Updated October 30, 2026
American Islam is an opinion-and-analysis series from Upward News, written by Josh Bontrager, with Ariel David co-writing Part 2. Its essays argue that “Sharia supremacism,” a strict, legalistic reading of Islamic law the series ties most closely to the Muslim Brotherhood, is gaining ground in the United States and clashes with the Constitution. An editor's note on Part 3 says the subject is Islamism, “militant, extremist Islam,” not “ordinary Islam or ordinary Muslims,” and Part 1 acknowledges that many Muslim immigrants have assimilated. Part 1 explains Sharia and the Brotherhood's history, Part 2 examines what the authors call the Red-Green Axis, and Part 3 focuses on Michigan. Upward's editors have made the series free to read.
By Josh Bontrager · June 1, 2026
The opening essay explains what Sharia is and how its interpretations differ, then contrasts reformist and Sufi readings with what the author calls “Sharia supremacism,” which the essay attributes most prominently to the Muslim Brotherhood. It traces that version's rise from Hassan al-Banna's founding of the Brotherhood in 1928, through Gulf-funded “Petro-Islam,” to American institutions the essay links to the Brotherhood, and argues that this supremacist version is incompatible with the Constitution. It closes on growing pushback, including the Sharia Free America Caucus in Congress, and argues that the movement's triumph “is not inevitable.”
By Ariel David and Josh Bontrager · June 17, 2026
The second essay describes what it calls the “Red-Green Axis,” an alliance the authors say joins the Democratic Party's most radical activist networks with political Islamist groups they connect to the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR, pointing to Zohran Mamdani's election as New York City mayor. It traces the alliance's roots through the Brotherhood's ties to Nazi Germany, Soviet support for Palestinian groups described by intelligence defectors, and US policy under Presidents Obama and Biden, then examines its work today in politics, education, law and religion. It argues that America is following Britain's path about a decade behind, and proposes steps the authors say could change course.
By Josh Bontrager · July 27, 2026
The third essay turns to Michigan, which it says is home to roughly 250,000 Muslims, as a case study for the rest of the country. It traces Muslim immigration to the Detroit area from Henry Ford's factories onward, and documents terror plots and statements by local clerics and activists that the author says amount to incitement. It then examines Hamtramck's all-Muslim city council, free-speech disputes in Dearborn, and the growing political power the essay attributes to an Islamist and far-left alliance, including Abdul El-Sayed's campaign for the US Senate.
Abdul El-Sayed Denies Any Ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Here’s the Evidence. — After the Michigan Democratic Senate candidate twice denied on Meet the Press that his family had ties to the Brotherhood, posts by his half-sister surfaced saying “My family has long been MB”; he later disavowed the group.
Lawmakers Push HHS to Probe CAIR Over Terror Ties — Members of Congress led by Rep. Chip Roy asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to investigate CAIR and other Islamic groups over alleged grant abuse and terrorism ties.
A Big Night for Islamo-Leftism — Upward argues that El-Sayed's Senate nomination and a string of socialist primary wins show that the growing Islamization of Michigan described in Part 3 is “in full swing.”
What Tucker Carlson Gets Wrong About Islam — Series author Josh Bontrager argues that Carlson distorts the record on Islam in four ways, from the Ottomans' treatment of Christians to whether jihad is a “psyop.”
Republicans Bring Sharia Law Fight to Congress — Upward reported on the new Sharia-Free America Caucus of Republican lawmakers, which proposed legislation to ban Sharia-based institutions, and a February 2026 House hearing on Sharia.
Congress Surrenders on the Muslim Brotherhood Bill — The House Foreign Affairs Committee watered down a bill to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, a change reportedly made under pressure from the Trump administration.
Europe’s Islamic Takeover is America’s Blueprint — Upward argues that Britain's unofficial Sharia courts and Europe's fast-growing Muslim population show where the United States may be headed.
Terrorist-Linked Trust Owns Hundreds of US Mosques — An investigation Upward cited found that the North American Islamic Trust, named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case, controls deeds to more than 400 mosques and Islamic institutions.
In Part 2 of the series, Ariel David and Josh Bontrager use the term for an alliance between the “Reds” of historic Marxism and the “Greens” of Islamic national flags: the Democratic Party's most radical activist networks working with political Islamist groups the authors connect to the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR. They argue the two sides share enemies and tactics, including anti-Americanism, hostility to Israel and gradual “cultural conquest” of institutions, while disagreeing on the end goal of a global caliphate or worldwide socialism. The essay cites the 1979 Iranian revolution, after which, it says, Islamists executed tens of thousands of the militant leftists who had helped topple the Shah, as a warning to the American left.
As Part 1 explains, “Sharia” is Arabic for “the correct path.” It is drawn mainly from the Quran and the Sunnah, the sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, along with the consensus of Muslim legal scholars. The essay notes that the major schools of Islamic jurisprudence differ, and that reformist voices and Sufi scholars describe Sharia as personal spiritual guidance or a call to inward transformation. The series' concern is what it calls “Sharia supremacism,” a strict, legalistic reading it attributes most prominently to the Muslim Brotherhood, which it argues places the sovereignty of Allah over all Western constitutions.
Part 3 calls Michigan “a crucial battleground.” The essay says the state is home to roughly 250,000 Muslims, nearly 3 percent of its population, and that Muslims make up more than half of residents in Hamtramck and Dearborn. It argues that the Detroit area's surge in mosques, Islamic governance and what it calls “Sharia-dominated enclaves” illustrates the Muslim Brotherhood's “blueprint for the rest of America,” and that Muslim voters there can sway statewide and national races. An editor's note with the essay calls Michigan “an important case study” because “what's happening there won't stay contained to one state.”
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