Tuesday 7 August 2007

Muslim Schools teach Caliphatism

In the Sunday Times, I came across the rather worrying revelation, that the Islamic Shaksiyahan Foundation, an organisation run by members of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, is itself running two schools in Britain - one in Haringey, North London, and the other in Slough. Hizb ut-Tahrir has as its primary aim the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate, run according to the principles of Sharia law, and this is reflected in the curriculum at the two schools:
According to the Islamic Shaksiyah Foundation’s curriculum document, children aged 7-8 are taught “our rules and laws come from Allah” and asked to contrast Islam with “other belief systems where human beings make rules”. At age 9-10 children should be taught: “There must be one khali-fah [ruler of the caliphate].”
I'd also be interested to hear what their history syllabus is like, given that it's written by a woman named Themina Ahmed, whose previous writings include the following:
The world will, insha-Allah, witness the death of the criminal capitalist nation of America and all other [infidel] states when the army of jihad is unleashed upon them.
It really is quite worrying that we are allowing, not merely the formation within our country of Islamic schools, but the formation within our country of Islamic schools which teach support for two things, the caliphate and Sharia law, which stand in direct opposition to our traditional way of life. That a woman who apparently supports the violent destruction of Britain and other western nations is involved in a prominent role in formulating the school curriculum is also what some might just possibly regard as cause for concern. There is a debate, which has been ongoing for some time, about whether Hizb ut-Tahrir should be banned, and I would say that, regardless of whether or not Hizb is closed down, these schools (or, to phrase it more accurately, 'brainwashing centres') definitely should be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are some very stark parallels here with the row between Protestant (loyal to the Crown) and Roman Catholic (loyal to the Pope in the Vatican - a separate state) that caused quite a bit of strife in the past in England and Wales, and still does in Northern Ireland and to a lesser extent in Scotland.

And the parallels show one learning point above all others - the sooner we face up to the issues, the easier it is to resolve. But as they don't teach politically incorrect history such as this, we will have to learn it all over again! Again!

Iftikhar Ahmad said...

Most British Muslims are under 25. They suffer from Identity Crises including Ed Husain, because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. Imams and Masajid have done a wonderful job by teaching Muslim children the Holly Quran and some basic Islamic traditions and rituals. But that is not enough. The first wave of Muslim migrants arrived with their cultures, languages and faith. Majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan and this is the main reason why majority of Masajid were set up by the Pakistanis with their own Imams from Pakistan who are well versed in Arabic, Urdu and Persian and lot of them also well versed in English. They deliver lectures in Arabic and Urdu and will keep on delivering in those languages. English is our economic language while Arabic and Urdu is our social, emotional and spiritual languages. I have been campaigning for state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers for the last 35 years so that Muslim children could be well versed in English, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. They need to learn standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. They need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. But unfortunately, no body paid any attention to my proposal in the beginning. I set up the first Muslim schools in 1981 and now there are 166 Muslim schools and only ten are state funded. Less than 5 % of Muslim children are in Muslim schools while 96 % are still mis-educated and de-educated in state and Church schools with those teachers who are not role models for them. There are hundreds of state and Church schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools so that young Muslim children could feel pride in their culture, languages and faith.
Iftikhar Ahmad

www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk