Texas high-school history lessons will address Mohammed’s military campaigns and Islamic conquest alongside Christianity’s influence on Western civilization and America under a standards overhaul approved September 4.
The State Board of Education voted 8-4 to approve the changes, the Houston Chronicle reported. The package covers U.S. History, U.S. Government, World History and World Geography.
All four posted course sections specify classroom implementation in 2033-2034, replacing 2030-2031. That school-year requirement is distinct from the rules’ administrative effective date.
Board Member Brandon Hall (R-Fort Worth) defended retaining the word “brutal” in a lesson on Mohammed’s campaigns after Board Member Will Hickman (R-Houston) sought its removal. That amendment failed.
“We’re whitewashing and watering down a part of history,” Hall said during the debate, KERA reported.
Conquest, Jihad And Slavery
The official committee-approved text presented for Friday’s vote describes Mohammed’s “brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes” and addresses slavery and the taking of female captives as “harem slaves.” A separate expectation connects jihad with Islamic expansion and the “conquest of Christian lands,” naming Jerusalem, Syria and Egypt.
Those expectations sit in a World History unit covering A.D. 476-1000. The posted language specifies a military-expansion context for jihad; it does not require a separate explanation of spiritual interpretations.
Other sections cover Muslim and Viking slave raiding, Ottoman expansion, the capture of Constantinople and conversion of Hagia Sophia, the Mughal Empire, and the Barbary and Atlantic slave trades. Christianity’s history also includes the Crusades, the Reconquista and wars between Catholics and Protestants.
A separate World History expectation addresses the rise of radical Islam and specifically lists the Muslim Brotherhood, terrorism, Al Qaeda, the September 11 attacks and ISIS. The modern U.S. History section identifies radical Islam as the motivation for the attacks and addresses the American response. These modern-history expectations are separate from the early-Islam unit.
Christianity And America’s Foundations
The posted World History standards explicitly connect Christianity to Western civilization and early America. Topics include Jesus, Christianity’s Jewish origins, biblical moral teaching, Christian persecution under Rome, religious institutions and human dignity. Another expectation connects William Wilberforce’s Christian faith to his opposition to the slave trade.
The American-history provisions name the Bible, Greek and Roman thought, English common law and the First Great Awakening among influences on the Revolution and the new government. They also address religious motives for colonial settlement, the Second Great Awakening’s role in reform, and biblical imagery in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
The government text connects religion with civic virtue, limited government and liberty. Students would examine John Adams’ statement about a moral and religious people and the Declaration of Independence’s account of God-given rights. Families, religious institutions and voluntary associations also appear in its treatment of self-government.
Friday’s approval also included instruction on William Blackstone’s view that human law should conform to natural and divine law, the Houston Chronicle reported. Board Member Tom Maynard’s (R-Florence) submitted amendment specifically identifies the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament.
Religious liberty remains part of the record. The posted government standards cover freedom of conscience, freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. History addresses First Amendment protections in public schools through Abington School District v. Schempp.
CAIR Objects; Supporters Defend The History
CAIR-Texas and CAIR Action Texas vowed Friday to seek reversal. Their joint statement called the portrayal of Islam “bigoted caricatures” and argued that the standards disparage one religion while favoring another. They also pledged support for teachers and students who refuse the material.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) designated national CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations under Texas law in November 2025. His proclamation did not specifically name individual Texas CAIR chapters, a distinction previously reported by The Dallas Express. CAIR disputes the state’s allegations.
The criticism extends to historical terminology. SBOE content adviser Andrea Hutchison argued that describing seventh-century captives with a later Ottoman institutional term was misleading. Her recommendation still included early Islamic military expansion and conquest, while adding Islamic Golden Age contributions to mathematics, medicine and astronomy.
The posted geography text requires central ideas of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism and Daoism, and separately identifies Sunni and Shia traditions. Thus, its treatment of Islam is not limited to warfare. That does not resolve opponents’ objection to the emphasis in World History.
Supporters argue that understanding America requires teaching its religious and historical foundations. “If we want students to understand our American story, we have to stop cutting chapters out of the book,” Mary Elizabeth Castle, Texas Values’ director of government relations, said in a Friday statement.
What Comes Next
The board adopted K-8 standards and a separate required reading list in June but postponed final action on these four high-school courses, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
The agenda proposed a separate administrative effective date 20 days after filing with the Texas Register, subject to a two-thirds board vote. The exact effective date and a consolidated post-Friday rule text could not be confirmed for this report.
Provided by Dallas Express
