Mississippi faith leaders denounce Ag Commissioner Andy Gipson’s comments about Muslims, Sharia ...Middle East

Mississippi faith leaders on Friday denounced recent comments about Muslims made by state Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, a gubernatorial candidate in next year’s elections.

“This reckless and dangerous rhetoric by an elected official and a candidate for governor has no place in our public discourse,” said Rhoda Yoder of Open Door Mennonite Church, on behalf of Working Together Jackson and Working Together Mississippi, two groups that organized the event.

The groups invited Gipson to meet with them for “an open and honest dialogue.”

The recent appointment of attorney Assma Ali as municipal judge by the small Mississippi Delta town of Benoit drew social media backlash from internet trolls and a few Mississippi politicians, and even reportedly some threats, because she is Muslim. Her appointment prompted Republican Gipson, a former longtime state lawmaker, to renew his vows to ban “Sharia law and the influence of Islam” if he’s elected governor, even though use of Sharia law in Mississippi courts was already banned by the Legislature in 2015 when Gipson was a lawmaker.

Leaders from several faith communities gathered at the International Museum of Muslim Culture in downtown Jackson on Friday in response to a social media post Gipson made about the museum and invited Gipson to meet with them.

Gipson has made several social media posts about Islam and Sharia law in recent days, including: “If you are among those who think Sharia law is ‘not an issue in Mississippi,’ you’d better think again. You see what’s happening in Dearborn, Michigan. But did you know that in our own capital city, in Mississippi, there is a center for Muslim Culture at the Planetarium in Jackson?”

The organizations said that one commenter on Gipson’s post called for the museum to be burned down. They said they have historically felt safe in Mississippi but that this has prompted them to take extra security precautions.

Many people and groups have criticized comments by Gipson and others and have come out in support of Ali, saying the U.S. native is a qualified and upstanding member of Mississippi’s legal community. Ali has vowed to uphold the U.S. Constitution and Mississippi law in her role as a city judge, mainly handling traffic violations, misdemeanors and other minor legal issues.

This week, Benoit officials defended Ali and their decision to appoint her as city judge.

“Religion is not listed as a qualification for service as a Municipal Court Judge in the State of Mississippi. Being Muslim is not a lawful basis for denying or terminating the appointment,” the mayor and board wrote, “We are pleased to have her.”

The groups that held the Friday event are nonpartisan civic engagement organizations made of nonprofits, churches and other religious institutions from across Jackson and the state. 

In a social media post, Gipson said that on day one if he’s elected governor he would ban Sharia law and Islam’s influence in Mississippi. But the Mississippi Legislature already banned Sharia law in 2015, when Gipson was a member of the state House. He voted in favor of the law that outlaws enforcement of any “foreign law” in Mississippi, which at the time was billed as being an anti-Sharia law measure.

“Sharia law, it’s like the law of Moses. Like the Ten Commandments. It’s just about the laws that govern a just, upright community of people,” said Okolo Rashid, one of the museum’s founders.

In a post, Gipson also included a photo of the museum, which says that it is America’s first Muslim museum, that featured Rashid at an exhibit on the shared heritage of Muslims, Christians and Jews. The museum opened in 2001 and is dedicated to educating the American public on Islamic history, art, and culture.

“I want to invite Commissoner Gipson to come sit down with us so we can share with him what the museum has to offer,” Rashid said.

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