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A large proposed Muslim housing development in North Texas is facing unprecedented scrutiny from top state officials. They are calling for investigations, including a Department of Justice probe. Caroline Love from member station KERA in Dallas has more.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Singing in non-English language).
CAROLINE LOVE, BYLINE: Many members of the East Plano Islamic Center - also known as EPIC - live a short walk away so they can answer the call to prayer. They shop at nearby grocery stores that sell halal meat and drink coffee at a cafe that serves pistachio lattes and saffron milk cakes. Islamic scholar Yasir Qadhi says this growing community needs more space.
YASIR QADHI: So the idea came - well, then why not build a purpose-built community?
LOVE: That community is EPIC City. The proposed housing development would be about 40 miles northeast of Dallas. It would have a new mosque, more than a thousand single and multifamily homes, a faith-based school, commercial developments and more.
EPIC City hasn't been built yet, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton have already started several investigations into the project. Abbott and Paxton claim the project violates the state's fair housing and consumer protection laws. And Texas Senator John Cornyn says the Department of Justice launched a federal probe early May, after he shared concerns about religious discrimination. At a recent public meeting, local resident Krista Schild said the concern is that people living in this unbuilt community would enforce strict Sharia law, although she didn't offer any proof.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRISTA SCHILD: They will do Sharia - the most Sharia compliance, including honor killings, stonings, marrying their young girls off to older men.
LOVE: Mustafaa Carroll from the Dallas-Fort Worth office of the Council of American-Islamic Relations says that Sharia law is often misunderstood. Muslim scholars emphasize that Sharia law is deeply dependent on context. While conservative countries may enforce strict practices, Muslims in Western countries often don't. According to EPIC, Sharia encompasses aspects of Islamic traditions like when to pray, how to dress and what to eat. Carroll says it's not the stereotypes people typically ascribe to it.
MUSTAFAA CARROLL: Your daughters are going to wear burqas, and your sons will be terrorists. And they're going to be killing people, and people will be blowing folks up and all this kind of craziness.
LOVE: Carroll says people can follow both Sharia law and the U.S. Constitution. He says Abbott and Paxton are spreading hateful misinformation and stereotypes about Islam. In response to NPR's request for comment, Abbott's office says the Council of American-Islamic Relations sympathizes with antisemitic hate groups. Paxton's office didn't respond to a request for comment.
EPIC's attorney, Dan Cogdell, says the proposed community is open to anyone, and residents would not be required to adhere to Sharia law and would be free to practice or not practice any religion. Last month, the governor ordered EPIC City to cease all construction or face legal consequences, but they haven't even broken ground. Cogdell says that order, along with the state's investigations, was premature.
DAN COGDELL: We haven't even filed for an application. It's like, good God, have a cup of coffee before you pop off.
LOVE: Cogdell says the plan for their proposed community is still in the early stages and won't start construction for years. In the meantime, he says EPIC will cooperate fully with all investigations. And he expects the political scrutiny could delay the project, but EPIC's members still hope they can build a larger space for their growing community.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Arabic).
LOVE: For NPR News, I'm Caroline Love in Plano.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOT CHIP SONG, "COLOURS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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