Inside the Terror-Linked Program Training Virginia's Teachers
A university program with ties to terrorist organizations gets to influence public school classrooms.
by Victoria Manning
What if a program with ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood trained your child's teacher using taxpayer resources? That's not hypothetical. It's been happening for years at Virginia's Shenandoah University—largely operating under the radar.
The Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Virginia's Shenandoah University has ties to multiple terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. CICW founder, M. Yaqub Mirza, was formerly a leader of the SAAR Foundation, a fundraising operation linked to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda. Mirza died in 2025, but the current chairman has his own extremist ties.
Antisemitic Rants, Support for Terror
Anti-Jewish Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the CICW chairman. The day after the October 7th, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, Ibrahim sided with Hamas terrorists saying, "The confiscation of Palestinian land and property is done relentlessly by the Zionists. As a result of this injustice, hundreds of innocent lives were sacrificed. Malaysia remains in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people." Just weeks later Ibrahim led a large "Malaysia Stands with Palestine" rally and called Hamas "freedom fighters." He urged media outlets not to call Hamas "terrorists."
In December 2023, Ibrahim banned Israeli flagged ships or companies from using Malaysian ports. In November 2024, he said, "Israel no longer belongs within the civilized community of nations."
Just one year after Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 Israelis, Ibrahim claimed Israel perpetrated genocide on the people of Palestine. In 2025, he said flying the Israeli flag or displaying stickers with Hebrew writing contradict national policy and is "completely unacceptable." He called it treason and told the Malaysian police to take appropriate action as a warning to others.
On March 25, 2026, Ibrahim said Malaysia supports Iran's right to defend its sovereignty. The next day Iran began allowing Malaysian ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. On May 26, 2026 on his social media, Ibrahim praised the Iranian regime, calling them his friends "who continue to uphold the values of knowledge, brotherhood, and the universal struggle for humanity." This is the same regime that slaughters its own people by the tens of thousands.
Ties to Terror
Firas Barzinji is a trustee and general counsel of the CICW and is alleged to be involved with Muslim Brotherhood-founded groups, serving as their attorney Barzinji's deceased father, Jamal, was deeply involved with the Muslim Brotherhood—deemed a terrorist group by the U.S. government. Jamal Barzinji was a founding member of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). In 2002, the FBI raided the headquarters of IIIT over its funding of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to a U.S. Treasury Department official, Tarik Hamdi, an IIIT employee, had a close connection to Osama bin Laden. Hamdi even personally delivered satellite phone batteries to bin Laden in Afghanistan—the same phone bin Laden used to coordinate his terrorist attacks. Hamdi was never convicted for any terrorism related crimes.
While Shenandoah University is a private institution, 76 percent of all students have their education funded with public dollars through federal financial aid, grants, and loans. In 2024, CICW took in $1 million of tax-free income—including $440,000 from the Sterling Charitable Gift Fund. This same Sterling Fund has alleged ties to Hamas-linked terrorism. Firas Barzinji is their attorney. A U.S. government report indicates the Sterling Charitable Gift Fund was once used as a conduit for money laundering and support for terrorist organizations.
Why are foreign terrorist sympathizers permitted to lead a U.S. educational institution? Why are federal funds through student loans, grants, and non-profit tax subsidies permitted to flow through Shenandoah University?
Divisive Islamist Teacher Training in K-12 Schools
The CICW program not only instructs its own college students, but it also offers teacher training programs for public K-12 schools. The Virginia Department of Education once promoted CICW propaganda.
The CICW website advertises "Teacher training workshops–to train teachers in Islamic schools and those teaching social studies in K-12, to equip them with appropriate pedagogical tools and instructional materials in order to enrich their educational outcomes."
Courses and workshops focus on "Prophetic Pedagogies: methods, techniques and style of instruction that are drawn from the life practices of the Prophet Muhammad."
History tells us that Muhammad married a six-year-old girl and had sex with her when she was nine.
In 2021, in response to the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the CICW published "culturally responsive 9/11" teaching resources that claimed the attacks had nothing to do with Islam. The instructor, Amaarah DeCuir, said teachers shouldn't discuss or name the attackers because it isn't relevant. The Virginia Department of Education hosted and publicized DeCuir's webinar for teachers across the state. DeCuir proclaimed that "teaching is a political act" and said anti-Muslim racism is present in American policies. DeCuir is an executive board member of the CICW and a faculty member at American University in the School of Education.
Americans of all political persuasions should unite on a shared principle of not allowing terrorist regimes and those who want to destroy our nation to influence the education of our children. American taxpayers deserve an investigation into institutions with close ties to foreign terrorism and extremist ideology. The Department of Education and Congress should act immediately to audit federal funding to Shenandoah University and CICW's foreign leadership ties.
Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.
