Another Islamic expansion project is underway in Texas, this time in San Antonio. A new 2.1-acre mosque is being built, complete with a dedicated dawah center whose mission includes spreading Islam and assisting refugees, immigrants, and new converts. The project raises serious questions about whether this represents natural community growth or a deliberate strategy of expansion through conversion and migration.

Masjid Al-Ikhlas in San Antonio is not an “assimilated” mosque. It openly operates as a traditional Sunni institution that follows the Quran and Sunnah, provides janazah (funeral) services in accordance with Sharia, and requires that all programs be approved by the imam and the mosque’s shurah board — a Sharia-based consultative body.

This is the same model of governance found in mosques across the West that prioritize Islamic law over Western norms. While Texas lawmakers have repeatedly declared that Sharia has no place in the state and have passed measures to block foreign law in courts, Masjid Al-Ikhlas is building a new facility where Sharia principles will govern daily operations, community decisions, and dawah efforts aimed at converting refugees, immigrants, and locals.

The contradiction is clear: official statements claim Sharia is incompatible with Texas, yet this mosque is expanding with full legal approval while maintaining a Shura board and Sharia-compliant structure that critics say functions as a parallel system.

Current Location and Claims of Growth

Masjid Al-Ikhlas currently operates from a rented space in the Oasis Shopping Center. From the outside, the location appears abandoned. It sits next to a drum shop, a Filipino restaurant, and a closed barbershop, in an area that also includes an assisted living home, a pawnshop, a storage center, and a mini casino.

The Sharia-adherent mosque and its congregants claim the space has become too small. They say it went from just five rows of men praying to a packed house, forcing them to hold events in the shopping center’s public parking lot.

This has led some to question whether the growth is entirely natural or whether it involves importing Muslims to the area and converting local residents.

Impact on the Neighborhood

The new mosque will be built on 2.1 acres of land surrounded by residential homes. Residents can expect increased traffic and parking pressure due to five daily prayers, as well as larger crowds during holidays and special events.

Mosque leaders have already stated that the facility will remain in the neighborhood “for generations to come.”

During previous events at their current location, the group reportedly took over the entire public parking lot of the shopping center.

The New Mosque Project

The mosque is moving forward with plans to construct two religious buildings on a single 2.1-acre lot, totaling 8,977 square feet. This new facility will include ample parking for all expected congregants. The project is privately funded, and the group has already purchased the land.

Currently, they are holding events not just inside the mosque but also on the Oasis Shopping Center parking lot, taking up space that is supposed to be available to the public.

Masjid Al-Ikhlas says it is currently renting its venue and that, due to the community’s growth, this is no longer feasible. They need to expand. The mosque is working toward a fundraising goal of $810,000 and has already secured $230,000 — more than 25% of the total.

Progress has steadily advanced over the years: in 2023, they surveyed the land and obtained the plat and deed; in 2024, they fenced the property and developed design plans; and by 2025, the plans were finalized, approved, and permits were issued.

Now in 2026, construction is underway, with plans to move into the completed space within the year. They hope to have the project finished by the end of 2026.

While the physical expansion is moving forward, the more significant development may be the mosque’s controversial built-in dawah operations.

Dawah at the Heart of the Project

Masjid Al-Ikhlas has a dedicated dawah office, headed by the Shahadah Foundation. According to the foundation’s own mission statement:

“Our mission is to help and assist refugee/immigrants and individuals that embrace the Islamic faith. Our help will include resources and funding to provide support of activities of daily living. We will give those that newly embrace the Islamic faith the proper guidance that will assist and aid them in their new quest. Our mission is to also spread the truth about the religion of Islam.”

According to its mission statement, the foundation combines humanitarian outreach with Islamic proselytization (dawah), providing assistance to refugees, immigrants, and new converts while actively encouraging others to embrace Islam.

The Shahadah Foundation helps integrate “refugees and migrants” who embrace Islam into America. They also offer classes for those who want to convert.

While the foundation frames its work as humanitarian assistance and guidance for converts, classical Islamic sources describe dawah in a more structured sequence.

What Dawah Actually Means

Dawah is often presented as simple religious outreach. In reality, classical Islamic doctrine treats it as the required first step before something far more serious.

According to the authoritative manual Reliance of the Traveller (approved by Al-Azhar University), Islamic law states that the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians provided he has first invited them to enter Islam… and the war continues until they become Muslim or else pay the poll tax.

First dawah. Then jihad.

This is not a modern “extremist” invention. It is black-letter Islamic jurisprudence that has existed for centuries. Even Osama bin Laden followed the same pattern in his 2002 “Letter to America,” beginning with a call to Islam before justifying violence.

This is the Islamic order: First, the invitation. Then jihad if the invitation is refused.

This is not the same as Christians spreading the Gospel. There is no equivalent Christian doctrine that says: “Invite them to Christ first… then make war until they convert or submit.”

The Shahadah Foundation’s Dawah Activities

The Shahadah Foundation’s involvement in dawah is not new. In a 2014 video, a representative of the foundation addressed a cultural geography class at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio. The speaker, identifying himself as Abdul Raheem (Jeffrey Boyer), delivered a detailed introduction to Islam that went well beyond basic beliefs and directly promoted core elements of Sharia.

In the video, Bouyer, the Creative Director of the Shahadah Foundation and the Community Liaison at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, states that Mary, Jesus’ mother, is the highest woman in all of creation and that she is the highest woman that all women should emulate. He believes that Mary wore a hijab and is never depicted without one.

This view differs significantly from Christianity. While Christians highly revere Mary as the mother of Jesus, they do not consider her the highest woman in all of creation, nor do they teach that all women should emulate her specifically by wearing a hijab.

Boyer stated that “everybody is born Muslim” and explained that accepting Islam requires submitting to the Creator. He emphasized that all prophets, including Jesus, were Muslim because they followed the one God and claimed that Muslims today are closer to the “real” Jesus and Mary than Christians. He also stressed that Islamic practices — such as prostration in prayer — represent the original way of worship followed by previous prophets.

Jeffrey explains why he left Christianity and converted to Islam, saying the primary reason was that he no longer believed Jesus is God. He argues that Jesus fasted, prayed to God as a separate being, and worshiped in a manner that he believes resembles the way Muslims pray today. Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified.

One of the most significant parts of the presentation focused on riba (interest). Boyer strongly condemned credit cards, car loans, student loans, and mortgages, describing the modern banking system as “criminal” and blaming interest for the economic destruction of entire countries. He presented the prohibition of riba as a command from God that applies to all people, not just Muslims.

The presentation also included conversion stories. A woman attending the speech described her experience serving in Iraq and explained why she eventually recited the Shahada.

He goes on to talk about Muhammad, the Hajj, and why Muslims emulate the pilgrimage. However, what he doesn’t tell the audience is that the Hajj takes place in Mecca, a city that is 100% off-limits to non-Muslims under Saudi law.

Jeffrey explains to the audience the Islamic belief that all of God’s prophets were actually Muslim. Muslims believe that Islam is not a new religion started in the 7th century. It is the primordial religion of humanity.

The talk concluded with a clear message of accountability under Islamic theology. Boyer warned the students that after death, angels would question them in the grave about who they worshipped, what religion they followed, and who their prophet was.

This 12-year-old video is important because it shows the Shahadah Foundation actively conducting dawah in a public educational setting while promoting key aspects of Sharia. These include:

• The rejection of interest-based finance (riba)
• The belief that Islam is the natural and final religion for all humanity
• The duty to guide new converts and migrants into living according to Islamic rules

This directly aligns with the foundation’s own mission statement. Expanding the mosque and its dawah operations would give groups like the Shahadah Foundation more space and resources to continue this work on a larger scale.

All programs must be approved by Imam Muhammad Jara and the “shurah board of Masjid Al-Ikhlas.”

Expanding the mosque will help spread dawah farther and faster while providing more space for new Muslims and migrants alike.

RAIR Foundation recently reported on the Islamic Center of San Antonio’s mass-conversion techniques throughout the area. Entire families are being converted to the religion. The Shahadah Foundation’s stated mission of assisting converts and conducting dawah suggests that expanding Masjid Al-Ikhlas would provide additional capacity for similar outreach programs.

Al-Azhar University Connection

Controversial Imams such as Dr. Ahmed Abou Seif and Sheik Ahmad bin Yusuf al-Azhari, who were trained at Al-Azhar University, have visited Masjid Al-Ikhlas to deliver lectures to congregants.

Al-Azhar University in Cairo is the most powerful and influential Islamic institution in the Sunni world. Often referred to as the “Vatican of Islam,” it functions as the chief authority on Sunni doctrine and has trained generations of imams, scholars, and activists who spread its teachings across the globe.

Al-Azhar upholds traditional Islamic teachings that include the supremacy of Islam over all other religions, the legitimacy of jihad, and the subjugation of non-Muslims under Sharia. Its curriculum and official positions continue to justify hostility toward non-believers, and its graduates have included several prominent jihadists and terrorists.

Al-Azhar serves as an ideological factory that produces imams who carry these supremacist doctrines into mosques and communities worldwide, including in the West, under the guise of religious education.

Broader Networks Across Texas

Dr. Ahmed Abou Seif is the founder and Imam of the American Imams Academy. He resides in Plano, Texas. He was formerly the Imam and Director of Religious Affairs at Mesquite Islamic Center, as well as the Imam and Director of the Quran Institute in Toledo, Ohio.

Emad Fadel is part of the teaching team at American Imams Academy. He is also the resident Imam at the Islamic Center of Little Rock in Arkansas, which we at RAIR just reported on. He is another graduate of Al Azhar University seeking to expand his mosque. This prompts the question of whether there is a broader network of Muslims who collaborate by supporting each other’s mosque expansions.

On Oct 20, 2023, the American Imams Academy promoted and attended a conference given by terror-tied Imams Yasir Qadhi and Omar Suleiman. Yasir is one of the Muslim Brotherhood-tied masterminds behind EPIC City.

AIA even hosted Yasir Qahdi for a Khutba event.

The influence of Al-Azhar-trained scholars in San Antonio is not limited to occasional visits. In one recent Family Programs Night event, the community hosted Sheikh Ahmad bin Yusuf al-Azhari, the official Chief Qari (Shaikhul Qurra) of Bangladesh.

Al-Azhari studied for eight years at Al-Azhar University and is widely regarded as one of the leading traditional Quran reciters in South Asia. His presence at local events further illustrates how Al-Azhar-linked traditional scholarship continues to shape the religious landscape in the area.

The Building is Coming

The new Masjid Al-Ikhlas is moving ahead with a clear purpose. Along with the mosque itself, they are establishing a dawah operation whose stated goal is to help refugees and immigrants embrace Islam and to spread the religion.

They have said the new facility will serve the community “for generations to come.” Similar controversial mosque expansions are happening all across Texas, often involving overlapping networks and active outreach.

Whether this represents normal religious growth or something more strategic will become clearer in the years ahead as these projects are completed and begin operating at full scale.

The building is coming. What comes with it remains to be seen.