Islamist influence in Texas remains a real and ongoing concern. For more than a decade, money has continued to flow into the state from non-profits, non-governmental organizations (NGO), disaster relief groups, and even from the state agencies, to push a Muslim-centric ideology.
It was just last year that Gov. Greg Abbott issued the proclamation to designate both the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.
“The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable,” Abbott’s proclamation states.
Abbott details cases in which both the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have sought to aid and promote Islamist ideas and organizations, such as Hamas, in Texas and throughout the world.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist fundamentalist organization, was founded in Egypt in the 1920s and spread throughout the Arab world over the following decades.
CAIR describes itself as a “nonprofit, grassroots civil rights and advocacy organization.” It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Hamas, a Palestinian nationalist and fellow Sunni fundamentalist group, has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood following the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and a number of Arab states, including Egypt.
While CAIR, as a nonprofit entity, is not required to publicly disclose its donors, ongoing litigation in Minnesota has ordered disclosure of donations by “any individual or entity within, or any governmental entity of, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or Kuwait from 2007 to 2014,” indicating that alleged foreign funding is a real issue. Similarly, but more explicitly, the Muslim Brotherhood has direct ties to Qatar — where the terrorist organization is given “safe haven” from prosecution.
For decades, Qatar has long remained in a gray zone with fundamentalist ideologies.
Going all the way back to the 1990s, the Gulf country hosted and, allegedly, facilitated fundraising for al Qaeda-linked charities that facilitate Islamist militancy. A U.S. House Committee in 2003 flagged these charities as conduits for al Qaeda funds.
“By clothing their militant activity with charitable ideals,” the testimony describes, “Arab-Afghan leaders discovered that they were able to slip below the radar of many international intelligence agencies.”
According to a U.S. Justice Department brief, the terrorist organizations understood that “the charities would receive funds that could be withdrawn in cash and a portion of the money used for legitimate relief purposes and another portion diverted for al Qaeda operations …The money for al Qaeda operations would nevertheless be listed in the charities’ books as expenses for building mosques or schools or feeding the poor or the needy.”
Over the course of the following decades, evidence continued to mount concerning Qatari support for Islamist extremism.
Qatar sponsored media propaganda, provided material support, and shielded Islamist movements (like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood) during the 2011 Arab Spring. In 2012, it allowed Hamas to establish a political office in Doha, which remains operative.
Additionally, a 2014 U.S. State Department letter concedes that Qatar is open to working towards peace in the region, but that “while Qatar sees the growth of extremist groups… as direct challenges to its own security and interests in the region, its disruption of terrorist financing by Qatari individuals and charitable associations remains inconsistent.”
After Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006, taking full control in 2007, it was Qatar that endorsed the terrorist group and pledged $400 million towards “a transformational infusion of cash at a time when foreign aid to the Palestinian territories has been in free fall,” as described by The New York Times. Qatar has been reported as “Hamas’ most important financial backer and foreign ally,” providing $1.8 billion to the terrorist group since 2012. Then, beginning in 2018, Qatar sent hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Gaza Strip, with the approval and facilitation of Israel, on the grounds it would be used to “prevent a humanitarian disaster.”
Critics argue that the funding, and harboring of Hamas leaders in Qatar, has been used “to enhance, to cement [Hamas’] grip on Gaza.” Leaders in Qatar have rejected the accusations.
During his first stint in the White House, President Donald Trump fired off a series of posts that cast Qatar as facilitating “radical ideology.” That same year, former U.S. officials raised concerns about Qatari support for terrorism — “I don’t know instances in which Qatar aggressively goes after (terror finance) networks of Hamas, Taliban, Al-Qaeda,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated.
During a 2018 House National Security Subcommittee hearing, Qatar was shown to be a central actor in facilitating Muslim Brotherhood, and affiliated movements, terrorist activities by providing both financial support and safe harbor in the county.
Information supporting the notion that Qatar is a facilitator for terrorism around the globe continues to gather steam. But outside the direct donations to extremist groups, money is through the use of “foreign gifts” to American universities — in an effort to further tighten their grip on suffocating Western values.
Qatar Foundation
Qatar Foundation (QF) is a state-led organization owned and directed by the Qatari government. Founded in 1995 by then-Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, it operates as a non-profit but spearheads Qatar’s national efforts to position itself as a regional and global leader in education, science, and cultural development. As a government-supported entity, QF aligns closely with Qatar’s strategic priorities, including soft power projection through education and research partnerships. A key vehicle for QF’s influence in the United States is Qatar Foundation International (QFI), its U.S.-based non-profit subsidiary established to promote Arabic language education. QFI provides grants to public K-12 schools and universities to establish or expand Arabic programs, often framing these as cultural enrichment initiatives.
In Texas, QFI has directly funded Arabic language and culture programs in several districts, raising questions about the content and implications of such foreign-backed curricula in public education. For instance, at Manara Academy, a public charter school in Irving, QFI-supported activities have included classroom materials featuring maps of the “Arab world” that exclude Israel entirely, replacing it with “Palestine.” Photos shared by QFI highlighted a teacher displaying such a map as part of an “Arab Culture Arts Program,” prompting concerns about biased or one-sided portrayals of the Middle East in taxpayer-funded schools. Similar funding has supported Arabic immersion and language programs elsewhere in the state:
- Austin Independent School District (AISD) received a $100,000 grant from QFI in 2016 to launch a new Arabic language and culture program, funding teacher salaries, curriculum development, instructional materials, and other resources.
- Houston Independent School District (HISD) obtained an $85,000 grant (with earlier reports citing $75,000 to start its Arabic Immersion Magnet School), supporting immersion programs that integrate Arabic language with cultural studies.
These grants, while presented as educational enhancements, occur amid broader criticism that QFI-influenced materials can omit or distort key historical and geopolitical facts, potentially advancing narratives aligned with Qatari foreign policy interests.
Beyond K-12 education, QF and related Qatari entities have funneled substantial funds into Texas universities, often through research contracts and gifts that fall under federal Section 117 reporting requirements (which mandate disclosure of foreign gifts and contracts of $250,000 or more to the U.S. Department of Education). Concerns persist about underreporting, lack of transparency, and the sensitivity of the research involved.
Notable examples include:
- Texas A&M University has received over $197 million through the Qatar National Research Fund (a QF affiliate) for research contracts. Additional undisclosed funds—estimated at over $100 million routed through the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)—have supported projects in sensitive areas like nuclear proliferation research, cybersecurity, and related technologies. TEES specializes in these fields, and critics argue that contracts exchange access to sensitive intellectual property (IP) for Qatari funding, with some agreements granting Qatar ownership or control over resulting IP.
- The University of Texas at Austin has benefited from QFI grants to Arabic faculty, supporting research and program development.
- Under Section 117 disclosures, other Texas institutions have reported Qatari funds, including Rice University (approximately $500,000) and the University of Houston (over $1.6 million).
Qatar Harvey Fund
The Qatar Harvey Fund represents yet another avenue through which Qatari state money has flowed into Texas, this time framed as humanitarian aid in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in 2017. The fund, which committed a total of $30 million from the State of Qatar for long-term recovery efforts in southeast Texas, serves as what its own materials describe as “a commitment of solidarity between the people of Qatar and the people of Texas.” The Qatar Harvey Fund was created directly by His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar — the same leader whose government has provided billions in support to Hamas as well as safe haven for Hamas political leaders in Doha. Qatar’s documented role as Hamas’ most important financial backer and foreign ally — totaling over $1.8 billion since 2012—raises questions about the broader motives behind such “generous” outreach to American communities, even in the context of disaster relief. To administer the $30 million gift, Qatar established an advisory board featuring prominent Texas figures, including:
Eileen Lawal, President of the Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy
Renu Khator, Chancellor of the University of Houston System
Graciela Saenz, attorney and former Houston City Council member
Bill White, former Mayor of Houston
The board, chaired by Qatar’s Ambassador to the U.S. (with additional oversight from figures like former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Chase Untermeyer), guided the disbursement of funds toward education, housing, community development, and veteran support projects. While the aid addressed real needs, such as scholarships for students displaced by the storm, home repairs, and community center renovations, critics note that foreign state-directed philanthropy from a nation with ties to Islamist groups can serve dual purposes: genuine relief on the surface, while building influence, goodwill, and long-term relationships in key American regions. A notable example of this funding’s reach into Texas education came through grants to Houston Community College (HCC). In 2019, the Qatar Harvey Fund provided $300,000 (in partnership with the Rebuild Texas Fund) to establish the Qatar Harvey Fund Scholarship program for HCC students impacted by the hurricane. These scholarships assisted those who had withdrawn from classes due to storm-related hardships, allowing them to re-enroll. HCC administrators praised the initiative effusively: “This is a great partnership,” they wrote. “It has been an outstanding opportunity for our staff and faculty. Both parties are excited about the bright future we have together.” The program ultimately awarded scholarships to 167 students, with funds fully disbursed by July 2020.
While the Harvey Fund has been fully allocated and presented as a one-time humanitarian effort, it fits into the larger pattern of Qatari investments in Texas, from university research contracts and K-12 Arabic programs to disaster relief, that extend Doha’s soft power footprint.
Why it’s bad
While the Qatar Harvey Fund has been presented as a selfless act of international friendship intended to address genuine needs in storm-ravaged Texas, the source of these funds, the Qatari state itself, cannot be separated from its well-documented role as a primary enabler of Islamist extremism.
The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable: The Qatari government maintains deep, longstanding, and direct ties to both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, providing financial lifelines, safe haven, and political backing to these organizations while channeling funds into Texas under the banner of education, culture, and humanitarian aid.
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh reportedly described Qatar as “Hamas’s main artery” for fundraising in communications with Qatari officials, underscoring Doha’s central role in sustaining the terrorist group. Seized documents from Gaza further reveal that in 2021, Haniyeh wrote that Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had “agreed in principle to supply the resistance discreetly,” with $11 million already raised from the emir for Hamas leadership efforts — funds intended to remain hidden from international scrutiny. Qatar has long been called Hamas’ most important financial backer and foreign ally, transferring more than $1.8 billion to the group over the years, including an initial $400 million pledge by the former emir during his historic 2012 visit to Gaza — the first by any head of state since Hamas seized control. Additional pledges have included $360 million in aid to Hamas-ruled Gaza, with monthly cash transfers (coordinated at times with Israel and the U.S.) totaling tens of millions. Senior Hamas figures, including former political chief Khaled Mashal, current communications head Khalil al-Hayya, and late leader Ismail Haniyeh, have resided in Doha, where “all of Doha is an office” for Hamas, as Haniyeh himself gushed, crediting Qatari leaders’ “love and cordiality” toward Palestinians. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has openly stated that relations with Hamas were built “in order to maintain peace and stability in the region,” while the emir has defended keeping “open channels of communication” with the group to influence international negotiations.
These ties persist despite Qatar’s occasional public framing of support as purely humanitarian. Qatar’s embrace extends to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamist fundamentalist organization from which Hamas emerged as an offshoot. Doha has long hosted prominent Brotherhood leaders, including spiritual guide Yusuf al-Qaradawi (who resided there from 1961 until his death in 2022 and hosted a program on state-funded Al Jazeera infamous for incitement against Americans, Jews, and others).
Qatar provided approximately $7.5 billion in loans to Brotherhood-linked President Mohammed Morsi’s government in Egypt and reportedly funneled secret funds (up to $850,000) from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani to the group. Al Jazeera has amplified Brotherhood voices, and Qatar has offered refuge and support to Brotherhood affiliates amid regional crackdowns. This is the same Qatari state apparatus—owned and directed by the government—that funds Texas schools and institutions through the Qatar Foundation, Qatar Foundation International, university research contracts exceeding hundreds of millions (often in sensitive fields like nuclear proliferation and cybersecurity at Texas A&M), Arabic language programs in districts like Austin ISD and HISD, and even disaster relief via the Qatar Harvey Fund. These investments, presented as benign cultural exchanges or humanitarian solidarity, flow from the very coffers that sustain Hamas terrorism and Muslim Brotherhood ideology.
The post Islamism, Texas, and the Unholy Alliance first appeared on Texas Public Policy Foundation.
