No, Dearborn, Michigan, is not under sharia law. The claim is baseless and originates from misinformation about its population, the majority of whom are Arab and about half of the population is Muslim. It perhaps stems from discomfort over the visibility of Islam and Arabic language in the city, including the presence of mosques, residents’ and private businesses’ decorations for Ramadan and Ashura, and the number of women who choose to wear hijab (although many Muslim women also choose not to wear it). In fact, the city has more churches than it does mosques, many of its residents and private businesses decorate for Christmas, and stores selling liquor and pork (which are forbidden in Islam as haram) are easily found. Muslims in Dearborn, many of whom were born in the United States and are from families that have held American citizenship for multiple generations, are politically diverse and lean liberal. A large number of them, including its first Muslim mayor Abdullah Hammoud, are socially progressive, actively advocating for women’s rights, the LGBTQ community, and other social freedoms.
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