Sawt Falasteen - Plan for expanded Muslim community triggers hope, fear in Texas

The cause?

Chaudhary's early plans for construction of 1,000 new homes, a community center, school, hospital and -- controversially -- a mosque and Islamic private school to serve the growing Muslim community near East Plano, in a thinly populated corner of east Texas.

One anonymous caller says, in an expletive filled message, "I suggest you get the fuck out of America while it's still an option."

The conservative, white, and Christian authorities tied to President Donald Trump in this state aren't exactly welcoming either, launching investigations into the project's legality.

Chaudhary says the pressure is misguided.

"We’ve been trying to follow every single law that is out there, from the state perspective to the federal perspective," he said.

But just this week, Senator John Cornyn called for an investigation into the constitutionality of Chaudhary's project, an offshoot of an existing site called the East Plano Islamic Center or "EPIC."

The center "could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans," he said.

Texas governor and Trump ally Greg Abbott characterized the project as an attempt to install Islamic law. "To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are 'no go zones' which this project seems to imply," he wrote on social media.

Texas is one of more than a dozen states that have enacted "anti-Sharia law" bills, which anti-hate group Southern Poverty Law Center calls "one of the most successful far-right conspiracies to achieve mainstream viability."

The conspiracy theory holds that Islamic law, known as sharia, is encroaching on the American legal system, a claim the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal experts refute.

Chaudhary denies that he envisions a Muslim-only town, saying that it's "open to all, anybody can use our services, community center, our school."

As president of Community Capital Partners, which develops EPIC properties, Chaudhary told AFP, “We never even discussed sharia. From day one we’ve consulted with our attorneys what is the best way for us to do this project, to make sure that we follow all the state laws, we follow all the federal laws."

In a show of goodwill, Chaudhary invited the governor to a Texas-style barbeque over social media. Abbott didn't respond.

- Fear vs optimism -

The EPIC Islamic community settled in Plano north of Dallas some 20 years ago, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the new community they want to build near Josephine.

The Plano settlement of around 5,000 people now have their own mosque. Iman Yasir Qadhi leads prayers there.

Born in Houston to a Pakistani family, Qadhi said Muslims like Texas because of the warm weather, low taxes and good food.

"Organically, when the mosque was built, a lot of people began moving in here and we found that our space wasn’t sufficient for us," he said. "Because of the influx of people we are looking to expand."

Only 313,000 Muslims reside in Texas, which has a population of more than 31 million, according to World Population Review.

Prospective EPIC residents can reserve lots by putting down 20 percent, with single townhouse pads starting at $80,000 and 1-acre lots going for $250,000. Maps posted online indicate more than two dozen lots have already been sold.

But at an April town hall meeting in Collin County, an overflow crowd showed up to speak out against EPIC's project. And the developers' lawyer Dan Cogdell said all the negative publicity will slow approvals down.

”The lies and the misinformation that Abbott's putting out is striking," he said.

Qadhi said he is worried about hate crimes. He said he himself has been accused of terrorism but "they are the ones terrorizing us."

"All the rhetoric that we are seeing and hearing, it's not true," she said. "That's why we felt very confident in investing."

I.Matar--SF-PST