Can’t make it to Mecca this year? Don’t worry—there’s a version of it right in the heart of Texas. That’s right. One of Houston’s many controversial Islamic schools has decided that a trip to Saudi Arabia isn’t necessary when you can simulate the sacred Islamic pilgrimage—Hajj—on American soil. Not in Tehran. Not in Qom. But in Houston, Texas.
While Christians can’t build churches in Mecca, and Jews and non-Muslims are completely banned from even entering the holy Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina, Muslims in America are being handed the keys to recreate these same religious spaces right in your backyard—often with the full protection of U.S. laws and nonprofit tax exemptions—all under the label of ‘education.’”
Let that sink in.
The Shia Islamic School That Feels Like Iran
The school in question is Al-Hadi School, named after the 10th Shia Imam, Ali al-Hadi—a revered figure in Twelver Shia Islam. Located on a sprawling 10-acre campus in southwest Houston, this private Islamic institution is not American in any meaningful civic or cultural sense. It functions as a Shia ideological enclave, guided by the Ja’fari Isna Ashari school of jurisprudence—the very same doctrine that forms the legal backbone of Iran’s theocratic regime. While advancing this foreign-aligned agenda, Al-Hadi enjoys full 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, meaning donations to the school are tax-deductible under U.S. law.
This isn’t some generic “values-based” school like your average Catholic or Christian academy. Al-Hadi openly declares its mission:
“The Jafari Isna Ashari school of thought is the basis for our beliefs and practices.”
“The inclusion of Islamic Principles in the curriculum with an emphasis on ideology and morality is necessary to instill proper values and behavior in students, and to prepare them to be Momins (practicing and believing Muslims).” […]
— Read More: rairfoundation.com