Texas Islamic Scholar Dr. Yasir Qadhi, Driving Force Behind Islamic 'EPIC City' Project: We Will Not Cower Down, We Are the True Followers of Jesus and We Will Show What It Means to Be Believers in Go
In a March 28, 2025, Friday sermon at the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) in Texas, Islamic scholar Dr. Yasir Qadhi addressed the backlash against the EPIC City 'faith-based' housing development project he is championing. He rejected the 'misinformation' spread about the Islamic faith and the EPIC mosque, emphasizing that they are exercising the freedoms and constitutional rights afforded to them as Americans. Dr. Qadhi urged his listeners not to 'cower down' and accept what he described as the 'second-class citizenship' of Muslims. 'We are taking advantage of our constitutional rights,' he stated.
Dr. Qadhi, the chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America and a prominent leader of the U.S. Muslim community, also commented on the situation in Palestine, saying, 'It is all part of the agenda to demonize and criminalize our faith. They want to make Islam look bad to justify what is happening over there.' He added, 'We are the true followers of Jesus […] We will demonstrate for them what it means to be believers in God.'
The East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) is planning to develop a community-centered residential project in Texas, spanning over 400 acres and featuring more than 1,000 residences, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school, a community college, and commercial shopping facilities.
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Under various historical circumstances over the past 30 years, the leaders of Iran's Islamic revolutionary regime have made tactical concessions when facing a genuine military threat. The regime grants these concessions religious legitimacy based on Shi'ite Islamic history. It should be clarified that the Iranian regime is a religious-messianic regime that bases its activity on a systematic ideology and religious principles that it draws on as needed to justify its actions. According to the regime, such concessions are a tactical way to circumvent serious obstacles so as to achieve its strategic goals. Tactical concessions are essential when under Western pressure, so as to continue to pursue the aims of the Islamic revolution. Iran's nuclear program, which is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons, is a strategic goal. 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The book justifies Hassan's decision to sign a peace treaty ceding the caliphate, because he was in a much weaker position than the Sunni Mu'awiya and his forces and feared that war with them would endanger his Shi'ite community and religion. The conditions Hassan set for his concession to Mu'awiya were aimed at ensuring that the peace would be temporary. For his translation of the book, Khamenei added to the title "The Peace Treaty of Hassan" the subtitle "The Most Heroic and Glorious Flexibility [narmash-e kaharmananeh, ] in History," underlining Hassan's tactical decision in negotiating with forces much stronger than his. The following are some examples of instances in which Iran's Islamic revolutionary regime made tactical concessions to boost its position when facing a stronger force. 1. During the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Khamenei, when in prison, began collaborating with the shah's security forces. He and his followers called this "heroic flexibility," narmash-e kaharmananeh (see Name Description (Sharh-e Esm) – Biography of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei). 2. In July 1988, the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, agreed to a ceasefire with Iraq (UN Security Council Resolution 598) after eight years of war and economic devastation to Iran.[2] In October 2012, an article by Iranian Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohi Al-Din Haeri Shirazi was published on Khamenei's website; it compared Khomeini's decision to stop the war to the Shi'ite Imam Hassan's decision to cede the caliphate to the Sunni Mu'awiya. In a July 2013 interview on the anniversary of UNSC Resolution 598, Expediency Council chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was also Khomeini's right-hand man and president of Iran, compared Khomeini's decision to the Imam Hassan's decision to sign a peace treaty with the Sunni Mu'awiya. 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On Khamenei's website, the term "heroic flexibility" was explained as follows: "We do not oppose correct and logical diplomatic moves... I have for years believed in what is called 'heroic flexibility.' Flexibility is highly essential in certain places; it is very good. There's nothing wrong with it, but this wrestler, who is fighting against his rival, and in certain places shows flexibility for technical reasons, must not forget who his enemy is and what he is doing. This is the main condition [for concessions]." Khamenei made these statements to IRGC commanders on September 17, 2019. "Heroic flexibility means artistic navigation to achieve the goal. This means that if you walk in the path of God, you must... use various methods in all forms and all possible ways to achieve the Islamic goal and ideals... Some have interpreted this [term] to mean compromising on the Islamic regime's ideals and goals... This is a mistake... There are goals. The Islamic regime works to achieve these goals at every stage, to advance, to reach the excellent points and the summit, to create a great Islamic civilization... Of course, this is a gradual, piece-by-piece approach." Khamenei made these statements to 50,000 Basij operatives on November 20, 2013.[3] 5. In 2023, Khamenei again used the term "heroic flexibility" to allow talks with the Biden administration, with the aim of obtaining a lifting of all the American sanctions and U.S. recognition of Iran as a nuclear threshold state. On his website, he explained the term as "finding a way to overcome all the difficult obstacles and to continue on the path to achieve the goal." Khamenei said this on May 20, 2023.[4] 6. In February 2017, Iran removed a long-range ballistic missile that it was about to launch after the Trump administration issued an official warning. See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 1305, Facing Trump Administration, Iran Shows Fear And Military Self-Restraint, Halts Provocations, Threats, And Incitement – While Boosting Morale At Home And Delegating The Bulk Of Conflict To Its Proxies, March 20, 2017. It should be noted that now too, in the nuclear talks amid American and European pressure and President Trump's threats, Iranian negotiators are using ambiguous conciliatory statements, for example, that Iran "will not accept demands without something actual in exchange" and that "America has no choice but to recognize Iran's right to enrich [uranium] to the agreed percentage." At the same time, Iranian spokesmen have announced several times that "we have no intention of leaving the negotiating table." * Yigal Carmon is Founder and President of MEMRI; Ayelet Savyon is Director of the MEMRI Iran Media Studies Project.
