An Islamic organization raising money for a new 40,000-square-foot campus in North Texas says the facility will serve as a hub for Islamic education, religious outreach, and leadership development as one of its leaders declares, “We want Islam for this country.”
Authentic Ilm Mission, or AIM, is developing the campus on a four-acre property in Richardson that previously housed Korean World Mission Baptist Church.
AIM’s website states that the project includes a Mosque, Islamic education center, a Seminary, Da’wah training, and community service.
The organization, which is led by Dr. Karim AbuZaid and Shaykh Uthman ibn Farooq, is seeking donations to complete the project and says the campus will help develop future Muslim educators, religious leaders and community organizers.
AIM’s website says the fundraising campaign had raised $300,000 toward an $800,000 goal as of its latest posted figures. The organization listed Sept. 30 as the deadline for the remaining funds, although it is unclear whether the full amount was raised by that date. The fundraising campaign remains active on the organization’s website.
The site also states that approximately 1,500 donors from 50 countries have contributed to the project.
AIM’s Vision for the Campus
AIM promoted the Richardson project during a September event at the Sufaraa Center in McKinney, where Farooq and AbuZaid discussed plans for the facility and solicited donations.
The event focused in part on the proposed Da’wah center, which Farooq described as a place where Muslim youth could receive religious instruction and learn how to respond to challenges to Islamic teachings.
Farooq said the center’s classes would help “educate our youth to have that knowledge” and enable them to “refute Christian apologists and Islamophobes and hadith-rejectors and anybody else that’s trying to deviate Islam,” according to The Federalist.
Farooq also spoke about Islam’s place in the United States.
“We love this country,” Farooq said during the event. “We want good for this country. And that’s why we want Islam for this country, ’cause we think that’s the best thing. And we’re not going to be ashamed of that.”
Farooq also said Muslims have a constitutional right to believe in Sharia.
“We’re Muslims. That’s our identity, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Farooq said, according to The Federalist. “The Constitution of this country protects that. That’s our right to believe in the Sharia.”
The Federalist also reported that Farooq works with the One Message Foundation, an Islamic organization whose website says it has helped nearly 1,500 people convert to Islam during the World Cup.
From Baptist church to Islamic campus
The Richardson property has a history as a Christian church before being acquired for the Islamic project.
Salahuddin Future Academy purchased the property after a legal dispute with Korean World Mission Baptist Church over an earlier purchase agreement.
The Daily Signal previously reported that the academy and church entered into a $3.8 million purchase agreement in October 2025. The church later disputed the agreement, saying its representative did not understand that he was signing a sales contract.
The lawsuit was withdrawn without prejudice in April, and the property was ultimately sold to the academy for less than the original contract price. AIM later confirmed that the purchase had been completed.
The former church property is now being incorporated into AIM’s planned campus.
However, the campus isn’t the only controversial part of the story.
AIM’s promotional material features an animation showing a Christian church transitioning into the proposed Islamic facility.
That imagery drew criticism from Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, who highlighted the animation in a post on X.
“The homepage of the group raising money for a new 40,000 square foot Islamic facility near Plano, TX prominently features a Christian church being replaced by a mosque,” Roberts wrote. “Islamists are not here to ‘coexist’ or assimilate. They are here to conquer and replace America’s Christian heritage with Sharia.”
Roberts’ comments represent his characterization of the project and its broader significance. AIM, meanwhile, describes the campus as a center for Islamic education, worship, religious outreach, leadership development and community services.
AIM’s website states that the project has raised $300,000 and needed $800,000 by Sept. 30, although it is unclear if they met their goal by the deadline, but the fundraiser remains active.
The website also showed where the donations were coming from with 1,500 donors from 5o countries helping to get the project underway.
While the project itself is controversial, one thing that caught many’s eyes was the animation on AIM’s website, which shows a Christian church being transformed into an Islamic campus.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted on X that the image represents something beyond simple religious expansion.
“The homepage of the group raising money for a new 40,000 square foot Islamic facility near Plano, TX prominently features a Christian church being replaced by a mosque,” Roberts wrote. “Islamists are not here to ‘coexist’ or assimilate. They are here to conquer and replace America’s Christian heritage with Sharia.”
The livestreamed event seemed to validate Roberts concerns, as Farooq said “we want Islam for this country.”
Broader Islamic outreach
The Richardson campus is part of AIM’s broader effort to establish Islamic educational and religious institutions in North Texas.
AIM describes its own mission as developing Muslim leaders and educators while providing religious education and da’wah.
The organization’s planned Richardson campus would bring those efforts together in one location, combining a mosque, school, seminary, religious training and community services.
According to AIM’s own materials, the organization intends for the Richardson campus to serve as a long-term center for Islamic education, outreach and leadership development in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
