What is Political Islam? Virginia School Board Member Tells Graduating Students to Wage 'Jihad'

Fairfax County School board member Abrar Omeish, who is the only Muslim member in the administrative board, created an uproar during her speech at a graduation ceremony as she urged graduating students to remember ''jihad'' while they step in to a ''world of white supremacy.'' Her speech didn't go down well with parents, students and the administration.

Omeish took to the stage speaking in English. ''The world sees the accolade, the diploma, the fruit of all your years yet be reminded of the detail of your struggle,'' she said. She soon spoke in Arabic which translates to her calling for students to remember ''jihad'', reminding them that they are entering a world of ''racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, white supremacy".

Abrar Omeish Political Jihad Speech Graduation
Twitter / Abrar Omeish

Muslim Parent Hits Out At Abrar Omeish's 'Jihad' Speech

Asra Nomani, a Muslim mother, slammed Abrar Omeish for giving a controversial speech during students graduation and called her statement a ''wake-up call''. She used the term ''political Islam'' during her appearance on Fox & Friends and said that radical Muslim groups have ''joined with the radical left to hijack our schools.''

Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal columnist, revealed Omeish's speech was ''indicative of radicalization'' of Muslims and called her ideas a ''trojan horse'' which will destroy the very fabric that makes America.

''Omeish, I know her very well, I'm also a Muslim. Her father and the elders of the community that brought her to office are part of this network of political Islam in America that has joined together with the far left in order to create a trojan horse to basically hijack our schools with their radical ideology,'' Nomani told Fox & Friends.

What is Political Islam?

As per Hoover Institute, Political Islam is an ideology to blur the separation of state and religion and raise a military campaign in favor of a caliphate and Prophet Muhammad.

The Institute had described the term as a ''political ideology, a legal order, and in many ways also a military doctrine associated with the campaigns of the Prophet Muhammad to blur distinction between religion and politics, Mosque and state.''

Jocelyne Cesari, who is the author pf the book 'What Is Political Islam?' called the movement a new attempt to make Islam a religion-based political movement with a national modern understanding of Islam that is shared by ''secular and other Islamist actors.''

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