WATCH: El-Sayed Makes Bizarre Comparison When Pressed On Sharia Law

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed compared Sharia Law to Canon Law when he was pressed by Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday night on a past eyebrow-raising statement about America’s opposition to Sharia.

During an interview on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” El-Sayed, a Muslim, was confronted with a statement he made in 2022 when he argued that white supremacist forces are behind the effort to prevent Sharia Law from being implemented in America.

“So getting rid of Sharia Law is white supremacy? Can you explain that one?” Watters asked.

El-Sayed replied with his own question, “Do you know what Canon Law is, Jesse? I assume you’re a Christian, right? So Canon Law is the name for Christian law. I don’t begrudge you and your right to practice your faith as you choose. I don’t know why the idea that I could practice my faith that I choose is a problem.”

“Nobody is trying to push Sharia Law on anyone else. Just like I hope nobody is trying to push Canon Law on anybody else because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of religion,” El-Sayed added.

El-Sayed’s comparison doesn’t quite match up. Canon Law is the Christian system of rules and practices set up for leaders and members within a specific church. Sharia Law, meanwhile, encompasses rituals practiced within the Muslim faith while also setting up rules for legal systems and public practices.

Extremist Muslim nations, including Iran and Afghanistan, are completely under Sharia Law for their governmental systems. The implementation of Sharia Law in these Middle East countries has led to numerous human rights violations and extreme punishments for so-called lawbreakers, which typically target and oppress women, Christians, and people who identify as LGBT.

In many Muslim-majority nations around the world, Sharia Law is incorporated into public life and used as the basis in civil law — such as for marriage and divorce — while the government adheres to more Western principles.

During his interview with Watters, El-Sayed slammed efforts to ban Sharia Law from being implemented in U.S. legal systems, calling out one bill proposed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). El-Sayed said that such efforts are “deliberately targeting the Muslim community because they’re different,” adding, “As if somehow Muslims are out here trying to push Sharia Law.”

“I would never want someone to push their faith on me, and I would never push my faith on somebody else,” he added. “When people preemptively go out there and start preemptively passing laws to ban something that’s not happening, what you’re trying to do is target a very small community because they’re different.”

Watters shot back, saying, “Sharia Law in Michigan is kind of scary. People don’t go for that. You know, it’s like men and women [aren’t equal], it’s like physical punishments. People don’t like that in Michigan. I’m just saying I don’t think that’s a good position.”

“Nobody is pushing it,” El-Sayed said. “You know what the issue is in Michigan. The issue that people are worried about is not that someone is going to come and put Sharia Law on them. The issue in Michigan is people are worried about how they’re going to afford their gas. The issue in Michigan is how am I going to see a doctor when I get sick? How am I going to keep my job?”

In a 2009 interview with The New York Times, El-Sayed said that he had dedicated his life to Sharia Law. In the interview, he was asked about buying his first home, and he said that he had chosen a Sharia-compliant mortgage that avoided interest, which Islamic law prohibits.

“Ultimately, the question is, when I die and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way. Not because of fear but because of obligation,” he said.