A Muslim organization has purchased a Baptist church in Richardson after engaging in a lawsuit with the previous owners over a signing dispute. The organization announced plans to convert the church campus into a Muslim school, seminary, and mosque, in addition to other uses.
Salahuddin Future Academy (SAFA), the purchaser of the property, is a K-12 educational entity that states part of its mission is to “connect learning to Islamic principles by integrating the rich texts of the Quran and Hadith into every aspect of the Common Core standards” through a curriculum they describe as “Islamization of Knowledge.”
SAFA purchased the property from the Korean World Mission Baptist Church, which states on its website that it has owned the property since 1992. Some of the church’s prayers include that the people would “love Jesus more than anything else” and that the church would “[be a place] where Jesus’ disciples are made,” according to a translation from Korean.
“Our church’s mission is to live a life that brings glory to God by transforming people into God’s children and Jesus’ disciples,” according to a translation from Korean.
According to The Dallas Express, SAFA sued the Baptist church in February. The lawsuit was filed over SAFA’s claims that the church allegedly signed a contract in October of last year to sell the property for $3.8 million.
After SAFA allegedly paid $38,000 in earnest money and expected the transaction to close in May, the Korean Baptist Church stated that the pastor misunderstood what he was signing, thinking it was a listing agreement. This prompted SAFA to file the lawsuit to push the sale forward and seek more than $1 million in damages. The suit was dismissed in April without a ruling on the merits.
In conjunction with SAFA, Authentic Ilm Mission (AIM) has plans to open the Dawah Academy & Seminary on the property. Described as “America’s first national residential Dawah seminary,” the academy offers pathways ranging from an entry-level intensive to a “Bachelor’s Degree in Islamic Studies.”
“We are dedicated to cultivating knowledgeable, principled, and effective leaders who can represent Islam with wisdom, defend the truth with evidence, and carry the prophetic legacy into every sphere of modern life.”
The property will reportedly also house a mosque.
In a video posted to the AIM Facebook account, a speaker for AIM boasted that Korean World Mission Baptist Church “was a church that used to train missionaries to try to give Da’wah (evangelization) to Muslims to leave Islam, but … now we’re going to buy this place.” During this comment, the phrase “Muslim haters!!” was flashed on the screen.
The purchase of the former Baptist church property comes as concerns continue to rise over Islam’s influence in Texas.
At a recent mosque open house in Plano, a speaker announced that “Sharia is already here.” Another man, who claimed to have “lived under full force of Sharia law (in Iran)”, warned of “apostasy laws, where they’re being killed for leaving their religion in my country, Iran.”
While Islam makes up just 2 percent of the population of Texas, the state holds what some estimates claim is the fifth-largest population of Muslims in the nation and Islam is widely cited as the fastest-growing religion in the world.
