A Texas preacher raising money to convert a former Baptist church campus in Richardson into a mosque, school and seminary has declared that he wants an Islamic America, telling a fundraiser audience that Muslims “want Islam for this country,” according to reporting by The Federalist.
Uthman ibn Farooq, who is leading the fundraising effort, defended Sharia law and praised the Muslim conquests of Christian Europe at the Texas event, The Federalist reported. The organization hosting the fundraiser has plans for a 40,000-square-foot Islamic facility near Plano, Texas.
The former Baptist church property in Richardson is being targeted for conversion into a mosque, school and seminary, according to The Federalist. Richardson is a suburb of Dallas, roughly 15 miles from Plano.
The remarks land as Texas Republicans escalate their push against Sharia law ahead of the midterm elections. At the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Sen. Ted Cruz told the crowd, “Sharia law has no place in America. We need to stand together and stop it now,” according to the Texarkana Gazette. Governor Greg Abbott followed moments later, vowing to “fully ban Sharia law in Texas.”
The pushback from Texas officials is not new. Muslim American leaders and academics across the state have pushed back against what they describe as a resurgence of anti-Sharia rhetoric dating back more than 15 years, the Texarkana Gazette reported. Among those defending Sharia as it is practiced in the United States is Sabeel Ahmed, Illinois-based director of an outreach project called GainPeace, who travels widely and has focused recently on Texas.
“Sharia is often misunderstood,” Ahmed posted on Instagram after a midsummer visit to Plano, according to the Texarkana Gazette. “Many people think Sharia is only about punishments, but in Islam it is Allah's guidance for living with faith, justice, mercy, and responsibility.”
Ahmed told The Associated Press that critics “gain popularity by saying it,” and added, “It's the job of the Muslims to educate what is the proper meaning of the word Sharia. We cannot be angry or hateful.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has also weighed in on the debate. The Gatestone Institute published an essay arguing that “a dangerous trend is unfolding in America,” warning of a “gradual creep of Islamist ideology into nearly every sector of American society: media, politics, community.” The essay, written by an author who describes fleeing a home country overtaken by Islamist rule, urged American voters to take notice.
According to The Federalist, the Richardson project is not a lone effort. The organization behind the fundraiser has plans for a 40,000-square-foot Islamic facility near Plano. Uthman ibn Farooq’s public statements at the fundraiser — defending Sharia and praising historic Muslim conquests in Europe — have drawn scrutiny as the project seeks donations from the local Muslim community.
Texas has become a central battleground in the national fight over Sharia law. In the most recent election cycle, Cruz and Abbott made opposition to Sharia a centerpiece of their convention remarks, drawing some of the loudest cheers of the event, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
Muslim leaders in Texas say the rhetoric misrepresents their faith and endangers their communities. They point out that Sharia, as practiced by American Muslims, covers prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, charitable donations and personal virtue — not the penal codes of foreign governments.
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, a Sudanese-born Islamic scholar who taught for years at Emory University School of Law, is among those who criticize governments that coercively enforce Sharia, saying Muslims are better off in secular states where their religious observances are protected, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
The tension between the two visions — one group raising money to expand Islamic institutions and, in the words of one preacher, bring Islam to this country, and state leaders promising to ban Sharia outright — is now playing out in North Texas suburbs, where the 40,000-square-foot facility is planned.
It is not yet known when construction on the Plano-area facility would begin or how much money the Richardson fundraiser raised.
Our Take
Let’s be clear about what is happening here. A preacher in Texas stood up at a fundraiser, said he wants an Islamic America, defended Sharia, and praised the Muslim conquests of Christian Europe — and the same organization is raising money to build a 40,000-square-foot Islamic complex on the site of a former Baptist church near Plano. That is not a misunderstanding. That is a stated objective, and Texans should take the man at his word.
The Left and its media allies will rush to call anyone who objects a bigot. But this is not about the freedom of Muslims to worship. It never was. The First Amendment protects every American’s right to practice his faith. What it does not protect is a parallel legal system that claims authority over the Constitution, or a movement that says out loud it wants to remake this country in the image of a foreign theocracy.
Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott are right to draw a line. “Sharia law has no place in America.” That should not be a controversial statement. It should be the consensus position of every elected official in this country.
So here is the question every Texas voter should be asking: if a preacher tells you exactly what he wants to do, and your governor promises to stop it, who are you going to believe when the money starts flowing and the buildings start going up?
