Federal Judge Denies ‘Underwear Bomber’s’ Request to Be Judged By Islamic Law

On Tuesday, The Blaze covered the ongoing debate over Sharia (Islamic law) in America. In Oklahoma, courts are debating whether citizens have the right to ban Sharia and in Michigan, a group of Muslims have come out in strong opposition to Islamic law.

These are only two examples of states in which restrictions are being sought on foreign laws that some fear will work their way into the American judicial system.

Earlier on Wednesday, the debate over Islamic law found its way back into the headlines when a judge refused Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's request to be judged by Islamic, rather than American, law.

Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas day back in 2009, expressed disappointment with Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds' decision. He reiterated his belief that the Quran, Islam's holy book, should set the rules governing his case. So far, the suspected terrorist has been less than compliant. The Detroit News reports:

A defiant Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to disrupt the start of jury selection Wednesday by shouting,"Osama is alive!" and propping his feet on the defense table.

His behavior — including his refusal to stand for the judge — marked an odd start to a highly anticipated terror trial in federal court in downtown Detroit.

In a separate complaint, the alleged terrorist claims that he was not read his Miranda rights. As a result, he wants incriminating statements he may have made during his initial detention thrown out. But an FBI agent says that his rights were purposefully not read, because authorities feared there might be more attacks to come.

Agent Timothy Waters testified Wednesday that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab might not have cooperated if given the option to remain silent. Waters says al-Qaida often stages coordinated attacks, and that the government needed to know if there were other planes with "suicide bombers" that day.

Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to detonate a bomb in his underwear on an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight.

The Associated Press contributed to that report.