No. North Carolina did not ban sharia law. In 2013, the state enacted a religion-neutral statute that prevents state courts from applying foreign law in certain family law cases when doing so would violate a fundamental constitutional right. The law never mentions Islam, sharia, or any other religion, and it does not criminalize or restrict any religious practice.1AFP Fact Check. North Carolina Did Not Ban the Practice of Islamic Law
What the 2013 Law Actually Does
The statute is codified at Chapter 1, Article 7A of the North Carolina General Statutes, sections 1-87.12 through 1-87.20. It bars courts, administrative agencies, arbitrators, and mediators from applying foreign law or recognizing a foreign judgment in a covered family case if doing so would violate a “fundamental constitutional right” guaranteed by the U.S. or North Carolina constitutions.2North Carolina General Assembly. Chapter 1, Article 7A – Application of Foreign Law
“Foreign law” is defined as any law or legal system operating under the authority of a government other than the United States or its states and territories. That definition sweeps in every country’s legal code; it does not single out religious law and does not name any faith.
The law’s reach is narrow. It applies only to proceedings under Chapters 50 and 50A of the General Statutes — divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, and equitable distribution. Contracts that call for the application of foreign law or designate a foreign venue must be modified to preserve constitutional rights in those family cases, and any contract provision that cannot be modified is declared void.2North Carolina General Assembly. Chapter 1, Article 7A – Application of Foreign Law
The bill was sponsored by Republican Representative Chris Whitmire of Transylvania County under the title “Family, Faith, and Freedom Protection Act of 2013.” Asked whether foreign law had actually caused problems in North Carolina, Whitmire said “not yet,” but claimed there were “at least 27 cases in multiple states where it has,” and said “the most egregious cases have been those concerning custody and divorce.”3WRAL. NC House Approves Foreign Law Bill The foreign-law language was ultimately enacted as Session Law 2013-416 on August 26, 2013, and took effect on September 1, 2013.4UNC School of Government. H 522 Bill Summary
Where the “Sharia Ban” Claim Comes From
A meme circulated widely online claiming North Carolina had banned and criminalized the practice of sharia law. AFP Fact Check rated the claim misleading. The state’s law does not ban any religious practice, and such a ban would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion.1AFP Fact Check. North Carolina Did Not Ban the Practice of Islamic Law
The confusion is not accidental. North Carolina’s statute was part of a national wave of nearly identical bills modeled on “American Laws for American Courts,” drafted by New York attorney David Yerushalmi. Between 2010 and 2012, 92 such bills were introduced in at least 32 states, and 71 used language similar or identical to Yerushalmi’s template.5Pew Research Center. State Legislation Restricting Use of Foreign or Religious Law Supporters described the model as a shield for constitutional rights. Critics, including the Center for American Progress, described the foreign-law framing as a rebrand of earlier, explicitly anti-sharia measures.6Center for American Progress. Foreign Law Bans
The reason the newer bills avoid religious terms traces to Oklahoma. In November 2010, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 755, the “Save Our State Amendment,” which explicitly barred state courts from considering “Sharia Law” or international law, by more than 70 percent of the vote.7ACLU. Muneer Awad v. Paul Ziriax Muneer Awad, then executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, sued. In January 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit unanimously upheld an injunction, finding that the amendment “expressly condemns his religion and exposes him and other Muslims in Oklahoma to disfavored treatment.”8Justia. Awad v. Ziriax, No. 10-6273 A federal court struck down the amendment on remand in August 2013. North Carolina’s bill, drafted after that ruling, used the broader phrase “foreign law.”
The Brennan Center for Justice called the North Carolina bill a response to a “phantom threat,” noting that supporters cited no instance in which foreign law had been used to violate a North Carolinian’s constitutional rights.9Brennan Center for Justice. North Carolina’s Sharia Bill: Hardly Harmless The American Bar Association in 2011 formally denounced blanket bans on foreign law as “inconsistent with some of the core principles and ideals of American jurisprudence.”1AFP Fact Check. North Carolina Did Not Ban the Practice of Islamic Law
What the Law Does Not Do
The statute is often misread as wider than it is. A few boundaries worth knowing:
- It does not ban or criminalize any religious practice, prayer, dress, or worship.
- It does not mention Islam, sharia, Jewish law, canon law, or any other religious tradition.
- It does not apply to criminal cases, commercial disputes, personal injury suits, or any area of law outside Chapters 50 and 50A.2North Carolina General Assembly. Chapter 1, Article 7A – Application of Foreign Law
- It does not forbid a court from considering foreign law. It forbids applying it in a covered family case when the application would violate a fundamental constitutional right.
Who It Can Still Affect
Even without naming a religion, the statute can reach North Carolinians with international ties. The Brennan Center flagged several practical risks:9Brennan Center for Justice. North Carolina’s Sharia Bill: Hardly Harmless
- Courts might refuse to recognize a foreign marriage certificate, which can affect claims to marital assets, alimony, and child custody, as well as tax benefits, immigration status, and medical decision-making authority.
- A refusal to recognize a foreign divorce can block an individual from remarrying in North Carolina.
- Courts may be required to evaluate whether an entire foreign legal system comports with the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions before enforcing a prenuptial agreement or similar cross-border document.
- Determining whether marriages performed under Jewish, Muslim, or other religious traditions pass constitutional muster can pull courts into the kind of religious inquiry they usually avoid.
If you married abroad, divorced abroad, or signed a prenuptial agreement governed by another country’s law, these are the places the statute can touch your case. A North Carolina family law attorney can tell you whether a particular foreign document will be recognized.
Current Status
North Carolina’s foreign law statute remains in effect. It has not been repealed, amended, or successfully challenged in court, and it continues to govern how state courts handle foreign law in family and child custody proceedings.1AFP Fact Check. North Carolina Did Not Ban the Practice of Islamic Law The short answer to the question people keep asking online is unchanged: there is no sharia ban in North Carolina, because there is no religion-specific ban on anything in Article 7A.