commonly adopting language from model acts such as the “American Laws for American Courts” template promoted by anti-foreign-law advocates. These model drafts intentionally target the application of foreign legal principles in state courts and have been circulated widely, accounting for the rapid proliferation of similar bills in dozens of legislatures [1] [3] [2]. Critics, including bar associations and civil-rights organizations, argue these measures were unnecessary because constitutional protections already prevent the imposition of foreign law that conflicts with rights guaranteed by the Constitution; proponents framed them as clarifying protections for American law [3]. The prevalence of model legislation explains the volume and similarity of introduced bills across states, even where enactments were limited or later overturned [1] [3].
3. Litigation and reversals: Courts reshaped how many laws remain in force
Several enacted measures faced legal challenges that significantly altered the practical count of “successful” anti-Sharia laws. The most salient example is Oklahoma’s 2010 amendment, approved by voters but later struck down by a federal court as unconstitutional for violating the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses; that ruling eliminated a high-profile enactment and signaled vulnerability for similar measures [4] [5]. Other state bans have been limited, reinterpreted, or defeated in court, which means tabulations that count enacted statutes without accounting for litigation overstate the number of durable bans. Legal defeats and injunctions matter as much as legislative votes when assessing how many states effectively operate with enforceable anti-Sharia provisions [4] [5].
4. Who’s behind the push and who’s tracking it: Actors and agendas
The movement to pass anti-Sharia measures has been fueled by conservative legal advocates and organizations such as individuals tied to the American Laws for American Courts model and anti-Muslim groups like those associated with David Yerushalmi, while civil-rights groups and legal organizations such as CAIR and the American Bar Association have tracked and opposed the bills [1] [3] [2]. These opposing agendas influence how data are presented: advocacy groups opposed to the laws emphasize harm and discriminatory intent and therefore compile databases that classify more measures as “anti-Muslim,” while sympathetic trackers may count only narrowly framed, surviving statutes. Understanding these agendas explains why counts and characterizations vary across reports [1] [2].
5. Bottom line: A contested tally and what to watch next
In short, the reliable, defensible conclusions are clear: hundreds of bills were introduced (about 200–233), a smaller set were enacted (estimates range from about 7–20 states depending on definitions), and several enacted measures have been invalidated or limited by courts. The question “how many states have successfully passed anti-Sharia law bills since 2010?” has no single agreed numeric answer in these sources because of definitional differences, litigation outcomes, and evolving state actions; any citation should specify whether it counts enacted statutes, surviving laws after litigation, or broader anti-Muslim policy measures [1] [3] [4]. For clarity, treat widely cited midrange tallies (roughly 7–13 states with enacted laws at various points, and 20 enacted measures reported in some databases) as contingent and subject to legal reversal [1] [2] [4].