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Despite these disturbing details, several local officials participated in the conference, lending it an air of legitimacy.
By Joe Kaufman, Frontpage Magazine
The 2025 Florida Muslim Conference was held at the government-run Coral Springs Center for the Arts.
After the 2024 event was canceled due to security concerns – following the hotel’s assessment of information showing advertised speakers glorifying Hamas – it would be expected that the organizers would make every effort to distance themselves from radical elements.
Yet, despite being promoted as a mainstream cultural gathering, evidence suggests that the event honored Hamas terrorism and provided a platform for dangerous participants.
A highly promoted feature of the conference was its grand bazaar, which included a booth promoting Palestinian-oriented merchandise.
Among the items for sale was a mug (resembling the popular “Stanley”) displaying an image of Yahya Sinwar, the now-dead mastermind behind the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in Israel that left over 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped.
Beneath Sinwar’s image, the mug bears the words “The Martyr Leader” in Arabic. The inclusion of such merchandise is a clear indication of tacit support for Hamas and its violent agenda.
Shockingly, the organizers of the event promoted this booth in a video it released about the conference.
The same video also featured keynote speaker and UFC mixed martial arts Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad posing for a photo with a conference attendee who was holding up a shirt displaying two masked terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) brandishing a rifle.
The PFLP, like Hamas, is designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the US State Department.
Further evidence of the conference’s extremist ties came in the form of its speaker lineup. Among the featured speakers was Siraj Wahhaj, a controversial figure known for his connection to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Wahhaj was named an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the attack, as he had ties to the alleged bomb maker Clement Rodney Hampton-El and had praised the spiritual leader of the attack Omar Abdel Rahman, the so-called “Blind Sheikh.”
Also speaking at the event was Ali Ardekani, a.k.a. Baba Ali, the former leader of the Muslim rap group Soldiers of Allah (SOA).
SOA’s music incorporates violent lyrics promoting jihad (holy war) and targeting non-Muslims.
One song, titled “Staring Into Kafir (the Enemy’s) Eyes,” contains the lyrics:
“You love life the way we love death. You better put us in our graves, while you still got time left… Take a stand!! It’s Allah’s demand. Implement global Jihad!! Take back our Muslim lands!!!… And this time when we’re on the battlefield, we are going to be on opposite sides. We’re not going to think twice, before we take your life!!!! Kafir (non-Muslim)!!!”
One of the main sponsors of the conference, as was the case in 2024, was the US chapter of Islamic Relief, an organization banned by several nations for terror-related activities.
Israel has accused Islamic Relief of being a front for Hamas. [Another sponsor, United Way of Broward County, cancelled their participation in the conference, when confronted by Militant Islam Monitor Director Beila Rabinowitz with damning information regarding last year’s conference.]
Despite these disturbing details, several local officials participated in the conference, lending it an air of legitimacy.
Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, who had been presented much evidence about the conference and who was part of the Coral Springs Commission when the group’s last conference in her city was shut down, refused to cancel her involvement in the event.
This is particularly troubling given Bowen’s previous engagement, last year, visiting Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen (MJAM), a mosque that features violent anti-Semitic texts on its website as well as the sanctioning of practices like female genital mutilation.
At this year’s conference, Bowen took part in a panel discussion moderated by Naima Khan-Ghany, a contentious figure who was removed from two Broward County School Board committees in 2023 for making anti-Semitic posts on her social media, which labeled Jews “Satanic” and delegitimized the state of Israel.
The panel, ominously containing the words “Shared Values” in its title, also included Pembroke Pines Commissioner Jay Schwartz, Lauderhill Vice Mayor Serai “Ray” Martin, and Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) District Administrator Tom Albano.
Notably, Albano was affiliated with the School Board when Khan-Ghany was dismissed, yet he chose to share the stage with her. Their participation in the event is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by local officials legitimizing radical gatherings.
One prominent absence from the conference was Broward School Board Chair Debra Hixon. Initially slated to attend, Hixon canceled her participation after “receiving many concerns” urging her to withdraw.
According to Beila Rabinowitz, who first exposed the 2025 conference in FrontPage Magazine, Hixon’s office reached out to her to confirm her withdrawal.
An elected School Board member since 2020, Hixon would have been mindful of Khan-Ghany’s removal from the board’s committees, making her initial willingness to participate all the more alarming.
The promotion of terrorist imagery and extremist speakers at the 2025 Florida Muslim Conference demonstrates that the concerns raised last year were not isolated incidents, but rather part of a broader pattern.
The inclusion of figures like Siraj Wahhaj and the sale and/or promotion of merchandise celebrating terrorists like Yahya Sinwar and the PFLP only reinforce the event’s radical foundations.
As well, serious questions must be raised about the judgment of local officials who choose to participate at such events.
The conference serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing efforts by Muslim extremist groups to infiltrate mainstream institutions and normalize their agenda.
It is imperative for community leaders and public officials to stand firm against such attempts and to unequivocally condemn any event or organization that glorifies terrorism or promotes hate.
The public deserves better from its representatives, and the fight against extremism requires vigilance and courage from all corners of society.
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