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Florida lawmaker accuses a state's Muslim school of training 'future terrorists'

Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine says Dr Fadi Kablawi is training ‘future terrorists’ in his school.

Published on: May 16, 2024 6:48 AM IST
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Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine worries that Reviver Academy, a Florida Muslim school, is potentially training “future terrorists.”

Dr Fadi Kablawi, a dentist and imam at Masjid As-Sunnah An Nabawiyyah may lose his dental license for using 'genocidal language' (Facebook/MASJID AS SUNNAH AN NABAWIYYAH)
Dr Fadi Kablawi, a dentist and imam at Masjid As-Sunnah An Nabawiyyah may lose his dental license for using 'genocidal language' (Facebook/MASJID AS SUNNAH AN NABAWIYYAH)

In a written address to Manny Diaz, Commissioner at the Florida Department of Education, Fine, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, has urged action to stop taxpayers' funding of the academy and a thorough investigation into its activities.

The crux of Fine's apprehension stems from the ownership and operation of Reviver Academy by Masjid As-Sunnah An Nabawiyyah, a Muslim mosque in North Miami. Of particular concern to Fine is Dr Fadi Kablawi, a dentist and imam at Masjid As-Sunnah An Nabawiyyah.

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Fine calls for an immediate suspension of the Muslim school

Fine cited Kablawi's purported “genocidal language” in a recent sermon, where he allegedly called for violence against Jews and condemned the Israeli regime as worse than the Nazis.

Fine wrote, “Imam Kablawi's genocidal language makes clear what those 'values, ethics, and morals' look like—and that killing Jews is 'their own accountability to Allah.' We are literally funding the training of future terrorists. Not in Iran. Here.”

“That has to stop, and it has to stop immediately. I call on you to immediately suspend the Reviver Academy madrassa's eligibility for taxpayer funding and commence a thorough investigation into the school,” he added.

According to its website, the Muslim school aims to “prepare the new generation with the right values, ethics, morals and vision from the QURAN and the SUNNAH, convert knowledge into practical reality that makes winners in this WORLD and the HEREAFTER and prepare GLOBAL LEADERS grounded in Islamic ethics and values with a clear sense of accountability to the creator, stewardship of the world and responsibility for society.”

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Kablawi says he 'wasn't calling for violence'

Dr. Kablawi said that his previous statements were taken out of context. He told NBC6, “Suddenly they're so offended that I'm making a prayer, this is how low it is,” and added, “It was a prayer, I was asking God to deal not with the Jews, to deal with the atrocities of the tyrannical Jews. I wasn't calling for violence, I wasn't calling for anyone to harm anybody, I was making a pure prayer against tyrannical criminals who are killing my people.”

Now, there have been calls to revoke Kablawi's dental license because many Florida lawmakers, including Fine, are “concerned with Dr. Kablawi's incendiary rhetoric and the potential danger it poses to his patients.”.

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Fine, who is the only Jewish Republican in the Florida State House, has also highlighted other controversial statements made by Kablawi in his lectures at the mosque.

For instance, on March 8, Kablawi allegedly prayed, “Oh Allah, bring annihilation upon the accursed Zionists.”

  • Tuhin Das Mahapatra
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    Tuhin Das Mahapatra

    Tuhin Das Mahapatra is a key member of the US Team at Hindustan Times, crafting compelling narratives on politics, US visa, Hollywood, esports, anime, and beyond. This erudite literature student, if not penning down a narrative with his modest yet trusty pen, is deeply contemplating 'what the purpose of journalism is?Read More

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