Several lawmakers have expressed their discontent over the visit of Dr. Bilal Philips to the Maldives on an invitation extended by the Youth Minister, Ahmed Mahloof.

As such, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eva Abdulla had described the scholar as someone who harbors extremist views. Eva said this in reply to a tweet by Minister Mahloof, thanking Dr. Bilal Philips for accepting the invitation by the Youth Ministry.

Eva had also tweeted about Dr. Bilal encouraging violence against women as well as violence in general and had expressed her discontent on the planned visit. She had also stressed that a simple Google search will confirm that the scholar is not the right person to preach about peace and harmony.

However, some prominent religious scholars had defended Dr. Philips.

As such, Dr. Iyaz Abdul Latheef had said that Dr. Philips is a world renowned scholar who is widely accepted by the Muslim community across the globe. He had alleged that those who accuse Dr. Philips of extremism are unaware of the truth.

Dr. Philips is set to visit the Maldives from March 12th till 18th and is expected to deliver sermons in different islands.