(11/26/2025) As Florida Rep. Hillary Cassel’s proposed ban on Shari’a law heads toward committee hearings in the 2026 legislative session, criticism is mounting — and the bill’s sponsor appears to be enjoying every minute of it.

In a podcast appearance, as reported by the Sun Sentinel, Cassel agreed with a host who described the upcoming legislative hearings on her “No Shari’a Act” as something that would be “fun.” For the Muslim families, students, and community organizations who see the bill as a direct attack on their constitutional rights, the characterization landed differently.

Cassel, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in December 2024 — citing the Democrats’ failure to support Israel — filed House Bill 119 on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack. She explicitly framed it as an act of solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people.

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman has come out forcefully against the measure, calling it a political stunt rooted in fear and intolerance. Critics writing to the Sun Sentinel have been equally blunt.

Chad Klitzman, president of the Broward County Democratic Party Jewish Caucus, wrote to the Sun Sentinel praising Berman’s opposition. “This bill is rooted in fear and misunderstanding,” he wrote. “It unfairly targets the Muslim community and divides us at a time when unity is more essential than ever.” He called the legislation “not only unnecessary but hypocritical,” noting that it “claims to protect Floridians’ freedoms while it undermines the very constitutional rights it purports to defend.”

Another critic, writing to the Sun Sentinel, made a pointed observation: if Cassel truly believed foreign religious legal codes threatened American governance, she would propose banning all religious law from influencing state decisions — including Judeo-Christian law. The selective targeting of Islam alone reveals the bill’s true purpose.

The criticism highlights a pattern that runs through the bill and its sponsors. Cassel, who is Jewish, switched parties over Israel and filed the legislation on the October 7 anniversary. The bill’s sole Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Debra Tendrich of Lake Worth, is also Jewish and has been vocal about her support for Israel, telling reporters she has been personally targeted for her Jewish heritage since October 7. The bill’s connection to the Israel-Gaza conflict is not incidental — it is, by its sponsors’ own words, the driving force.

That raises a fundamental question about what this legislation actually represents. Florida’s estimated 500,000 Muslim residents had nothing to do with the Hamas attacks. Yet this bill, filed on that anniversary and framed explicitly as a response to October 7, targets their faith — their religious and ethical traditions — for prohibition. Critics argue this amounts to collective punishment: an entire community being legislated against for the actions of a group thousands of miles away.

Shari’a — which translates from Arabic as “the path” or “the way” — is a religious and ethical code rooted in the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Much like Halakha in Judaism, Shari’a guides Muslims in everyday life, including matters of prayer, charity, dietary practices, inheritance, and personal conduct. Its interpretations vary widely across cultures and schools of thought. There is no documented case of Shari’a law being applied or enforced in any Florida court. The bill addresses a problem that does not exist — unless the problem was always the presence of Muslims themselves.

Meanwhile, the broader anti-Muslim legislative effort in Florida continues to accelerate. Attorney General James Uthmeier and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson have called for stripping voucher funding from Islamic schools while defending billions in public money flowing to Christian campuses. Rep. Chase Tramont has filed legislation to ban the term “West Bank” from state documents and require “Judea and Samaria” instead.

The 2026 session begins January 13. For Cassel, the hearings may be fun. For Florida’s half a million Muslim residents watching their faith singled out by their own government, the stakes are something else entirely.