{"id":171042,"date":"2026-02-19T07:56:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171042\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T07:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:56:26","slug":"muslim-leaders-demand-action-after-student-prayer-group-disrupted-in-plano-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171042\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Leaders Demand Action After Student Prayer Group Disrupted in Plano Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published on Feb. 18, 2026<\/p>\n

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

North Texas Muslim leaders are calling on local officials to condemn a verbal attack that disrupted a student prayer group gathering in Plano’s Oak Point Park over the weekend. The group of about 20 University of Texas at Dallas Muslim students were conducting a sacred “blessings breakfast” prayer when an unrelated man approached and launched into a tirade against Islam. Muslim advocates say the behavior was unacceptable and are asking for Plano leaders and police to publicly condemn the incident and take steps to protect future prayer gatherings in public spaces.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The incident highlights ongoing concerns about Islamophobia and the need to protect the rights of religious minorities to freely practice their faith, even in public spaces. Muslim leaders believe the same person may be responsible for a similar disruption of an Islamic prayer service in Austin two months ago, raising fears the behavior could escalate.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The student prayer group was gathered at Plano’s Oak Point Park for their regular “blessings breakfast” ritual, which includes a sacred prayer. An unrelated man approached the group and began verbally attacking them, launching into a tirade against Islam that was recorded on video. Muslim leaders say the behavior was unacceptable and want to see Plano officials and police publicly condemn the incident and take steps to protect future prayer gatherings in public spaces.<\/p>\n

The incident occurred over the weekend in Plano, Texas.A similar disruption of an Islamic prayer service happened in Austin two months ago.
\n The players<\/p>\n

Mustafaa Carroll<\/p>\n

The executive director for the Council on American Islamic Relations-DFW.<\/p>\n

Shaimaa Zayan<\/p>\n

The operations manager for CAIR-Austin.<\/p>\n

University of Texas at Dallas Muslim students<\/p>\n

A group of about 20 students who were conducting a prayer gathering in Plano’s Oak Point Park.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s our way of staying connected to our creator. It’s very essential to our mental health and our wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Shaimaa Zayan, Operations manager, CAIR-Austin<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s outrageous. Could you imagine what would have happened if I went into a church and saw a bunch of people praying, whether they’re Christian or Buddhist or whatever, and I just started calling them names and telling them they were going to hell, etc., etc. What would the feeling be then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mustafaa Carroll, Executive director, CAIR-DFW<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

Plano police said they will look into the matter if and when a report is filed, which the Council on American Islamic Relations says will happen.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

This incident highlights the ongoing need to protect the rights of religious minorities to freely practice their faith, even in public spaces. Muslim leaders are calling for Plano officials and law enforcement to take concrete steps to condemn the behavior and ensure the safety of future prayer gatherings in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on Feb. 18, 2026 Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a North Texas Muslim leaders are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":["post-171042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}