The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas will not go forward with its plans to install so-called ‘wudu’ Islamic foot washing stations at its premises after backlash from state residents and condemnation by Governor Greg Abbott of Texas.
‘Government-owned airports cannot favour one religion over all others,’ Governor Abbot wrote in a post on X about DFW Airport’s proposal to accommodate Muslim travellers.
He also attached a screenshot of a press release by his office, which details exactly what steps he is taking to prevent it. ‘Governor Greg Abbot today directed a review of all state grants to entities that operate airports in Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), for possible revocation of active state grant funds due to illegal religious discrimination at government-owned facilities. He also referred DWF and IAH to the US Department of Transportation for investigation and enforcement,’ the public communiqué states.
It also shares that the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas has already installed an ablution facility, along with an interconnecting prayer room, for Muslim passengers.
Within a day of Governor Abbott’s statements, the DFW Airport announced that it will not follow through with its plans to install Islamic foot-washing stations. News of such a potential addition to the airport originally broke in the local Texas press last week.
Sameeha Rizvi, government affairs and legislative manager for the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) Texas chapter, has criticized Governor Abbott’s intervention in a statement shared with the North Texas news site KERA, arguing that accommodation for a religious minority’s customs should not be considered discriminatory. ‘It could be argued that it would be religious discrimination to remove such an accommodation,’ he added.
‘Wudu’ or ‘ablution’ at the centre of the Dallas airport controversy is an Islamic purification ritual mandated by the Quran before prayer or the reading of the religious text. It has to follow a specific order: the worshiper must wash their right foot first, then left; and they must cover their entire foot in water up to their ankles.
The Dallas Airport and Other Muslim Controversies in Texas
This is not the first time Governor Abbott has taken decisive steps against Islam in his state.
In November 2025, he declared the Council on American–Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood to be foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations. CAIR is the most prominent Muslim civil advocacy group in the United States, headquartered in Washington, DC and in operation since 1994—one of its representatives has just condemned the Governor for his actions against the Dallas airport, as cited above. Florida is the only other state in the Union to designate it as a terrorist group.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Islamist religious organization, which is designated as a terrorist group by Egypt, its own country of origin, and a handful of other state governments.
In September 2025, Governor Abbott stopped the construction of EPIC City, a residential development project in Collin and Hunt Counties, advertised as a new, Muslim-centric community. Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton—who is running for US Senate on the Republican side in the Lone Star State in this year’s midterm elections—accused the project of being intended to become a ‘Sharia compound’ and, along with the State Legislature, prevented it from proceeding.
The Muslim minority in Texas only makes up about 1–1.3 per cent of the state’s population, amounting to around 400,000 people.
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