U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is asking the U.S. Departments of Justice, War, and the Treasury to investigate a planned Islamic community in Bexar County located about 30 minutes from a military installation.
Roy (R–Austin) cited “ties to nefarious groups, questionable funding sources, and faith leaders espousing violent and terroristic rhetoric” as areas of concern.
In the Wednesday letter, Roy mentions an August 14, 2026, report by the Rise Align Ignite Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation that called attention to the burgeoning community.
The Northside Islamic Center of San Antonio (NICSA) describes itself as a “fostering environment that promotes spiritual and devotional growth and to inspire true and meaningful worship.” NICSA has reportedly purchased more than seven acres to build a mosque and other facilities.
A document found in the RAIR report states that the project “will feature a 33,000 sqft state of the art double story building with dedicated prayer spaces for men, women and children along with classrooms & offices, libraries, conference rooms and recreational areas,” as well as future plans for “a residential project in the adjacent land that will not only serve as a means for increasing our attendance but also provide income sustainability for our Masjid operations.”
RAIR also alleges “NICSA has expressed its long-term goal of establishing a K-12 Islamic school.”
The NICSA project site is “located near Stone Oak, one of San Antonio’s flourishing, more affluent northern suburbs,” according to the RAIR report, which alleges that the site will be just a 16-mile drive from the Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation.
Camp Bullis comprises over 27,000 acres in Bexar County, and provides training for the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Texas National Guard.
NICSA describes “proper Islamic theology and methodology” as the “bulwark against terrorism, extremism, and antipathy.”
However, RAIR alleges that NICSA has certain associations that seem to conflict with that statement.
Imam AbdulRahman Kattab, an Egyptian national raised in Saudi Arabia whom NICSA calls its “Resident Scholar/Imam”, has described the October 7 Hamas attacks as “a day of remembrance.”
[October 7 was] a day where a group of people who were practically so weak, few, they didn’t have any advanced technology weapons, decided that this is the time to bring the Ummah (i.e., the collective community of Muslim people) back to life … May Allah perfect the victory that they have begun on the ground.
According to RAIR, Kattab also allegedly referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as “the Persians,” a statement Congressman Roy stated “could be interpreted as showing sympathy” to an organization “designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (by the United States in 2019) due to its 40-year history of engaging in terrorism.”
Roy also expressed concern regarding “NICSA Islamic leaders [partnering] with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The Muslim Brotherhood has been labeled a terrorist organization by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, banned in Jordan, and opposed by France.
Recently, a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing chaired by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz discussed the ties between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
The RAIR report describes how “NICSA’s plans perfectly reflect the Muslim Brotherhood’s long-term strategy of building parallel societies inside the West.”
In response, Roy states that the partnership, proximity to Camp Bullis, and fundraising for the project by the Muslim Brotherhood “suggests these entities are a part of a possible terror network” and that “NISCA has solicited donations for its Islamic community project from unknown international sources, which could be from potential bad actors or organizations.”
Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a ban on “Sharia compounds” and later directed various Texas officials to investigate the existence of Islamic Sharia tribunals in the Dallas area.
“Legal disputes in Texas must be decided on American law rooted in the fundamental principles of American due process, not according to Sharia law dispensed in modern day star chambers,” said Abbott in his letter.
Roy’s letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent warns that “Sharia subjugates women, children, and non-Muslims to second-class citizenship while sanctioning varying forms of punishment for those opposed.”
“Under no circumstances should Sharia, or any foreign legal code, be practiced on U.S. soil, including community developments,” said Roy.
“I respectfully request your respective agency’s assistance in reviewing NICSA’s efforts to establish a community center near Camp Bullis, and to carefully examine whether any criminal, civil, financial, or immigration statutes have been violated in its effort to fulfill its campus expansion project.”
NICSA has not announced a formal construction timeline, though the organization has stated that the project is “approaching the finish line.” The organization, along with Imam Kattab, have not responded to a request for comment on the letter by Roy.
