In Virginia, You Must Love Islam — Or Else
Robert Spencer | 11:00 AM on February 05, 2026
In one sense, Saddam Azlan Salim is a classic immigrant success story. Born in Bangladesh, he grew up in northern Virginia and quickly demonstrated an aptitude for the political rough-and-tumble of his adoptive land. Now he is 36 years old, a Virginia state senator, and a rising star in that state’s now-dominant Democrat Party establishment. In another sense, however, Saddam Azlan Salim clearly retains at least some of the sensibilities of the land of his birth, and he wants to bring them to his new land: He has just introduced a bill to criminalize “Islamophobia” in Virginia.
In Bangladesh, criticizing Islam can get you a swift death sentence. Saddam Salim’s Virginia version of Islam’s blasphemy law is much milder. Fox News reported Tuesday that the ambitious young solon’s bill “would define ‘Islamophobia’ ‘as it relates to the crime of assault and battery as malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward Islam or Muslims.’”
This bill is a classic example of the proverbial camel getting his nose under the tent. At first glance, it appears to be crystalline common sense, and something that no one could possibly oppose. After all, no sane person is in favor of assault and battery of any innocent person. To come out against Saddam Azlan Salim’s bill would appear to be tantamount to saying that assault and battery is just fine. Salim is no doubt banking on his colleagues coming to exactly that conclusion and believing that they have no choice but to pass his bill.
Still, there are problems. All “hate crime” laws are problematic because they venture, however gingerly, into the realm of criminalizing speech, and they aren’t actually necessary: Assault is assault, and should be punished accordingly, and the penalty should not be heavier or lighter depending upon the racial, ethnic or religious identity of the victim, and whether or not the attacker said something about that identity.
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/02/05/in-virginia-you-must-love-islam-or-else-n4949153
