How have views on Sharia among US Muslims changed since 2017?

1. Sharia means many things to many American Muslims — and surveys show that matters

Pew’s work and related overviews stress that “sharia” is understood in multiple ways: for many Muslims it is a broad moral and legal tradition rather than a single penal code, and religious commitment affects how strictly people interpret it; that plurality is central to interpreting any change in opinion among U.S. Muslims ^{[1] [5]}. Academic reporting argues that most Muslims practice forms of Islamic law that govern personal and family life and that public fears often mischaracterize those lived practices ^[2].

2. No clear post‑2017 pivot point in the peer‑reviewed or major‑survey record

The sources supplied do not contain a dedicated longitudinal dataset comparing U.S. Muslim views on sharia before and after 2017 that shows a definitive directional shift; Pew’s foundational analyses and appendices describe diversity and correlates of belief but are framed as cross‑sectional snapshots rather than a time series documenting change since 2017 ^{[1] [5]}. Therefore assertions that U.S. Muslim views “have changed” in a specific numeric way since 2017 are not supported by the documents provided (not found in current reporting).

3. Political context since 2017 magnified the public controversy over sharia

Anti‑sharia and anti‑Muslim activism—exemplified by groups like ACT for America and state-level attempts to limit “foreign law”—crystallized attention on sharia during and after 2017; those campaigns frame sharia as incompatible with Western democracy and have driven legislative and media fights even where legal bans were often overstated ^{[3] [6]}. Reporting and policy briefs show that political actors have used fears about sharia to mobilize support and shape public debate, regardless of how most Muslims understand their religious law ^{[3] [7]}.

4. Surveys from outside the U.S. highlight global support but don’t map neatly onto American Muslims

Large international surveys find substantial majorities in many Muslim‑majority countries favor an official role for sharia in state law, but those findings cannot be directly transposed to the U.S. Muslim population because context and legal systems differ; international results underscore the global complexity around what “sharia” denotes but do not substitute for U.S. polling ^{[8] [5] [9]}. Several sources caution that support for “sharia” often reflects desires for family‑law adjudication or moral guidance rather than endorsement of harsh criminal punishments ^{[10] [5]}.

5. Competing narratives: alarmist polls vs. scholarly nuance

Some organizations and commentators have produced alarming summaries—claiming majorities of U.S. Muslims favor governance by sharia or “Sharia courts”—but fact‑checkers and scholars have repeatedly contested those interpretations or the methodology behind them ^{[11] [6]}. Anthropological and academic accounts counter that many fears are rooted in misunderstanding and that most Muslim practice of Islamic law is compatible with pluralistic civic life ^{[2] [4]}.

6. What the available sources recommend for readers and policymakers

The documents imply two practical steps: first, avoid treating “sharia” as a monolith—polls and studies repeatedly point to wide variety in belief and practice among Muslims ^{[1] [2]}. Second, scrutinize the provenance and framing of any poll or political claim about “bans” on sharia or sudden opinion shifts; several sources note that state legal actions and viral claims have exaggerated the extent and meaning of sharia bans or popular support ^{[6] [3]}.

Limitations: the supplied sources do not include a dedicated longitudinal U.S. Muslim panel study or post‑2017 Pew trend analysis that isolates change in attitudes in the U.S. over time, so definitive statements about directional change since 2017 cannot be supported here (not found in current reporting).