by the Muslim American Society (MAS), it occupies an tract with a mosque building that is two stories tall. In September 2006 the Katy Islamic Society purchased the tract for $1.1 million ($ according to inflation). Around that time some neighbors of the tract reacted negatively. Many cited concerns involving infrastructure such as traffic and drainage. One man threatened to hold pig races, involving animals considered to be forbidden in Islam. Another established a website that had a counter of terrorist attacks that occurred since the September 11 attacks. Construction began in 2008 after MAS acquired the tract, and it opened on June 13, 2015. The Clear Lake Islamic Center Inc. (CLIC), established in 1996, is the largest mosque in the Clear Lake area. The Islamic Education Center, in a former Hindu marketplace, is one of the largest Shia mosques in Houston and serves as a majority Shia institution in west Houston. It includes an affiliated in Islamic school, the Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning, which opened on January 9, 1996. The Islamic Education Center is owned by the Alvani Foundation. It has been found by the federal government to serve as an illegal funding machine for the Iran regime. The area's first Spanish-speaking mosque, the Centro Islámico, opened on January 30, 2016. It was the first Spanish-language mosque to open in the United States since the 2005 closure of the storefront mosque of the Alianza Islámica in New York City. The Houston mosque, decorated in a manner similar to that of the Mezquita de Córdoba, is operated by the organization IslamInSpanish. The Baitus Samee Mosque in Houston's Northside area is also notable. Other facilities Of the religious madrassas in the area, as of 2011, the Madrasah Islamia was the first established and the largest. As of 2000, the sole Muslim funeral home in the State of Texas was located at Al-Noor, and it served Muslims from all of Texas and from several nearby states. As of that year, about 90% of the Houston-area funeral prayers are conducted at Al-Noor due to the location of the funeral home. As of 2000 there were no Muslim cemeteries in Houston, so the Muslims have a special section of a non-Muslim cemetery. Economy As of 2014, the Houston area had about 50 halal-certified restaurants. Houston has some restaurants which, during Ramadan, serve iftar meals to families who are too busy to cook. Politics