Thousands of Muslims have worshipped at the East Plano Islamic Center mosque for years, and the surrounding community has mostly welcomed them. But more recently, the mosque has faced a barrage of online hate — as well as a spike in Islamophobia targeting the mosque and those who pray there. And the mosque is under unprecedented scrutiny from state officials.
EPIC City, a proposed housing development that’s still in the planning stages, would be 40 miles northeast of Dallas. It would accommodate the growing Muslim community in North Texas.
Although it may be many years away from starting construction, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Department of Justice have all launched probes looking for potential lawbreaking — and so far have provided no evidence of wrongdoing.
Supporters of the Muslim community say the online debate that may have prompted these investigations are rooted in harmful stereotypes and Islamophobia.
Community Living
Fawzia Bilal attends the East Plano Islamic Center mosque, also known as EPIC. Bilal said the mosque, which has 10,000 members and was established 15 years ago, is known as a pillar of the community that shelters the homeless and has a clinic for the uninsured.
“We are contributing,” she said. “We would like to think of ourselves as the ones who are shaping and building the community here. Not just for ourselves, but for everybody around us.”
Bilal said she used to feel safe practicing her faith in Plano. She wears a hijab, the traditional hair covering many Muslim women wear. There are grocery stores a short drive from the mosque that sell halal meat. A café up the road serves pistachio lattes and saffron milk cakes.
But Bilal said that sense of security changed after a promotional video for EPIC City went viral and sparked a vitriolic backlash.
“If I’m going out alone, then there is that fear. Am I gonna hear something? Am I gonna be targeted?” she said.
Plans for EPIC were a response to the growing Muslim community in North Texas. Yasir Qadhi, an Islamic scholar at EPIC, said the mosque is running out of room for newcomers who want to live in the community nearby.
“So the idea came, well, then why not build a purpose-built community?” he said.
The 402-acre development would be in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine. EPIC City would include a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college.
In 2023, the population of Josephine grew by nearly 5,000 people – a 234% increase in the course of three years. Collin County is also experiencing a rapid population boom. It’s one of the fastest growing counties in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The first 450 plots for EPIC City sold out within days of its announcements on the mosque’s website, Qadhi said.
He also said there’s no external funding for any of the planned construction. Instead, people are purchasing shares to own a plot of land for future homes. In those purchases, there’s a charge to help fund the construction of other buildings, like the mosque and school.
“The funds came from the very people that are going to be living in that area,” Qadhi said.
Early Stages
Abbott and Paxton have launched several investigations of the unbuilt housing development. The state’s probes are looking into claims the project could be discriminating against non-Muslims in violation of the Texas Fair Housing Act, along with allegations of potential financial harm to investors, potential violations of Texas consumer protection laws, and operating illegal funeral services.
Abbott has accused the development of creating a “no-go zone” that bans non-Muslims from entering. Qadhi said EPIC City is not exclusive and that anyone is free to live there and practice — or not practice — whichever religion they choose.
“It’s an open community,” he said. “Anybody can come in. We're welcoming people of all backgrounds and diversity and we're offering them facilities that we think would be very, very useful.”
Abbott has also launched a criminal investigation of the project. It’s unclear what criminal statutes EPIC or the project developers may have violated. Paxton has also not specified what consumer protection laws EPIC City may have violated, but he said in a press release the project has “raised a number of concerns.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the Department of Justice launched a federal probe last week after he shared concerns about religious discrimination and Sharia law, which forms parts of Islamic traditions.
“Religious discrimination, whether explicit or implicit, is unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” Cornyn wrote. “Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our nation’s values, and I am concerned this community potentially undermines this vital protection.”
Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth office of the Council of American Islamic Relations, said Abbott and Paxton are spreading hateful misinformation about Islam.
“Instead of acting like true public servants and leaders, they have chosen to abuse their power by launching groundless investigations against EPIC,” Carroll said.
In a statement, the governor’s office criticized the Council of American Islamic Relations and accused the interfaith group of being linked to terrorism. The group denies those claims.
Abbott recently said in a post on X that Texas halted construction at EPIC City. Abbott ordered the project developer last month to cease construction or face legal action because the mosque hadn’t acquired the necessary permits or authorizations to build EPIC City from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found that the group behind the proposed EPIC compound did not submit the required permits to begin construction,” he said. “They must confirm within seven days that they are immediately ceasing any construction of their illegal project or face the full weight of the law. The State of Texas will enforce its laws and protect our communities from unlawful actions or threats posed by EPIC or its affiliates.”
Dan Cogdell, an attorney for the mosque, said Abbott’s order and the state’s investigations are premature.
“We haven’t started construction,” he said. “We haven’t even filed for an application. It's like, good God, have a cup of coffee before you pop off.”
Harmful Stereotypes
Before the state started its probes into EPIC City, a promotional video for the community went viral earlier this year, prompting online vitriol.
The founder and CEO of an organization called RAIR Foundation USA posted on social media that EPIC City was a “Sharia City” that would reject American laws and ban non-Muslims. Those posts have received thousands of likes and shares. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the RAIR Foundation as an anti-Muslim hate group.
Collin County commissioners heard hours of testimony at a public meeting who repeated unfounded accusations about Muslims. Some cited the RAIR Foundation’s claims as evidence but didn’t offer any other proof for their claims.
“I believe that Muslim belief is against the Constitution and against America and a threat to our country,” said Brenda Powell.
“They want to expand politically in order to dominate violently. And that's what this is, a Hamas sanctuary city,” said Krista Schild, a Hunt County GOP precinct chair.
“Sharia has no freedom of religion, no freedom of speech, no freedom of thought, no freedom of artistic expression, and no equal rights for women,” said Lee-Breckenridge Moore, a Collin County resident and frequent speaker at commissioners’ court.
Carroll compared Sharia law to the Ten Commandments in the Bible. He said the controversy about Sharia law at EPIC City is based on stereotypes.
“It’s been long passed as some type of fifth column in America that your daughters are gonna wear burqas and your sons will be terrorists and they're gonna be killing people and people will be blowing folks up and all this kind of craziness,” Carroll said. “That’s definitely not Sharia.”
He said Sharia law is not incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. People can follow both laws. Sharia law encompasses parts of Islamic traditions surrounding lifestyle, including when to pray, what to eat and clothes to wear, according to EPIC.
Cogdell said Imran Chaudhary, the president of the company developing EPIC City, has no plans to enforce Sharia law in the proposed development.
“He had to Google what Sharia meant,” Cogdell chuckled. “He’s a born Islamic.”
Online Misinformation
Brandie Nonnecke, an associate professor of technology policy at the University of California at Berkeley, said people are more likely to pay attention to things online that are shocking, and they’re more likely to believe something is true if it’s repeated. Nonnecke said that can lead the spread of misinformation.
“We're more likely to believe something is true if we continue to see it over and over again,” she said.
One social media post accused city and school district officials in Plano of colluding with EPIC to shape school policy. It received about 8,900 likes and 7,800 shares. A few days later, Paxton announced in a press release he was demanding documents from Plano ISD outlining “potential connections” to EPIC.
Cogdell said he was confused by the attorney general’s request. The two men are no strangers: Cogdell represented Paxton during his 2023 impeachment in the Texas Legislature and defended the AG amid his securities fraud allegations.
Cogdell said the state’s investigations are politically motivated.
“If this was a Presbyterian Church in Waxahachie, none of this would be happening and to suggest otherwise is crazy,” he said. “Abbott and others are using the trigger words of Sharia law or what have you to get people twisted up because it suits their political narrative and it feeds their alt-right base.”
Uncertain Future
Bilal said the attacks on her mosque and faith online are disheartening, and she hopes people will open their minds.
“No matter how loud the voices of hatred are, the voice of hope and the voice of understanding and reasoning will eventually overpower these negative voices,” Bilal said.
In the meantime, Cogdell said EPIC will cooperate fully with all investigations.
And he expects the political scrutiny could delay the project, leaving the Muslim community in North Texas with less room to grow.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For America corps member for KERA News.
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