Social media posts celebrating a mosque denial in Murphy after an October 8 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting blurred two separate Islamic projects in the Collin County city.
I was so proud of them last night 🥹 https://t.co/czv0RIChYK
— Ashley Marie (@_withashley) October 9, 2026
The item before the commission involved The Center of Islamic Knowledge at 1026 and 1030 N. Murphy Road. It did not concern the larger Islamic Association of Murphy masjid, a separate project with city-approved plans. The association says Murphy approved its permit for vertical construction on August 1, 2025.
Murphy’s official active-development page lists the Islamic Association of Murphy as an active project with approved plans and gives its location as “N. Murphy Road (North of First Baptist Church of Murphy).”
Separate records identify the masjid near the intersection of North Murphy Road and McMillen Road. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records use the address 105 McMillen Drive.
Two Separate Murphy Proposals
The confusion traces in part to The Center of Islamic Knowledge, which has faced a separate site-plan process at 1026 and 1030 N. Murphy Road.
On April 9, the Murphy Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously denied an earlier site plan for the center after about an hour of generally negative public comment.
City staff identified deficiencies in the application, including insufficient parking. The proposal showed 21 spaces when city requirements called for 51 for a planned 1,210-square-foot auditorium, according to the Murphy Monitor.
Assistant City Manager Jared Mayfield told commissioners at the time that a church or place of worship could operate in the residential district, but the application remained incomplete and out of compliance.
The Monitor also stated that The Center of Islamic Knowledge was not affiliated with the Islamic Association of Murphy mosque under construction near McMillen Road and North Murphy Road.
The Center of Islamic Knowledge returned to the commission on October 8 with a new application for a site plan, landscape plan and building elevations for a church or place of worship on property zoned Single-Family-15.
Murphy City Council previously approved a final plat for the center, according to the Monitor. Religious centers qualify as a permitted nonresidential use in residential districts.
As of late morning October 9, Murphy had not posted official minutes or another city voting record confirming the commission’s disposition of the October 8 application. The Dallas Express therefore could not independently confirm the reported October 8 denial through an official city vote record available at publication time.
The distinction in Murphy remains clear: the October 8 Planning and Zoning item involved The Center of Islamic Knowledge on North Murphy Road. The Islamic Association of Murphy masjid is a different project with approved city plans, while the association says Murphy also approved its vertical-construction permit in August 2025.
Larger Masjid Already Holds City Approval
The separate Islamic Association of Murphy project has moved much further through the construction process.
The association’s construction page states that Murphy approved a permit for vertical construction on August 1, 2025, after reviewing building plans and inspecting earlier site work.
The association also says it paid about $1.1 million toward completed work, including excavation, water and sewer lines, storm drainage, paving, a fire lane and parking for 250 vehicles.
The association’s construction page states that it increased the planned building size from 15,000 square feet to 24,000 square feet and then to 32,000 square feet. The same page says the city agreed to construct McMillen Road improvements, a bridge, and a traffic signal at the intersection of McMillen and Murphy roads at an estimated city expenditure of more than $4 million. The Dallas Express did not independently verify that figure through a city expenditure record. The page’s latest posted heading is October 2025.
Earlier city action involved a substantially smaller amount tied to the association itself. The Murphy Monitor reported that on April 2, 2024, the council approved an amended site plan, an amended landscape plan, and a construction plat for the Islamic Association of Murphy Masjid at the intersection of North Murphy Road and McMillen Road. The approval included a charge of $392,243 for the repair of 518 feet of McMillen Road. IAM President Syed Osman Hussain said he would appeal, according to the Monitor. The Dallas Express did not independently verify that charge through a separate city expenditure record.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records show a separate accessibility filing for the Islamic Association of Murphy Masjid at 105 McMillen Drive.
Project TABS2025008755 was registered January 3, 2025, and describes “additions to existing building” and interior finish-out work totaling 19,197 square feet, with an estimated cost of $2 million. The record lists the project status as “Review Complete.”
The 19,197-square-foot figure applies to that TDLR filing and does not establish the size of the entire planned masjid development.
McKinney Mosque Fight Adds Regional Context
The Murphy posts landed as a separate political fight continued in neighboring McKinney, where mosque development has become part of a recall campaign.
The McKinney City Council voted 7-0 on August 4 to approve a site plan for the McKinney Islamic Association after more than 150 people signed up to speak, The Dallas Express reported.
The approved plan covers about 32,573 square feet at 5301, 5311, and 5321 Virginia Parkway, including a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary, a 10,236-square-foot classroom building, and a 7,337-square-foot gymnasium and multi-use facility.
During that meeting, U.S. Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), whose district includes McKinney, urged council members to “honor your oath that starts with the U.S. Constitution,” The Dallas Express reported.
A recall affidavit targeting McKinney Mayor Bill Cox and three council members followed the vote.
The Dallas Express later documented concerns from recall supporter Ashley Louden, who posts as Ashley Marie, about Friday traffic and parking around the association’s existing Eldorado Parkway mosque.
“I purposefully avoid Tom Thumb on Fridays because I am aware that that is the Muslim community’s biggest prayer day,” Louden told The Dallas Express. “This parking lot is always full.”
She added, “I find it very hard to believe that the new mosque development has traffic and parking figured out when they don’t have it figured out where they currently are.”
Provided by Dallas Express
