Florida taxpayers are unknowingly funding what critics are calling a Sharia indoctrination network through schools like Hifz Academy in Tampa — a K–12 Islamic institution operated by the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area (ISTABA). Under the guise of “school choice,” millions of dollars from Florida’s Step Up for Students scholarship program — a publicly funded initiative — are being funneled into religious academies that emphasize Qur’an memorization, Sharia obedience, and allegiance to the global Islamic **Ummah** over American civic values. The school’s own handbook proudly lists state-funded scholarships as its financial backbone, meaning Florida’s education system is, in effect, underwriting an agenda that critics say promotes separation from American ideals and advancement of Islamic supremacy.

Hifz Academy’s curriculum reinforces this worldview. Students are expected to memorize the Qur’an, study hundreds of hadiths, and reenact Muhammad’s battles through classroom exhibitions that celebrate Islamic conquest. Its handbook forbids any mention of non-Islamic beliefs — even by parents or staff — creating an atmosphere of strict ideological control. The school’s promotional material warns that “the third generation loses its identity” in America, framing assimilation as a problem to be solved through indoctrination. Critics argue this is less education and more reengineering of identity — a taxpayer-funded effort to raise a generation loyal to Sharia governance rather than constitutional freedom. What’s being created under Florida’s education system, they warn, is not diversity but division — a parallel civilization built on separation, submission, and rejection of Western values.

SOURCE: RAIR Foundation