Why Was the “Epic Eid” Event Canceled in Texas?
Regular readers of the GTA Muslims Today Newsletter may recall our April 30, 2026, issue, which reported on a Texas (Travis County) judge approving the development of the Muslim-led project known as EPIC (East Plano Islamic Center) City in Dallas. The chief critic of this development was Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, who also plays a central role in this latest controversy.
Abbott’s deep-rooted hostility toward Muslims is not a recent development. A study by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, released just two days before the Travis County judgment, traced the current surge in anti-Muslim sentiment among Americans—especially among those with Republican leanings—back to a social media post by Abbott in early 2025.
Since then, Republican officials have collectively published more than 1,100 Islamophobic posts on their official media accounts, according to the Center’s report titled “Manufacturing the Muslim Threat: Inside the GOP’s Anti-Muslim Social Media and Legislative Campaign.”
The report highlighted that “Republican members of Congress and governors have promoted conspiracy theories about Muslim Americans, called for the deportation and denaturalization of Muslims, and issued negative portrayals of Islam. They have described U.S. cities with significant Muslim populations as ‘conquered‘ or ‘invaded‘ and have falsely framed domestic terror attacks as Muslim-led.”
This trend began with Abbott’s February 24, 2025, post on X, in which he attacked the proposed Muslim “City” (EPIC) as an example of the “Sharia cities” banned under state law. That post garnered 3.6 million views, 57,000 likes, and prompted a wave of right-wing social media influencers who began discussing “Sharia Law,” “Sharia takeover,” and “creeping Sharia,” according to the 39-page report.
Against this backdrop, the latest Islamophobic incident involving Abbott is, unfortunately, not surprising.
On May 5, 2026, it was announced that Epic Waters, a taxpayer-funded waterpark in Grand Prairie, Texas, was forced to cancel its ‘Muslim-only’ event titled “Epic Eid,” scheduled for June 1, 2026, to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. This event required tickets, priced up to $55 each. The organizers had to make a quick decision after Abbott threatened to cancel hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funding to the waterpark.
Abbott further pressed the issue, stating on X, “The City must cancel the event and commit to never allowing something like it again by May 11 or lose $530,000 in state grants. Let this be a lesson to local officials,” he threatened.
The backlash was not limited to politics. The very title “Epic Eid” was criticized on social media, with many questioning whether a taxpayer-funded venue should host ‘exclusive’ events for specific groups.
Meanwhile, as American Muslims face this inexplicable hostility from Abbott, some in the community are perplexed by the actions of a Muslim millionaire, Syed Javaid Anwar, who seems to be in close relations with the controversial governor. Anwar, a Muslim oil executive from Midland, has donated millions to Abbott’s campaigns, even as Abbott continues to speak negatively about Sharia law and labels the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations.
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