Orlando’s Muslim Professor Areeje Zufari — Profile of a ‘Radical Islamic Supremacist’

Areej Zufari photo

Areeje Zufari

This column provides the background of Professor Areeje Zufari, a Professor of Humanities and Coordinator of the Humanities Speakers Series at Valencia College located in Orlando, Florida. Zufari gained attention when she told her students “that the crucifixion of Jesus was a hoax and that his disciples did not believe he was ‘divine.’”

But there is much more to this story.

Joe Kaufman, an investigative journalist for FrontPage Magazine and Chairman of Americans Against Hate a civil rights organization and terrorism watchdog group, filed an affidavit No. CT-003545-04 naming Professor Zufari and her then husband Maher Ghawji a medical doctor based in Memphis, Tennessee. The affidavit reads in part:

8. Maher Ghawji has admitted to his wife of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a violent political movement whose members are sworn to “defend Islam” with their “blood.” He accepted this status with a group of friends, during a trip they had made to Cairo, Egypt (Exhibit 1). He left Syria around 1982, the year a government-led massacre took place in the town of Hama – a Brotherhood stronghold – which resulted in the deaths of 10,000 to 40,000 people (Exhibit 2). Following the massacre, members of the Brotherhood fled Syria, some leaving for the U.S. or Europe, some joining up with Osama bin Laden to fight in Afghanistan (Exhibit 3).

9. During his court deposition, on June 4, 2004, Maher Ghawji admitted to the court and to his wife of being a Wahhabi, an adherent to a fanatical religious form of Islam emanating from Saudi Arabia (Exhibit 4 – page 26).

[ … ]

11a. Maher Ghawji’s son, Louis, has written about how his father wants to “get rid” of all Jews and how his father wants him [Louis] to become a suicide bomber. In an e-mail he sent to a friend on June 24, 2004, he wrote, “And because he [Maher Ghawji] wants to get rid of all Jews and everybody should be muslim and if not all others are idiots and blah blah blah muslim allah blah blah blah wants me to go blow up myself so he would be proud of me…” (Exhibit 5).

11b. Both of Maher Ghawji’s sons have discussed how their father hates Jews. In the July 2, 2004 chambers interview with Louis and K.K. Ghawji, the children state the following: K.K. Ghawji: “So, but also, when he watches the TV and hears about Jews, he doesn’t – he’s like saying I hate the Jews, it is – ” Louis Ghawji: “He’s always wondering like every time there is one Jew dead, it is always a big fuss…” (Exhibit 5).

12. About Palestinians becoming suicide bombers, Maher Ghawji stated in his June 2004 deposition, “I think this will generate this, I’m not sure, spirit of blowing themselves up or feeling in despair; and when you’re in despair evidently like they live, and these people has no education, fifty percent jobless, have no running water after the invasion of Israeli to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, destroy all their infrastructure, evidently they feel miserable; and I said these people — I don’t see why not.” (Exhibit 4 – page 82).

Read the full affidavit…

Areej-with-Maher-at-Wedding

Areeje Zufari at her wedding to Dr. Maher Ghawji. Photo: Joe Kaufman.

According to Jacob Engels from the Central Florida Post:

…Zufari had given Polston a failing grade without explanation, after the two disagreed over Zufari proclaiming during the first class that the Crucifixion of Christ was a hoax… as was the idea that Jesus’s disciples did not think he was “divine.”

Polston reached out and demanded an explanation from the professor, but she instead reported him to the Dean of Safety for making her feel “unsafe.”

The straight-A student would ultimately be suspended on March 24th and then face outlandish allegations by Zufari, later that day.

She accused him of skulking around in the brush outside the classroom, but video surveillance from a Dr. Phillips restaurant and neighborhood gate cameras prove Polston was nowhere near the school at the time.

Now the Central Florida Post has uncovered a lawsuit filed in Orange County, FL in 2007 that contains bombshell allegations against Zufari and provide insight into her radical Wahhabi leanings. SEE THE LAWSUIT BELOW.

Read more…

Zufari Lawsuit by Jacob Engels on Scribd

EDITORS NOTE: Ms. Areeje Zufari Amazon.com profile notes:

Professor and writer Areej Zufari was born in the United States to Middle Eastern parents. Her interest in Middle Eastern culture began during her childhood in Arkansas where she also discovered her love for writing and painting. She earned a Masters degree in Liberal Studies from Rollins College and a Bachelors degree from Southern Methodist University. After 2001, she took on the demanding role of Director of Media and Communications for the Islamic Society of Central Florida. Her experiences speaking in the media revealed to her the numerous misconceptions Americans hold about the Middle East and Islam. Inspired by the importance of education to promote peace, Zufari enrolled in Hartford Seminary and earned a graduate certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy. Now, as a professor at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida, Zufari teaches Humanities courses full-time and writes during her weekends and summers. [Emphasis added]

Discover the Networks reports:

Imam Muhammad Musri, who oversees seven mosques from the Islamic Society of Central Florida, believes that Arab Christians claiming to have converted from Islam “are lying and . . . were actually Christians all along.” “They are using tales of conversion,” he says, “to get financial backing from evangelical ministries.” Taking a jab at Christianity’s many Protestant denominations, he adds, “We don’t want the Muslims to end up with 700 determinations of Islam.” Musri’s speeches are sold and distributed by the Islamic Society of North America.

Ms. Zufari’s Faculty FrontDoor profile reads:

arab-spring 22

Ms. Zufari’s Faculty FrontDoor profile picture titled “Arab Spring”. Graphic courtesy of Ms. Zufari and Valencia College.

Welcome! I am a Professor of Humanities at Valencia Community College’s East Campus.

I teach the Middle Eastern Humanities, 20th Century Humanities, Renaissance & Baroque Humanities.

Human creativity is one of the most fascinating subjects, and Humanities courses allow us to jump into the creative fields in an integrative manner.

My courses emphasize student interaction and critical thinking. If you are interested in taking one of my courses, please send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

Phone: 407-582-2349

Email:azufari1@valenciacollege.edu

Office: East Campus

Ms. Zufari’s elective Middle Eastern Humanities course syllabus reads:

Course Description:

The course covers topics such as Middle Eastern religions, philosophy, literature, architecture, visual arts, music, and the effects of modernity on the Middle East.

Major Topics:

Students will have the opportunity to study the culture of the Middle East in an integrated manner that focuses on the dominant ideas and major trends, including:

  • Characteristics and Distinctions of Middle Eastern Culture
  • Themes, styles, and impact of Middle Eastern Literature
  • Concepts and impact of the religion of Islam
  • The effects of religion on Middle Eastern peoples
  • Characteristics and trends in Middle Eastern Art
  • Characteristics of Middle Eastern Architecture
  • The Effects of Modernity on the Middle East

Texts:

  • Beyond the Headlines: A Deeper Look at Middle Eastern Culture by Areej Zufari

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48 replies
  1. Ydia Medina-Diaz
    Ydia Medina-Diaz says:

    Need clarification. There was a similar article saying that the incident with the student happened at Rollins College not Valencia College. Would you clarify?

    Reply
    • Anonymous
      Anonymous says:

      It happened at Rollins but she teaches at Valencia as well. Quite common for Professors to teach at multiple institutions.

      Reply
  2. Matthew G. Zatkalik
    Matthew G. Zatkalik says:

    It would be helpful to have the names and points of contact (telephone numbers, websites, email addresses, etc.) for the administration of the schools, the political leaders in these areas, and other individuals to contact about the hiring of this individual; about her history; methods to organize for her dismissal.

    Reply
      • anon2
        anon2 says:

        In the interest of fairness, you should probably point out that the lawsuit you sourced most of the information from was dismissed with prejudice by the state of Florida (relevant documentation is available via the Orange County Clerk of Courts website), and was filed by the estranged ex-wife of a man Zufari was dating. The ex-wife lost not only that lawsuit, but one in Tennessee, and another in Federal court. She also lost custody of her children to her ex-husband, which should tell you how the courts felt about the validity of the lawsuits and her claims. Her is a screenshot of the order to dismiss Zufari as a defendant in the lawsuit, with prejudice: http://imgur.com/iMv9hhq

        A student in the same class with Zufari has also publicly posted that Zufari was the victim, not Polston. Here is a screenshot of her post: http://imgur.com/5X9PODc

        Furthemore, Polston is only studying at Rollins because he has been suspended from University of Florida for disruption there. Likely because he was arrested for misdemeanor harassment/stalking, and felony burglary: http://i.imgur.com/QGEQ0nx.png Information about that case (which to be fair, was dismissed, likely because the ex-girlfriend he was stalking chose not to press charges) is available via the Alachua County Clerk website.

        Reply
          • Anonymous
            Anonymous says:

            Actually, it is relevant to the article if the lawsuit has been dismissed with prejudice. Why are you posting information about a lawsuit that has failed? Anyone can sue anyone for anything. When a lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice, the original lawsuit should NEVER be referenced as being evidence against the defendant. To argue that “it is not relevant to this article” is ridiculous because you included the information about the lawsuit IN your article. That makes it automatically relevant.

      • Anonymous
        Anonymous says:

        That depends. If the Muslim embraces Sharia law ONLY to the extent that it affects his or her PERSONAL behavior, it is not unlike a Jew embracing Jewish law (for example, deciding to eat Kosher only). If, on the other hand, the Muslim wishes to IMPOSE Sharia law on others, that is definitely a problem.

        Reply
        • Harverts
          Harverts says:

          Anon, a Muslim embracing sharia law is nothing like a Jew embracing “Jewish Law”.
          “Jewish law” is consistent with US law and the US Constitution. In fact, it provides for Jews following the laws of the country they live in. Sharia law is mutually exclusive from US law and the US Constitution. Under sharia there is NO freedom of speech, NO freedom of religion, NO freedom of assembly, NO freedom of the press; there is NO equality under the law with regard to the believer and the infidel;
          there is NO separation of “Church and State”, the Mosque and State are one.

          Sharia prescribes for all people to live under sharia law and believers must work to make this so, by any means necessary, including violent jihad. Sharia prescribes the death penalty for the apostate. None of this pertains to Jewish law.

          While it is true that many Muslims are not observant, just as many Jews are not observant, a comparison of the observant Muslim and observant Jew shows night and day different behavior, as described above.

          Reply
  3. CW Huff
    CW Huff says:

    By the way, before you label me anything — I have no problem with people loving Allah — I have a problem with people telling me I must love Allah or causing harm to anyone who doesn’t.

    Reply
  4. CW Huff
    CW Huff says:

    As long as this professor teaches at these facilities — you will be subjecting your son or daughter to indoctrination to Islam and the degradation of any Christian views. So much for HIGHER EDUCATION and free thinking.

    Reply
  5. Liberal Secularist
    Liberal Secularist says:

    Thank you for starting a witch hunt against an esteemed professor. It seems that no one is safe from the deplorables in the Land of Trump. The fact that you would publish court proceeding which clearly have arisen from an acrimonius relationship between the professor and her estranged husband shows the depth to which you have fallen.

    Reply
    • Dr. Rich Swier
      Dr. Rich Swier says:

      Liberal,

      Zufari’s background and shariah compliance are the issues. She believes what all Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified, nor is he the Son of God. Her beliefs are why Christians are persecuted in Muslim majority countries.

      Reply
      • Anon
        Anon says:

        She is not the one at fault. He has multiple no contact orders with multiple girls with whom he could not take a simple ‘no’ for an answer. He is a sexual predator in making

        Reply
          • Anonymous
            Anonymous says:

            But she is NOT “currently under lawsuit for radicalizing children.” That lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice with respect to her involvement. I am not disputing that there are some deeply troubling things about Ms. Zufari but bringing in an unsuccessful lawsuit is anathema to everything about which this country was based. People are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty and a lawsuit that was dismissed WITH PREJUDICE should NEVER be included as “evidence” against that person (unless you are trying to go after the person who originally FILED the lawsuit but in this case you were going after her for being a defendant). Indeed, your entire case is weakened when you bring in extraneous and erroneous information, which is sad because I think there is something here.

    • AZ
      AZ says:

      Liberal,

      I imagine if the professor were Christian and the student was Muslim, you would be calling for diversity training or the professor’s resignation. I actually believe if the professor were Christian, he/she/they would already be fired. Treatment should be equally applied. Unfortunately, people like you and the professor who believe that their ideologies are the only right ones, and everyone else is either a bigot or uneducated because they disagree, are probably the single largest contributor to division in the world. Intellectual discussions and disagreements are always good, but what you spew out is idiotic hate speech and of no use. The same can be said about people that are as far right, as you are left; brainwashing occurs on both ends of the spectrum. The only difference is that Christians are almost never taught to hate or kill. I don’t really care what people believe or think as long as it doesn’t lead to harming others. But when your religion is based on violence, how can you teach love, or peace, or diversity? It appears that the only free speech this professor is interested in, is the kind that agrees with her ideology. This professor should not be teaching in a U.S. institution.

      Reply
    • Dr. Rich Swier
      Dr. Rich Swier says:

      Neil,

      Thanks for reading and commenting. This column is about Areeje Zufari, her beliefs and background. The student is secondary and not the main character in this investigative report.

      Reply
      • Robert Williamson
        Robert Williamson says:

        This is very relevant information to the case you’re trying to build against Areej. She was a sweet teacher when I took her back in 2009 and this kid is clearly demented. Please include this if you care about being fair.

        Reply
  6. T Bone
    T Bone says:

    The student was suspended for stalking behavior. His hostile attitude and unwillingness to learn about another religious tradition stems from being exposed to things like this website, with its half-baked “understanding” of Islam and Muslims. If you sow hatred and an unwillingess to escape one’s prejudices, this is teh sort fo thing you reap.

    Reply
    • Dr. Rich Swier
      Dr. Rich Swier says:

      T Bone,

      The student was not stalking.

      According to Jacob Engels from the Central Florida Post:

      …Zufari had given Polston a failing grade without explanation, after the two disagreed over Zufari proclaiming during the first class that the Crucifixion of Christ was a hoax… as was the idea that Jesus’s disciples did not think he was “divine.”

      Polston reached out and demanded an explanation from the professor, but she instead reported him to the Dean of Safety for making her feel “unsafe.”

      The straight-A student would ultimately be suspended on March 24th and then face outlandish allegations by Zufari, later that day.

      She accused him of skulking around in the brush outside the classroom, but video surveillance from a Dr. Phillips restaurant and neighborhood gate cameras prove Polston was nowhere near the school at the time.

      Reply
  7. Omar Shahbandar
    Omar Shahbandar says:

    This whole page is ridiculous and Kaufman is a joke. The Orlando Sentinal set the record straight yesterday. You all should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to ruin the professor’s life. For the person above that commented that all Muslims should be gone, there’s 1.6 billion of us and we’re growing. We’re not going anywhere. Maybe try a different approach then hate. You can start with the traditional Muslim greeting, peace be with you.

    Reply
  8. Anon
    Anon says:

    I had Areej Zufari as a professor at Valencia I took her Middle Eastern and Humanities Courses.Her classes were not an easy grade, she had standards and expected her students to put in the work. During the Middle Eastern class we had open discussions and i can tell you first hand we all had different views and opinions on many aspects of the Middle Eastern Culture not once through out the semester was she disrespectful/ Malicious or bash anyone’s beliefs or opinions. All she asked was for us to be respectful of one another. As a past student I never saw the behavior this specific student states she had with him. Furthermore not once did I or any of the students who took her class felt she was pushing any type of agenda upon us.

    Reply
  9. Millie Karnop
    Millie Karnop says:

    Just a question for you all? How much different is this, and no I detest Muslims of any sort..they all need to be gone, anchor babies too, Mormons do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God..they believe he is the brother of Satan, Lucifer! Or how about the fact they have re-written the Book of Mormon at least 38 times to fit their changing doctrine, the Jehovah’s have changed the Bible to meet their idea of God and Jesus..yet, Jesus says in Matthew…change one tittle of ….think that is in Chapter III, maybe V.

    Reply
  10. Sals Albot
    Sals Albot says:

    I’m not sure why Mormons are part of this discussion, but Millie Karnop could not be more wrong about them. The name of the Mormon church is the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” and they do believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of all mankind. As for the Book of Mormon corrections, they were only small grammatical correction. You can pick up an original copy of the Book of Mormon from non-mormon sources and compare it to the current version to verify the accuracy of this statement. Other statements of Millie’s are equally misstated and Christ teaches that we should love all men, even those who persecute and hurt us. That includes Muslims and misguided professors.

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] Ms. Zufari’s Faculty FrontDoor profile picture titled “Arab Spring”. Graphic courtesy of Ms. Zufari and Valencia College. Source […]

  2. […] court and to his wife of being a Wahhabi, an adherent to a fanatical religious form of Islam … READ THE REST (Orlando’s Muslim Professor Areeje Zufari — Profile of a ‘Radical Islamic Supremacist’; By […]

  3. […] blog post from Rich Swier notes that Joe Kaufman of FrontPage Magazine and the Americans Against Hate civil rights […]

  4. […] blog post from Rich Swier notes that Joe Kaufman of FrontPage Magazine and the Americans Against Hate civil rights […]

  5. […] blog post from Rich Swier notes that Joe Kaufman of FrontPage Magazine and the Americans Against Hate civil rights […]

  6. […] our column Orlando’s Muslim Professor Areeje Zufari — Profile of a ‘Radical Islamic Supremacist’ we noted that Zufari is Director of Media and Communications for the Islamic Society of Central […]

  7. […] Now if you want to ride on this DUMB ASS BITCH that’s following the religion of bullshit. All her information, delusional views and contact information is on this link.Areeje info […]

  8. […] blog post from Rich Swier notes that Joe Kaufman of FrontPage Magazine and the Americans Against Hate civil rights […]

  9. […] suspended Marshall Polston for challenging the opinion of Middle Eastern Humanities Professor Areej Zufari that Jesus Christ was never Crucified nor was Jesus God – part of the co-equal personhood of […]

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