DFW Airport Plans Islamic Foot Washing Stations, Sparking Outrage

Fox News reports that Dallas – Fort Worth airport will install Islamic ritual washing stations in two existing Terminal D restrooms, one in a men’s room and one in a women’s room, at an estimated cost of $300,000 and to be completed before the end of the year. The project is described as privately funded, and Fox says this is intended to keep travelers from washing their feet in ordinary sinks, leaving slippery floors and damaging counters. DFW Airport Chapel The Airport Says The Project Isn’t Final The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing was registered July 31 under the name “DFW – Wudu – Ablution stations – Terminal D.” It describes a 170-square-foot renovation that would add one men’s and one women’s ablution station to existing concourse-level restrooms. The current status shows “Project Registered.” Texas requires projects estimated at $50,000 or more to submit construction documents for accessibility review. The airport says they’re “evaluating an internal proposal” to expand the service to an additional set of restrooms on the pre-security side of Terminal D. DFW Already Has Ablution Stations This actually isn’t new to the airport. Two Islamic ritual washing facilities were added in 2019 along with shoe shelving and kneelers when the airport relocated its Terminal D interfaith chapel near Gate D40. A 2025 profile of the DFW chaplaincy described the two stations in active use, with travelers washing before laying out prayer rugs. DFW currently has an interfaith chapel in every terminal. Other U.S. Airports Offer This, Too These facilities aren’t common to all airports, but they exist already even elsewhere in Texas. Some of the ones currently available include: Houston Intercontinental which opened an accessible ritual washing room connected to a prayer room in Terminal D in 2024. Chicago O’Hare which lists wudu facilities at its pre-security Terminal 2 interfaith chapel. Indianapolis approved floor-level sinks in a taxi-driver facility nearly two decades ago. Airport officials said drivers were already washing in conventional sinks, creating standing water and structural stress on counters. Wudu, often described as “foot washing,” is ritual purification involving the hands and arms, face, head and feet before prayer. Does This Really Cost $300,000? The filing’s $300,000 figure is an estimated cost for the renovation in both bathrooms. Even at $300,000 for 170 square feet, that’s $1,765 per square foot. Bathroom construction costs tend to skew high, and airport work is expensive, but this still seems extreme. An off-the-shelf, one-person stainless-steel wudu fixture retails for about $1,000, with available one-, two- and three-user configurations. There’s likely demolition, plumbing, floor drains, waterproofing, and tile. The work likely has to happen after hours. And anything done past security is more challenging and costly. Still, it seems quite high! Who Is Actually Paying? The filing indicates “privately funded, on private land for private use” and says the tenant is not providing the funds. It does not identify a donor, religious organization, sponsor or other payer. This may be a clerical error or misunderstanding. The filing lists the owner as City of Dallas/DFW Airport, and DFW is a public airport owned by Dallas and Fort Worth. Here’s an unrelated $4.5 million project filing from the same day, that shows the same “private funds/private land” classification and it’s a fumigation project. So I think they just mean ‘the airport’. Contrary to some concerns, I haven’t yet seen evidence that the project is being funded by a mosque or private Muslim benefactor. Why This Has Become Controversial There are several different controversies. $300,000 sounds absurd for “two foot-washing sinks.” Second, DFW is publicly owned, and some members of the public are concerned with a specific religious accommodation, especially it seems when it’s a minority religion. And then there’s appalling commentary like, “If you need to wash your feet in the public airport, then America is probably not the right country for you.” "If you need to wash your feet in the public airport, then America is probably not the right country for you."@Banned_Bill discusses Dallas dropping $300k on foot baths in the Dallas Airport to accommodate Muslims washing their feet on @NEWSMAX. pic.twitter.com/tX6mexIFEu — Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 13, 2026 But if people are already washing their feet, the airport may reasonably prefer they do it in a low basin with appropriate drainage rathe rthan lifting their feet into the existing sink and leaving water on the floor. DFW’s Chapels Have Already Become A Culture-War Battleground Last fall, Baptist pastor Tom Ascol said he was blocked from entering a DFW interfaith chapel during an imam-led Friday prayer service. Congressman Chip Roy demanded answers, and the incident was framed as evidence of Islamic control of a shared public space. Ascol said a man at the doorway wanted him to remove his shoes and sit in the back. The independent chaplaincy said its chapels were open to everyone, that it never imposes entry restrictions and that its Muslim chaplain had not known about the encounter. No traveler should be excluded from an interfaith chapel, but someone walking into an ongoing service should try to be respectful of whatever services are going on. This spring, a conservative influencer called DFW’s chapels “basically mosques” because she found prayer rugs, directions to Mecca and Muslims praying, but few visible crosses. She refused to leave during the men’s prayers. These are literally interfaith chapels. Friday Muslim services have been held at DFW for years. Topics on this page