4 OctOber 16 - 22, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents O wais Khan just wants to go pray. But an undeniably ampli- fied voice booming across the way calls him a sinner and warns him of his impending eternal damna- tion, unless he disavows Islam and accepts Jesus Christ as his sole savior and the Son of God, as he walks to the front door of the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC). Khan, and about a thousand other visitors, rushed to make it in time for Jummah, the Friday prayer service that is mandatory for Muslim men. But the screaming voices of Christians camped out on the public pasture right out- side EPIC’s property line are a loud re- minder of the hateful misconceptions of his faith and his mosque that have been pro- pelled by government leaders. “This is where we are right now in this country,” Khan said. “There’s just so much hatred. Everyone is trying to divide every- one else into these little groups. Why? Why are we doing this to ourselves?” Khan, along with more than a thousand other worshippers at one of the largest mosques in North Texas, can still hear the backyard televangelists from EPIC’s foyer, even though they’re at least 300 feet away. The mosque’s imam has told the worship- pers not to engage with the screaming pro- testers lest they find themselves at the center of internet virality, a risk he says they should not be willing to take. The evangelist group, which comes pre- pared for its two-hour sermons on the lawn with a tent, amplifier and Bibles to distrib- ute, calls itself Testimonies of God and aims to “provide biblically sound and thoroughly curated content for all things Christian- based.” They do so in the usual way: by screaming at passersby in communal spaces and then posting their sermons and rage- bait interactions on TikTok for their 4,800 followers. “Repent and turn to Jesus Christ,” an un- identified voice yells through a megaphone at one of the Muslim worshippers filmed in a close-up video posted to their account. The worshipper approached the group, call- ing them “disrespectful.” Third-party secu- rity carefully ushered him away. More people joined in to hold back the man as the evangelists continued to yell at him. That specific video is the group’s most viewed post, with 35,000 views. “Allah is a liar. He doesn’t exist. Repent and turn to Jesus today. Cry out to God, sir. Turn to Jesus… I hope God has convicted you right now, to show you that Muhammad was a false prophet… Jesus died for sinners; he can save a Muslim and make them a Christian today.” This is exactly what the Mosque is trying to avoid, and it seems, to them, it’s exactly what the protesters are trying to incite. “They want us to do something,” said Khan. “They’re trying to make us do some- thing. Maybe we’re going to get mad at them and start fighting them, and then they’ll post something like, ‘Oh, these are how bad Mus- lims are.’ Luckily, so far, nothing has hap- pened. But I’m afraid that someone will do something, some kid will get mad at them and fight them or something, and then the entire community will be painted a picture.” How EPIC Became Public Enemy No. 1 The Testimonies of God, a non-profit based in Rockwall and led by founder Landon Thurman, preaches in pop-up-style events across North Texas. You can even find them mic’d up in the AT&T Discovery Dis- trict. However, EPIC’s resident scholar, Ya- sir Qadhi, the person in charge of all religious teaching at the mosque, says his place of worship wasn’t on the map until the social media vitriol of the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, put it there. Earlier this year, EPIC purchased a 402- acre plot of land on the fringes of Collin County. There, they planned to build a Mus- lim-oriented community development com- plete with housing, a school, a mosque, and other amenities. However, the development was hit with “cult-like allegations” after some confusion surrounding residency re- quirements. “Realizing that many responsible citizens of other countries might be interested in our properties, our offering is open to any per- son we approve within the property and in- vestment laws of the United States,” read the project’s website. “[We] will limit sales to only persons we believe will contribute to the overall makeup of our community and are legally eligible to invest and buy property in the United States.” If being Muslim were a requirement to purchase a home in the community, it would violate the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, gender, nationality, familial sta- tus, and religion. The development proposal landed on the wrong side of the internet and a swarm of far-right and self-proclaimed Islamophobes flooded social media with disgust for what they called a “Sharia city.” EPIC, which has been around since 2003, is no stranger to prejudice, but things blew out of proportion when the governor himself joined the smear campaign, and then expended his every re- source to target the mosque. “One wonders whether the type of rhetoric that we’re hearing from our elected officials and the attention that is being given to EPIC, is that a direct cause for what is happening?,” said Qadgi. “If so, then our elected officials need to be con- scious of the type of fear-mongering that is taking place. The type of, frankly, incite- ment. Our mosque has been mentioned multiple times, and without a doubt, there has been a concerted, intentional effort to foster an environment of fear and hostility against us.” In Feb. 2025, Abbott tweeted, “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities.” That was only the beginning. Abbott soon announced that a dozen state departments were investigating EPIC. The next day, Attorney General Ken Paxton joined the legal action, and Sen. John Cornyn announced that the federal Depart- ment of Justice was looking into EPIC’s dealings. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” the gover- nor wrote on X. “We are uncovering legal vi- olations by EPIC City that go far beyond what people realize. The proposed commu- nity will never see the light of day. More to come.” The mosque received a cease-and-desist letter from the Texas Funeral Services Com- mission, ordering it to halt any funeral pro- ceedings. Other investigations are still ongoing, and the governor will occasionally mention EPIC in a tweet from time to time. But for the most part, the social media hate deluge has subsided, leaving only the most passionate of Islamophobes and protesters outside. Conversation, Not Conversion The evangelist protestors have been demon- strating during Jummah for months now. They have missed some weeks, while in Uganda for mission work. However, Thur- man explained that they were ready Mike Brooks | UNFAIR PARK | Friday prayers at the East Plano Islamic Center. An EPIC Battle Christians turn controversial mosque into an Abbott-fueled battlefield. BY ALYSSA FIELDS >> p6
