Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has said that he does not think Dr. Bilal Philips should be brought to the Maldives.

The world famous scholar is expected to visit the Maldives on March 12th till March 18th on an invitation extended by the Youth Ministry and is set to deliver sermons in different islands.

Speaker Nasheed's statement comes after Dr. Philips accepted the invitation by Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof. Some MDP lawmakers have since expressed their discontent on the decision, noting that Dr. Philips harbor extremist ideologies.

In his tweet, Speaker Nasheed stressed that most Muslim communities do not accept Dr. Philips as someone who is a proper preacher in terms of religion. Hence, he added that he does not think that Dr. Philips should be brought to the Maldives.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eva Abdulla and East Maafannu MP Imthiyaz Fahmy were among the first lawmakers to express their discontent.

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.