On primary Election Day, Fazal Saiyed woke up to have breakfast before morning prayers at the East Plano Islamic Center during the second week of Ramadan, a holy period marked by fasting and reflection for Muslims.
Speaking at EPIC, Saiyed talks about the “kitchen table” issues that speak to him as a voter.
"We need to focus on more important issues, like jobs," he said. "Think about all the inflation that has happened over the past few years, the housing prices. Why aren't we talking about these topics? These are the real topics that impact our lives daily."
The Islamic faith has been front and center in the Republican primary elections, with candidates denouncing supposed Sharia Law in Texas and a proposed Muslim-oriented housing development associated with EPIC.
It's a discourse Saiyed said maligns his faith and stokes unnecessary fear.
"For some reason these politicians, they want to target our community, and they feel that this division and this policy of divide and rule will help them win," he said.
Many Collin County voters who spoke to KERA, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, shared their support for EPIC and its members. But Republican candidates who campaigned on concerns about Sharia Law and the “Islamification” of Texas also received thousands of Collin County Republicans' votes.
EPIC's proposed housing community, which is now called The Meadow, is a 402-acre development in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine. It 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.
Gov. Greg Abbott and other top Texas Republicans have accused the project of trying to enforce Sharia Law and ban non-Muslims — something the developer, Community Capital Partners, has denied. The development has faced several investigations and lawsuits, including a federal probe into potential religious discrimination prompted by Sen. John Cornyn that was closed in June.
Sharia, a personal religious and moral code, has long been misinterpreted, said Aminah Chowdhry, who also attends the EPIC mosque.
Her hope for the election, she said, is that a majority of voters don't support the candidates who mischaracterize her faith.
“It's a path to get closer to God,” Chowdhry said. “That's what it is. Like, I'm fasting, that's part of Sharia law. I'm good to my parents, that’s part of Sharia Law.”
Republican primary voters favored several candidates who have campaigned against supposed Sharia Law, including Paxton and Cornyn, who appear to be headed to a runoff election. They also overwhelmingly approved a proposition to ban Sharia Law in Texas.
Macey Breecheen, who said she was surprised to see the Sharia Law proposition on the ballot when she voted in McKinney, voted for the measure.
“If we were to go into another country and impose our form of government on them, it probably wouldn't go very well,” Breecheen said.
She said it’s not for her to decide if EPIC should be allowed to build The Meadow.
“That’s why I’m not in charge,” Breecheen said. “I trust the people I voted for to make that decision.”
Top elected officials in Texas have spoken out against the development. But Saiyed said most people in Plano know the mosque for the good it does in the community, including a warming center for the city’s unhoused population and a food pantry.
“Across both parties, there are people who understand, and they know the truth, and they stand for it,” he said.
William Garrett, who voted in Plano on Election Day, echoed Saiyed's concerns that politicians are using false concerns about Sharia Law to stoke division.
"They're generating mistrust among everybody,” he said. “And that, I think, is bad for America, and for all people."
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
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