{"id":28740,"date":"2026-05-18T08:07:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=28740"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:07:44","slug":"texas-cracks-down-on-unaccredited-islamic-university-after-legal-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=28740","title":{"rendered":"Texas Cracks Down on Unaccredited Islamic \u2018University\u2019 After Legal Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Reading Time:<\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An Islamic academic institution said to be \u201cunauthorized\u201d by the state of Texas has deleted its website following a threat of legal action by Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s office.\n<\/p>\n

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Formally known as the Texas American Muslim University, \u201cTexAM University,\u201d which operates as a nonprofit registered under the name Texas American Institute for Technology at Dallas, is not officially recognized as a university by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), the body that oversees all public post-secondary education in the state, according to officials.\n<\/p>\n

TexAM does not hold regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) nor is the organization listed on a\u00a0federal database of accredited post-secondary institutions and programs.\n<\/p>\n

On May 7, THECB sent a\u00a0letter\u00a0at the direction of the governor to TexAM University stating they were prohibited from using the term \u201cuniversity\u201d without a state-issued certificate of authority.\n<\/p>\n

The letter stated that \u201cTexAM claims to offer STEM degree programs and admissions to a variety of bachelor\u2019s degree programs. It must immediately cease this advertising and student enrollment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

According to the letter signed by THECB Associate Commissioner Daniel Perez, TexAM\u2019s website indicated it offered master\u2019s degree programs in artificial intelligence and bachelor\u2019s degree programs in \u201ccomputer science, IT, cybersecurity, and health informatics.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Just one day after that letter was sent, the Texas A&M University System issued a cease-and-desist letter for what officials called the \u201cunauthorized use of the Texas A&M University name and trademarks by a Muslim education entity in North Texas that is branding itself as \u2018TexAM University.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Texas A&M University System has a responsibility to protect the name and trademarks, which represent more than a century of academic excellence, public trust and institutional integrity,\u201d Chancellor Glenn Hegar of The Texas A&M University System said in a\u00a0statement.\u00a0\u201cWhen another organization uses branding that is similar, particularly in the same educational space, we must act to prevent confusion and protect the value of those marks.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

University officials said they were \u201cprepared to pursue all necessary legal remedies\u201d against TexAM if necessary.\n<\/p>\n

According to archived versions of the TexAM website, the would-be university\u2019s address was listed as 1100 E. Campbell Road in Richardson, the same address as the Dallas Diyanet Mosque and the Islamic Seminary of America.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether either organization is affiliated with the now-offline university.\n<\/p>\n

The Christian Post reached out for comment Monday to the contact info listed for TexAM University. This article will be updated if a response is received.\n<\/p>\n

Last November, Amir Omar, the mayor of Richardson,\u00a0attended\u00a0an event at the then-\u201cnewly established\u201d university, where he joined Chairman Shahid Bajwa and university President Ghulam Chaudhry to discuss the mayor\u2019s \u201cmoral support and guidance.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In an undated\u00a0video\u00a0of the appearance shared on social media, Omar said he personally helped TexAM leadership find a location for the fledgling institution.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally, almost like a real estate agent, was willing to walk them around and show them some of my favorite buildings,\u201d he said. \u201cSo maybe your second campus, as you grow out of this [building] \u2026 I would be more than thrilled to be a conduit, to connect you guys and your programs to industry that\u2019s here ready to be hiring people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Standing in front of a TexAM logo, the mayor \u2014 who\u00a0became\u00a0the first Muslim to serve as mayor of a Dallas-area city last May \u2014 also appeared to describe the local Muslim community as vying for more political power in Richardson and beyond. \u201cThere are some in our community that are politically impatient,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would love to have another congressman, another person at another higher level.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

CP reached out to the mayor\u2019s office Monday for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.\n<\/p>\n

The dust-up comes less than a week after a private event at a Texas city-owned waterpark was\u00a0canceled\u00a0in response to the governor\u2019s direct warning to withhold more than $500,000 in state public safety funding.\n<\/p>\n

The event at the city-owned Epic Indoors Waterpark was initially promoted with flyers describing it as \u201cMuslims only\u201d and included a modest dress code requiring burkinis for women, halal food, a private prayer room and rules encouraging attendees to maintain personal space and \u201clower the gaze\u201d of their eyes around the opposite sex.\n<\/p>\n

After backlash on social media, organizers updated promotional materials to state that \u201call are welcome,\u201d provided attendees follow the modest dress code.\n<\/p>\n

What do you think about Texas\u2019 response to this controversial institution? Share your thoughts and prayers below.<\/h4>\n

This article was originally published at The Christian Post. Photo Credit: Gabriel Tovar on Unsplash.<\/em>
\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: 3 minutes An Islamic academic institution said to be \u201cunauthorized\u201d by the state of Texas has deleted its website following a threat of legal action by Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s office. Become a Monthly Ministry Partner today. \u00a0 Formally known as the Texas American Muslim University, \u201cTexAM University,\u201d which operates as a nonprofit registered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4088,727,401,725,2262,9506,324],"class_list":{"0":"post-28740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-prayer","8":"tag-cracks","9":"tag-islamic","10":"tag-legal","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-threats","13":"tag-unaccredited","14":"tag-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}