WATCH: 12-Year-Old Shreds School Board After Sharia Pamphlets Handed Out

In a viral video, a 12-year-old Texas boy took a stand for religious neutrality after his local school district allowed a Muslim outreach group with alleged ties to anti-Christian ideology to distribute Islamic materials — including head coverings and Sharia law pamphlets — to students during school hours.

Leland Saunders, a resident of Farmersville, delivered a blistering rebuke to the Wylie Independent School District board following a February 2 incident at Wylie East High School. The controversy erupted after an outside organization called “Why Islam” was permitted to set up a massive promotional booth during the lunch period to celebrate “World Hijab Day.”

According to reports, the group handed out copies of the Quran and hijabs to female students. Most concerning to parents, however, was the distribution of literature advocating for Sharia law. The “Why Islam” organization is owned by the Islamic Circle of North America, a group whose website reportedly openly attacks “Pauline theology” and denies the divinity of Jesus Christ. “

According to a review by The Christian Post, “the Why Islam website promotes anti-Christian ideology that includes statements declaring  Jesus is ‘not the Son of God’ and an entire page devoted to criticism of New Testament teaching, or what the website terms ‘Pauline theology.'”

While the district scrambled to frame the incident as a mere “procedural breakdown,” young Leland Saunders wasn’t buying the bureaucratic excuses.

A 12-year-old from Farmersville, Texas, pushes back after Muslims handed out “hijabs, Qurans and Sharia law pamphlets” at his public school.

“Even if participation was voluntary, handing out religious texts during school hours crosses the line” pic.twitter.com/7oiXRG0DPt

— Chaya’s Clan (@ChayasClan) February 20, 2026

“Public schools serve students from many different religious backgrounds, and students who have no religious beliefs at all,” Saunders said. “Because of that, I believe our schools must remain neutral when it comes to religious promotion during the school day.”

The 12-year-old highlighted the double standard often found in modern public education, questioning whether the same platform would be afforded to other faith groups.

“If one religious organization is allowed to distribute materials, would every religious or ideological group be allowed to be given the same opportunity?” Saunders asked. “If so, how will that be managed fairly? If not, how is that even equal treatment?”

The incident first gained national attention after a viral video posted by Marco Hunter-Lopez, president of the school’s Republican Club, exposed the outreach effort, the Christian Post reported. Hunter-Lopez noted that while colleges and secular clubs are common fixtures at the school, he had never seen a Christian church allowed to hand out Bibles in the cafeteria. “They were giving out hijabs to girls throughout the high school, and they were giving our Qurans, and they also had pamphlets about Sharia law,” he said.

Wylie ISD officials have since admitted that “district protocols for guest speakers and student club interactions were not followed.” A staff member was briefly placed on leave but has since returned to work. While Board President Bill Howard issued an apology, promising to “earn your trust back,” the district’s “Wylie Way” values are under intense scrutiny by families who say the school crossed the line from education into religious indoctrination.

For Leland Saunders, the mission was simple: to protect the boundary between the classroom and religion. “This is about maintaining neutrality, fairness, and a religious boundary from education and religion,” he concluded.