Bangladesh, Sept. 26 -- The debate over Islams place in American public life has entered a new and increasingly visible phase. A recent livestreamed event at the Sufaraa Center in McKinney, Texas, featuring Shaykh Uthman ibn Farooq, offered an unusually direct discussion of what some Muslim leaders envision for Islam in the United States.

Farooqs message was both religious and civic. He emphasized that Muslims love America and have constitutional protections to practice their faith. At the same time, he openly described Islam as something he believes would benefit the country and defended Muslims right to believe in and follow Sharia as a religious system.

“We love this country,” Farooq said during the event. “We want ...