{"id":370939,"date":"2026-07-13T10:08:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370939\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:08:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:08:45","slug":"cair-fights-uphill-trust-battle-after-texas-brands-it-terrorist-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370939\/","title":{"rendered":"CAIR fights uphill trust battle after Texas brands it terrorist group"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) \u2014 It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board of Education meeting, when Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager\u00a0 for the Council on American-Islamic Relations\u2019s Austin chapter, was called up to testify. She braced herself, knowing what was coming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we have a leader of a foreign terrorist organization testify for the state board of education?\u201d Brandon Hall, a Republican board member, asked the chairman, just as Zayan rose to the podium.<\/p>\n

Hall was referring to an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designating <\/a>CAIR a terrorist group last November. The group, one of the country\u2019s largest Muslim advocacy organizations, however, is not listed on the U.S. Department of State\u2019s list of terrorist organizations<\/a>, which is officially responsible for such designations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chairman said Zayan had a First Amendment right to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, I won\u2019t listen to it,\u201d Hall said, before walking out of the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CAIR has spent decades positioning itself as the country\u2019s leading Muslim civil rights organization. But state and federal Republican leaders\u2019 attempts<\/a> to brand it as a terrorist front in recent months has tested CAIR\u2019s legal standing and cast suspicion on the group or anyone who associates with it. The organization, which has chapters around the country, is now also fighting fraying trust inside some Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth potential risks \u2014 notably, in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks in Kerrville, Texas, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n

Since Abbott\u2019s foreign terrorist designation, Imran Ghani, operations manager for CAIR\u2019s Houston chapter, said his office has dealt with stigma in some Muslim communities. While some Texas mosques and other groups have continued to invite CAIR speakers and collaborate on events, as they have regularly in the past, Ghani said at least a dozen Muslim groups in Houston have privately made it clear they are no longer willing to host the civil rights group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what the governor is intending to do: separate CAIR from the Muslim community, despite being a grassroots organization from within the Muslim community, and punish anybody that supports CAIR,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founded in 1994, CAIR bills itself as the largest group defending the civil rights of American Muslims and has long been trusted by a range of American Muslim communities. The organization has brought major lawsuits fighting government overreach and has built coalitions with other prominent advocacy groups. It also lobbies elected officials, and through its 501(c)4 arm, CAIR Action, the group has engaged in electoral work.<\/p>\n

But the Texas proclamation<\/a> announcing the terrorist designation for CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and \u201cany persons promoting or aiding their criminal activities\u201d could make the groups subject to criminal penalties and \u201cheightened enforcement,\u201d according to the order.<\/p>\n

The order also said affiliates would be prohibited from purchasing land, a particularly worrying provision for mosque leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Abbott\u2019s actions are targeted at radical groups like CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, who have proven ties to terrorism and seek to forcibly impose Sharia law on Texans,\u201d Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott\u2019s press secretary, said in an email to RNS on Friday (July 10). \u201cTexans demand leaders who uphold the rule of law and relentlessly pursue those who threaten it. It\u2019s shameful that these groups hide behind law-abiding members of their faith to deflect scrutiny from their own illegal conduct and activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s administration has invoked that designation in several instances, including to justify excluding<\/a> certain Islamic private schools from the state\u2019s voucher program over alleged ties to CAIR. Parents and schools sued to be eligible for the program<\/a> earlier this year and secured admission to it\u00a0through the legal system.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

People enter the headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (AP Photo\/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)<\/p>\n

The governor argued that CAIR \u201crepeatedly employed, affiliated with, and supported individuals promoting terrorism-related activities\u201d \u2014 allegations CAIR\u2019s national and local affiliates have denied and are challenging in court.<\/p>\n

The move came amid growing discriminatory rhetoric from political officials against Muslims in the state and beyond.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis also issued an executive order in January declaring CAIR a foreign terrorist organization. The group and its state chapter sued DeSantis in federal court and won an injunction in March,<\/a> but new state laws have expanded Florida\u2019s authority to both label and punish groups that officials deem are security threats.\u00a0In a July 1 lawsuit challenging the law<\/a>, lawyers for CAIR and CAIR-Florida wrote that the groups\u2019\u00a0\u201dspeech will be silenced, their doors will be shut, and they will be branded with the stigma of one of society\u2019s most infamous labels.\u201d<\/p>\n

CAIR has long fought allegations linking it to terrorism and a plot to infiltrate the U.S. government. An often-repeated claim stems from a federal trial against a now-defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation<\/a>. Five leaders of the group, who maintained they were involved in humanitarian work, were convicted in 2007 of diverting funds to Palestinian groups with ties to Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the trial, CAIR was named as one of almost 250 unindicted co-conspirators, without explanation. Critics have argued naming CAIR in the case was a legal tactic intended to allow prosecutors to introduce evidence but should have had no legal implications for CAIR. The group has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Mustafaa Carroll, interim executive director of CAIR-Texas, poses for a portrait on the Texas Capitol Complex grounds in Austin, Texas, on Monday, June 22, 2026. (RNS photo\/Angela Wang)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey listed any and everybody, prominent leaders \u2014 they were throwing a blanket, a cloud over the whole community,\u201d said Mustafaa Carroll, interim executive director of CAIR-Texas, who sat in on much of the trial in Dallas nearly two decades ago. \u201cThe cloud followed us (CAIR) specifically.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carroll said the list was meant to \u201cdisable\u201d Muslim communities and create distrust after the trial.<\/p>\n

Almost 20 years later, he fears the governor\u2019s order against CAIR is doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

Asked about relations with CAIR since the terrorist designation, multiple Texas mosque leaders declined to speak with RNS on the record. However, several sources told RNS they\u2019ve witnessed changes in mosque relationships with CAIR since last November.<\/p>\n

Azfar Saeed, a longtime Friso, Texas, resident and former board member of the Islamic Center of Frisco, said he believes CAIR is being used as a political boogeyman for the Texas Republican Party, which has made Muslims a top target.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Azfar Saeed. (RNS photo\/Fiona Andr\u00e9)<\/p>\n

While campaigning for Mark Hill, a Republican elected as Frisco\u2019s mayor in June, Saeed said CAIR came up repeatedly in conversations with voters. Hill ran in a tense runoff election against Republican Rod Vilhauer, who promised to drive out Frisco\u2019s Muslim and Hindu residents. Instead of asking about Hill\u2019s campaign issues, many residents questioned if Hill supported CAIR and Muslim residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (voters) are generalizing that all Muslims support CAIR, and CAIR supports terrorism, so Muslims are not good people,\u201d Saeed said.<\/p>\n

Saeed said he has spoken with Muslim leaders who have distanced themselves from CAIR out of fear that association with the group would expose their mosques to investigations or subpoenas. As many mosques operate month to month through community donations, they don\u2019t have the resources to fight legal battles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are playing it safe (to) see if this storm passes,\u201d Saeed said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saeed Purcell, an Irving, Texas, resident and a CAIR-Texas board member, said CAIR is \u201cthe political hot potato right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Purcell was part of conversations with leaders at the Islamic Center of Irving who were \u201creluctant to be too closely associated\u201d with CAIR, he said. He left his position as outreach coordinator with the mosque in June for unrelated reasons, he said.\u00a0Islamic Center of Irving leaders did not return requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey make decisions based on fear, running away from things they think could be negative,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd from my experience, running away from things often leads to a frying pan fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sameeha Rizvi, a civic engagement organizer with CAIR-Austin, said she has been invited to speak at Muslim conferences in Texas but has been asked not to publicize it until after the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re going to think that being any less Muslim, or any less associated with CAIR, is going make them safe, then what\u2019s the point of being a Muslim organization or a Muslim in this country?\u201d Rizvi asked.<\/p>\n

CAIR-Texas officials have said they are undeterred and are continuing local advocacy work<\/a>. Some Muslims who don\u2019t work for the group worry the long-term effect of the designation will hinder its ability to defend Muslims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCAIR is the kind of organization that has always stepped in,\u201d Saeed said. \u201cObviously, they cannot do this if they do not have the financial means to continue \u2026 they\u2019re not going to be as effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ghani, of CAIR-Houston, said fundraising for his chapter hit an all-time high after the designation. In Ramadan, a sacred month when Muslims are encouraged to increase charitable giving, community members raised over $500,000. He also said several local interfaith and advocacy groups publicly supported CAIR following the designation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this regard, I tend to thank Governor Abbott for all of the free publicity that he\u2019s given CAIR,\u201d Ghani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager of CAIR-Texas, right, speaks with Texas State Board of Education member Brandon Hall, left, in the Barbara Jordan Building on Monday, June 22, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (RNS photo\/Ulaa Kuziez)<\/p>\n

After her testimony at the board of education meeting, Zayan approached Hall, the board member who just minutes ago questioned her publicly about CAIR\u2019s alleged ties to terrorist activities. The exchange started warm. \u201cI feel like I know you so well, like we developed a good relationship over all of these hearings,\u201d Zayan said.<\/p>\n

Hall agreed. He then repeated his concerns with CAIR. Zayan pushed back, urging him to look at documents she left him debunking the claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, you come here and you present yourself as a nice woman, and that\u2019s great,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a nice woman from a nice civil rights organization,\u201d she interrupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019re \u2026 tied to terrorists,\u201d Hall said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first time she heard the label used against her, Zayan was shocked. But now, she said she\u2019s glad to join the ranks of civil rights leaders cast as threats for their advocacy. She vowed to remain steadfast in her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue telling the truth because for us, for me, it\u2019s not about the results \u2014 it\u2019s not about our safety or our convenience, it\u2019s about being on the right side of history,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fiona Andr\u00e9 contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) \u2014 It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,30486,30485,5055,392,25460,59746,27],"class_list":["post-370939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-cair","tag-council-on-american-islamic-relations","tag-governor","tag-greg-abbott","tag-mosques","tag-muslim","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370939","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=370939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}