Location: United States
A proposed Muslim-centered neighborhood in Texas—dubbed “EPIC City”—is sparking a firestorm of controversy, with critics warning it may introduce elements of Sharia law into U.S. governance. The 400-acre project, backed by the East Plano Islamic Center and Community Capital Partners, aims to build 1,000 homes, a mosque, Islamic schools, a college, and shops catering to the Muslim community in Josephine, Texas. State officials aren’t having it. Governor Greg Abbott vowed, “The proposed community will never see the light of day,” and ordered five investigations, while Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a consumer protection probe citing EPIC’s profit structure and transparency issues. Rep. Jeff Leach warned the plan could “circumvent state law under the guise of cultural or religious accommodation.” EPIC’s lead imam, Dr. Yasir Qadhi, pushed back from the pulpit, defending the project as an exercise of American freedoms: “We are taking advantage of our constitutional rights—not doing anything more than what the constitution allows us.” He also claimed the backlash is part of a broader agenda to “demonize our faith” in the shadow of the war in Gaza.
Location: Canada
A bombshell Canadian audit has exposed what appears to be a potential covert Islamist power network embedded within a mainstream charity. The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC)—which runs dozens of schools and mosques across the country—was found by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to be advancing the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist movement founded in Egypt and banned in several countries for its ties to extremism. According to a report from George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, MAC’s leaders weren’t just ideologically aligned—they were active players: several held senior roles in Egypt’s Brotherhood-backed Morsi government. The CRA also uncovered seamless membership transfers between MAC and Brotherhood groups abroad, writing: “It is not entirely clear how the Organization, which purports to be entirely Canadian-based… is able to transfer membership to and from foreign organizations.” Even more alarming, MAC gave over $295,000 to IRFAN-Canada—a group later designated as a terrorist entity for sending millions to Hamas—and continued promoting its activities even after the designation. The CRA concluded that MAC wasn’t merely inspired by Islamist ideology; it was acting as part of a global Brotherhood infrastructure, right from Canadian soil.
Location: United States
Despite his track record of glorifying Hezbollah and antisemitism, radical Shia Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, who has a long history of ties to the Iranian regime, met with democratic Congresswomen Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib at his religious institution, the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn. Elahi previously served as the head of the Iranian Navy’s political-ideological office and has met directly with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. He is widely viewed as a key mouthpiece for Tehran in the U.S., using his platform to amplify the regime’s anti-Israel propaganda and promote its terror proxies. In a post following the meeting, Elahi claimed “community members voiced their deep frustration over Israel’s violations” and demanded the Congresswomen condemn Israeli actions in Lebanon. Elahi praised the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “a day of victory for morality, truth, justice, and humanity,” and has openly celebrated those who “sacrificed in Lebanon and Yemen” for the Iranian-backed cause. Despite these extremist positions, Elahi has repeatedly met with senior U.S. officials—including Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris, and John Kerry—exposing a troubling disconnect between America’s stated opposition to terrorism and the political normalization of one of Islamic Republic’s most vocal supporters in the U.S.
Location: United Kingdom
The UK’s new Faith Minister, Lord Wajid Khan, is facing fierce backlash after being filmed kissing the hand of Maulana Tariq Jamil—a hardline Pakistani cleric with deep ties to Islamist extremism—during the imam’s visit to Burnley. Jamil, a leading figure in the Deobandi movement that has inspired radical ideologies across South Asia, has praised the Taliban, called for women to remain at home rather than join the workforce, and notoriously claimed COVID-19 was divine punishment caused by “scantily dressed” women. The video, broadcast to millions via Jamil’s YouTube channel, shows Lord Khan warmly welcoming the cleric before hosting a formal, flag-draped meeting with him. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick demanded answers: “Why is a Government Minister responsible for community relations meeting with a cleric who has made extreme outbursts?” Though Lord Khan insists the encounter was uninvited and unrelated to official duties, critics say the optics dangerously blur the line between diplomacy and endorsement, warning that cozying up to fundamentalists undermines Britain’s commitment to pluralism and women’s rights.
Location: Azerbaijan
In a chilling escalation of Iran’s global terror campaign, Azerbaijani and Western security officials have revealed that the Iranian regime offered a Georgian drug trafficker $200,000 to assassinate Rabbi Shneor Segal, a prominent Jewish leader in Baku. The plot—part of a broader trend of Tehran outsourcing political assassinations to criminal networks—was masterminded by the IRGC’s notorious Quds Force and included plans to attack a Jewish educational center. “The [Iranian] officer handed Aslanov a photo of a prominent Jewish figure in Azerbaijan and detailed instructions on how to kill him,” said a security source. Authorities intercepted the plot before it could unfold, arresting both the hitman and his local accomplice. The operation is just one in a growing string of Iranian attempts to murder Jews and dissidents abroad, including previous foiled plots targeting the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, journalist Masih Alinejad in the U.S., and even a defector in Canada using members of the Hells Angels. As Israel’s war with Hamas intensifies, Iran appears to be stepping up its shadow war beyond the Middle East—using proxies, criminals, and terrorist cells to strike Jewish targets worldwide.
