How Islamist organizations, taxpayer funding, and sharia-based enclaves threaten Texas’ constitutional order — and why state leaders are finally pushing back.
January 5, 2026
“Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”
These words were spoken in 1998 at a gathering of Muslims in California by Omar Ahmad, co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR operated as a Muslim rights group. But during the 2007–08 Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas — the largest terror funding trial in American history — it was revealed to be a front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The trial also revealed that CAIR is an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), which promotes violent, political Islam. Both groups are among 246 entities listed as unindicted co-conspirators in the case. According to Robert Spencer, an Islam expert, CAIR is an “Islamic supremacist organization with the same goals as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.” The MB’s 1991 memorandum, introduced as an exhibit during the trial, outlined ideas on civilizational jihad, a strategic initiative in which CAIR and the MB are at the forefront.
Ahmad’s speech was completely against the American way of life and the principles of our republic. The findings from the Holy Land Foundation trial should have alerted Americans to the intentions of the MB and CAIR, possibly even led to bans. However, over the following decades, these organizations have been allowed to grow and establish strongholds of Islamist influence in many American states. CAIR representatives have met with Presidents Clinton and Bush, been frequent guests at White House and State Department events, and served as prominent media voices for Muslim-Americans after 9/11.
It is only recently that the federal government and some states have begun to act against Islamist groups that use taqiyya, or deception: pretending to participate in social work, education, rights activism, or academic research while actually conducting jihad. In November, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas designated CAIR and the MB as “foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs),” and stated that the goals of these groups are clear: “to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s mastership of the world.”
Gov. Abbott’s response is to the increasing Muslim presence in the state and the rise of exclusive Arab-Muslim enclaves governed by sharia. These are part of a long-standing effort to create a dense network of such enclaves that operate independently.
In 2025, Texas had the fifth-largest Muslim population in the U.S., with more than 315,000 people. A 2013 study listed 166 mosques and Islamic centers, but web-scraping services like Smartscrapers and Byte Scraper say current numbers are close to 330. More significantly, the halal market has reached $9 billion and is growing rapidly, while the Dallas Independent School District serves taxpayer-funded halal nuggets to 150,000 students each week. Two sharia courts operate in the Irving area and have ruled on 300 cases.
The Rise Align Ignite Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation, a “grassroots activist and investigative journalism organization,” has uncovered the alarming spread of Islamism through detailed investigations. Its website provides reports on how Islamist groups have entrenched themselves in America and are using dawah (or invitation, a euphemism for proselytization), taqiyya, and multigenerational strategies to gradually undermine Western civilization.
RAIR’s reports on the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) demonstrate how the Islamist effort to create enclaves will lead to parallel societies disconnected from America. Once there are enough of them, the Islamists hope, America will collapse. The EPIC project started in 2003 as a small gathering of local Muslims, then expanded into the Islamic center, which registered as a nonprofit. By 2015, the center had built a 33,000-square-foot mosque to host 3,200 worshippers.
Today, the center is the core of a complex with over 70 houses. Plans are in progress for an EPIC City Project, a 402-acre development around the mosque, including about 1,000 homes, schools, sports fields, parks, and commercial buildings, such as Islamic banks. In short, it will be a self-sufficient island of Islamic life, governed by sharia.
A promotional video describes it as “a role model Muslim community,” aiming to become the “epicenter of Islam in America.” Future phases threaten to expand this influence and create autonomous communities across northern Texas. Islamist strategy clearly states that dawah is the precursor to jihad, conversion, and subjugation. Therefore, patriotic Americans who value freedom should understand the urgent need to oppose this insidious threat.
The initial step should be to stop the flow of taxpayer money to those who are clearly against the American system of government, our laws, due process, the separation of church and state, individual rights, and the freedoms we cherish. There is nothing voluntary about Islamic societies and sharia, unlike Catholic canon law or Jewish law. Those who refuse to comply face brutal punishment.
RAIR exposed how Texas taxpayer money funds tarbiyya, a program of ideological formation that brainwashes school children to prepare them for civilizational jihad. The Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program, established into law in 2025, allocates $10,800 per child and $30,000 for each student with disabilities to accredited private schools. Since there is no review process for curricula from schools seeking TEFA funds, schools connected to the jihadist MB and CAIR are among the recipients.
According to investigations by RAIR, a key figure in this plan to use American funds to undermine American ideals is Hamed Ghazali. Born in Egypt and trained as an engineer, Ghazali became an Islamic scholar after moving to America. For over 30 years, he has been involved in the MB’s American network, participated in pre-9/11 jihadist recruitments, and is mentioned (on page 12) in the 1991 MB memorandum for civilizational jihad as one of the three “seeds” for dawah. Among the goals outlined in the memorandum are promoting “studies which aid in the civilization jihadist operation,” and “eliminating and destroying western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house.”
Ghazali holds leadership positions in two organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). He is dedicated to promoting Islamic dominance in schools. As chairman of the MAS Council of Islamic Schools, he has significant influence over the curriculum in schools that will benefit from the TEFA program.
It isn’t like organizations such as the MB and CAIR haven’t been recognized before for what they are. CAIR, for example, used to receive funding from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. However, the UAE withdrew support in 2014 and designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. Florida and Arizona have passed resolutions condemning CAIR for its terrorist ties. The FBI has also ceased all contact with CAIR. Additionally, a bill sponsored by Rep. Randy Fine on June 24, 2025, urges the Secretary of State to evaluate whether CAIR qualifies as an FTO.
But RAIR’s work — beyond what is presented here — has given Texas authorities substantial evidence of the MB and CAIR’s subversive actions, leading Gov. Abbott to declare them FTOs. As expected, CAIR claims that sharia “does not refer to a separate set of laws that competes with American law,” and argues that the governor’s “rhetoric” distorts Islam, stigmatizes Muslims, and undermines religious freedom. It has also filed a lawsuit against Gov. Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging defamation and violation of First Amendment rights.
Paxton’s response has been resolute: “Radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American, and the infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas must be stopped. My office will continue to defend the Governor’s lawful, accurate declaration that CAIR is an FTO, as well as Texas’s right to protect itself from organizations with documented ties to foreign extremist movements.”
The proof needed to dismantle these activities and indict the network of perpetrators should be clear to everyone. Hopefully, Texas will not let itself become Texasistan.
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