Sharia Law Declared in Dearborn, Michigan – Fiction!

Sharia Law Declared in Dearborn, Michigan – Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:  

Dearborn, Michigan, has become the first city to fully implement Sharia Law.

The Truth:

 

This false claim was started by a fake news website.

An article published by the National Report said the city council in Dearborn, a city just west of Detroit, voted to implement all aspects of Sharia Law. According to the report:

The new law could see citizens stoned for adultery or having a limb amputated for theft. Lesser offenses, such as drinking alcohol or abortion, could result in flogging and/or caning. In addition, the law imposes harsh laws with regards to women and allows for child marriage.

Some in town seem to welcome the new legislation while others have denounced the move as “abhorrent”, a threat to freedom and incompatible with the Constitution.  When asked by National Report about the need for such a law, local resident Jeremy Ahmed stated: “It is because of our need that Allah the Almighty, in all his generosity, has created laws for us, so that we can utilize them to obtain justice. We hope to see other cities taking this action in the face of the governments inaction of passing such legislation.”

The story was quickly liked and shared on Facebook more than 200,000 times. But the National Report prides itself on a “gentle” form of satire that “parodies real news in a way that seems almost designed with the specific goal of tricking its readers,” according to its disclaimer.

Dearborn wasn’t chosen at random for this National Report spoof. The city has one of the largest Muslim populations outside the Middle East in the world. Just fewer than 100,000 people live in Dearborn, and about 40,000 of them are Arab Americans. 

TruthorFiction.com has investigated a number of eRumors that targeted Dearborn because of its large Muslim population over the years.